words with wosene.

I've been working with our littlest artists the past couple weeks and they are experimenting with chalk pastels, too. We have been mixing colors and using letters and words in our drawings. For this activity, we are looking at the work of Ethiopian artist Wosene Worke Kosrof. He uses characters from his native language, Amharic, as the basis of his compositions.

We start the activity by looking at Wosene's website, so the kids can see him and a couple of his pieces. When looking at his paintings, we notice how some of the characters different sizes- big, medium, and small. We also notice how some of the characters resemble English letters and some look right side up, others look flipped upside down, and others look they are on their side.

Now, before getting to the letters part, we prepare to do some color mixing. The kinders have already done a collage that focused on primary colors, so we review them and then break our paper up into rectangles and squares by drawing horizontal and vertical lines. I model using the point of the chalk for this. When we start to fill shapes in, we use the side of the chalk and we try to keep our elbows up, so that our drawings and arms stay as clean as possible. (The kids also can choose to wear art aprons for this- I only have one size, so it's always a little comical watching them put the aprons on and having them come down to their shins;)

After laying the primaries in to all our shapes, we experiment with mixing by adding one primary on top of another to make our secondary colors. We also add white to a couple colors, so we can see how colors get lighter and not darker when we do.

The final step requires a switch to our greasy crayon- the black oil pastel. (I pull the black chalk pastel from all my boxes because, when they get used, drawings get out of control.) I model using a letter per shape to spell a name. As I go, I turn the paper in different directions to change the orientation of some of the letters. Once we have letters in each shape, we go back and make a few of them bold by pressing harder and making the lines thicker.

This activity has brought out a lot of joy in the kids. They're excited to see the new colors that they create and they have been digging the play of letters in their drawings.

making meaning with jean-michel

The 3rd graders are starting their color and chalk pastel unit by looking at the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat for inspiration. This activity allows students to focus on meaning in art and gives them opportunities to experiment with themes that are important to them. 

I have always loved the boldness and the energy of his work. There is a rawness to it the captivates me. I know his work can be difficult to approach with students, but I encourage you to give it a chance.

We start out by looking at a couple photographs of Basquiat at work, so the students can identify with him. We talk about how his parents were immigrants- his father was from Haiti and his mom from Puerto Rico. At Zamo, we have a diverse population and many of our students have family members that have come to the US from different countries. We all know the political climate today, and I think it's so important to recognize the positive impact immigrants have had after they and their children have established themselves here.

We then look at three paintings that Basquiat created. I ask the students if art needs to be pretty or beautiful all the time and they have responded with a resounding NO in each class. We talk about how art can convey different feelings by how things are drawn or depicted and I ask them to keep this in mind as we look at his paintings.

In the first one we focus on his use of large areas of background color and the presence of a portrait in the painting. We agree that the portrait is not realistic, and that we still recognize it as a face. The second one leads us into a discussion of symbols and how they can convey meaning to the viewer and that we may "read" the meaning of those symbols differently than one another, depending on the experiences each of has had. Students see that he has used a crown in both paintings. I bring up the fact that Basquiat used those to signify his importance in the art world. He was visually establishing and connecting himself as part of an art royalty.

Students also notice the amount of words used in the second painting. They recognize Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford. I point out Miles as Miles Davis- the amazing jazz pioneer and how Basquiat was deeply moved by jazz, blues, and hip hop, rap, and experimental forms of music. They also notice Frank and the fact that we don't know who HE was, but the name/person had significance to Basquiat.

We look at one more painting and notice another crown, more connections to money and commerce, more bones, including a skull and teeth.

Before getting started with the hands on portion of the activity, I remind students that we aren't copying his work, but we will be borrowing his methods for constructing his art and his use of symbols and words to create meaningful self portraits.

Step one is to create a gestural abstract background with 2-3 colors that are important to them. We apply color with the side of the chalk, working to keep elbows up in order to keep the color from smearing. After adding the background, students can add areas of white to lighten colors and they can smooth areas as well. I encourage them to find a balance between smooth and rough areas.

Next come the symbols- I ask them to add 2-4 personal symbols. These are things that have importance to them- they could connect to family, school, hobbies, sports, etc. We use the point of the chalk to add these elements. I encourage students to hide or obscure symbols if they aren't satisfied with how they are drawn or if they want some messages hidden in their work.

The portrait element is the 3rd step. Again, I emphasize that the portrait does not have to be perfect. We are aiming to give the viewer an idea of ourselves. I put Basquiat's paintings back up to see and I also let the kids know that if they have a certain way of drawing people/characters, that they can use that style as well. We draw the portrait in chalk and then go over it in oil pastel to give the lines more clarity. This also connects to how Basquiat used large oil sticks to create lines, symbols, and words in his work.

Finally, come the words. Students add a few words that connect to family, heroes, friends, etc. We talk about text as a visual element. Do they want to use all capital or lowercase letters? Do they want to mix them up, do they want some words to read upside down?

Then, it's time to clean our mess up;)

Next week, I plan on having the students reflect on the process by having them do a short written reflection on choices that they made throughout the activity. 

marking with moe.

 Last week, my 4th graders experimented with chalk pastels, layering, creating tints, and markmaking. For inspiration, I shared the work of Moe Brooker. He's an artist and professor based in Philadelphia who creates nonobjective paintings. He layers energetic varied "scribbles", that I liken to the music notes you find on sheet music, over patterned areas and larger geometric shapes. He uses tints of colors to add variety to shapes and fade sections of compositions in and out.

We looked at a very short video of him working and talking about art. He believes strongly in the connection of color and music/sound.

After watching the video and looking closer at a few of his paintings, we rolled up our sleeves and experimented with pastels, using his visual vocabulary as a springboard for a wide variety of nonobjective drawings. While students worked, I played jazz in the classroom, similar to what they heard playing in Moe's studio in the video clip. I encouraged them to think about how the music was effecting them and if possible, respond to the sounds in the colors and marks they would include in their work.

Students started by laying down 3 or 4 colors to serve as the background. They smoothed out some areas and left other areas rough. They then added smaller shapes that overlapped 2 or more of their background shapes. Again, smoothing some. Tints were added next. Students could choose to apply white to whole shapes or parts of shapes for added variety. Patterns were added on top of at least a few areas of their compositions. Some students added a lot, some were more selective in their approach. I asked them to add white to at least one patterned area. Finally, it was time to scribble.

This is the step that many thought would be the easiest part of the process, but many discovered that it was actually more challenging than they were anticipating. Before starting, I had students switch to a black oil pastel because the marks could be controlled a bit more with it. They could also use other chalk pastels for this part and could blur their marks as well. I modeled a bit of controlled, energetic mark making. I talked to them about looking at their existing compositions and responding to what was there. They could look for larger empty spaces, they could add and layer over existing patterns, they could vary thin and thick, long and short marks. Again, I encouraged them to be aware of the music playing and to think about how their marks might reflect the energy of it.

To wrap up, they completed an exit slip that got them reflecting on the process.

I am super stoked on how vibrant and energetic so many of these turned out. This week, they are continuing to experiment with chalk pastels, but they are some of the same techniques to create a desert landscape inspired by the work of Ed Mell. I want them to recognize that you can use the same techniques and skills with materials to make images that are of drastically different styles.

plenty of portraits.

Last week the 2nd and 5th grade classes experimented with making tints of colors while creating portraits. Both grades used chalk pastels for these drawings, so the process was a lot of messy fun:)

The 2nds looked at the work of Argentinian painter Dan Casado for inspiration. We talked about how he exaggerates and changes the face parts, and that we can still recognize his people as people. We also noticed how he uses bold outlines to separate those face parts and other background elements.

We started by practicing a portrait on smaller paper and as we went along I modeled different ways they could approach the shapes. If they wanted to go at shapes differently, I encouraged them to try it out. We also added background elements that added to the personal quality of the drawings. For the final drawing, we drew them out on 12x14" brown paper, traced the lines with black crayon, and add chalk pastels to the paper.

When applying the pastels, we practiced not resting hands and arms on the paper to keep the paper (and ourselves) as clean as possible. Once we had most of the paper colored, I modeled adding white to certain areas to make lighter versions of those colors. I also then showed them how to smooth or blend certain areas with a finger (just one:)

I loved seeing the wide variety in face/background shapes, and color choices in these. Some kids were very delicate in their pastel handling, while others were much more aggressive and bold in approach.

The 5ths also looked at Dan's work for inspiration, but we also compared and contrasted his work with the work of San Diego based artist Gloria Muriel. She's one of my favorite artists working right now and I have been fortunate enough to see her at work while she was painting a mural in downtown San Diego. While Dan's forms are solid and blocky, Gloria's are much more elegant and flowing. Dan's portrait heads tend to take up the majority of the picture plane, while Gloria's more often are smaller in scale, allowing her to explore the rest of the space for hair, water, and other flowing natural elements. Despite all the differences, they both use bold dark lines throughout their compositions and both use tints of colors to great effect in their work.

After discussing the work of both artists, we set off to create a couple practice compositions inspired by their work. Kids could focus on the style of one or both artists. Furthermore, if someone went their own way with their portraits, that was okay, as long as they incorporated the required elements of bold lines and color tints. After sketching and sharing, we got to the large versions and like with the 2nds, I demonstrated chalk handling, creating tints, and blending colors.

I have been blown away by the diversity in portraits with this project. So many different compositions and takes on the portrait concept.

chalk lung... for real;)

So. Much. Dust.

6 weeks of chalk pastels in my classroom is done! I think the kids were able to apply just a little chalk to their paper than to themselves over that time.

That said, all grade levels really rocked the chalk and their projects are bold and vibrant.

This week my 2nds and 5ths worked with chalk pastels to create landscapes inspired by our San Diego coast. Both grades identified and applied warm and cool colors to their landscapes. Both created a lot of space in their work. The 2nds did so through value, size, and overlapping. The 5ths did it by using overlapping, color value contrast, and through the amount of detail in areas.

The 2nds started off by reviewing how we created depth with overlapping and value in their Aaron Draplin inspired landscape skate decks. Then they looked at a photo of our Coronado Bridge at sunset and noticed how those space makers were present. We then looked at how dark the bridge is compared to the background and how this makes the bridge come to the front. They built their drawings up from the background to the foreground. All chalk pastels, some areas rough, some areas blended, and finished the drawing by using black oil pastels to make the bridge. (I like to switch up with oil pastel at the end because it's more controllable.)

The 5ths worked with the same concepts of color and space when they did their chalk and oil landscapes. The biggest difference was the complexity of shapes and the use of details in the foreground to make the tidepool area stand out in the foreground. When drawing those pools, we talked about perspective and point of view. Why the shape or shapes would look more like ovals and not circles.

Next week we move on to painting madness!