creating cacti.

Last week my 4th graders were focused on making flat shapes turn into implied 3d volumes. I shared the work of British illustrator Joshua Wiley with them, as well as numerous photos of cacti from right here in San Diego. This provided a comparison between figurative abstract style and realistic style.

We also talked about what conditions cacti thrive in (not really in the climate of England), and lo and behold, the kids figured out that San Diego has a pretty sweet climate for cacti:)

Students identified that even though Joshua's cacti looked different, he still made some of them look somewhat 3d by using light and dark colors. 

Students were to practice drawing at least 3 cacti from the images on the smartboard screen, after that they were to make at least one small compositional sketch so that they had a spacing and size plan for their final, larger sheet of paper. Joshua's work was cool because it was less intimidating to observe and render than the photos. Students did not have to copy the examples, they could make changes and alter the cacti shapes if they chose to do so. I modeled how most of the cacti are made with ovals, some of which are long and thin, while others are short and thick.

When students started working on their larger drawings they could use chalk pastels and/or crayola colorsticks, which are like woodless colored pencils. I demonstrated how to work the chalk pastels to create smooth and rough textures.

Many students did not complete their large drawings last week, so they are finishing them up this week before they start on their next project. 

The next project happens to be a clay one. They created implied texture and volume in their drawings and they are making actual texture and volume when they create their clay cacti and pots. They can not start on their cay project until they have used light and dark on the cacti and pots in their drawings. The pressure is on, but they are getting them done... so far;)

clay cacti coming up!

abandon ship!

There are times when a lesson, despite careful planning, just doesn't work and you suck it up and go with something else that addresses similar concepts and skills.

I'll post about that project soon, but I thought I would share what I switched to with the 4th graders this week because many more of the students are achieving visual success and comprehension with it.

After the first project failed, I turned to a point of view project that I had pinned from Mrs. Knight over in Georgia. She did a great project with her 3rd graders that I thought I could springboard from.

I shared her images from Ansel Adams and discussed point of view with the students. How the same thing looks different from different distances or angles. I remind them that the concept is similar to point of view in reading and writing. They need to identify the author's point of view and when they write they are doing it from a certain perspective, too.

I also share the image below.

With this image I also stress the relationship of positive and negative shapes in art. This concept was introduced in the previous project we did together 4 weeks ago.

I then share some of Mrs. Knight's 3rd grade projects. We identify the positive and negative shapes, and we look at the different points of view students created. I then ask them if the snowmen look 3d or flat? They do look pretty flat, and I tell the students that this is where their projects will look different than the examples. 

Our goal for the lesson is to create an image with 3 different points of view AND to have things in each point of view look 3d. The 4th graders have done a little bit of implied volume this year, but now we are going to start focusing on it in a few projects. I emphasize the use of light and shadow to make things look more real and 3d. I share with them examples of the process and product that I have done and then we are on our way.

1. practice shading

2. practice point of view concepts

3. draw final composition on larger paper

4. add color and shadows to each scene

5. complete project exit slip

so a chip and a can walk onto a piece of paper...

and the little ones laugh. badum bump.

Here's another one that was inspired by the work of Philip Tseng. He posted this image on instagram last week and I immediately thought... kinder project.

The kinders are currently learning about 3d shapes with their classroom teachers, so I thought this would make for a great extension to that learning. I shared this image with the kids and we talked about how one of the shapes looks very flat and the other looks very round. They identified the can shape as a cylinder and that the top of that shape was an oval.

I also talked about the connection between the two things in the drawing, the paint card and the finished, mixed can of paint. How people use the card to see if they want a certain color or colors when they go to the store before spending money on paint for a project.

The kinders have done a great job with the shapes and the expressions on their objects.

The drawing activity took half our time together, so after that I gave students another sheet of paper and told them they could draw another character on it. I also told them we would be turning that flat shape into a 3d cylinder after they were done drawing it. This activity took the illusion of the 3d solid in the paint drawing and made it real. The students have made some interesting cylinder sculptures too:)

strange places.

I met with the 4^th graders for the first time today since before winter break. It was good to see themJ

The last 2 lessons we did together focused on the use of tempera paint and making light and dark values with it.

I wanted to continue with the use of light and dark and I also wanted students to apply light and dark to create 3d volume and 3d space. I thought the work of Australian artist Shane Devries would give students an engaging opportunity to see these in action and to apply them in a drawing of their own.

Shane often creates surreal landscapes that have a sense of deep space and 3d volume. He has created a variety of landscape locales in his work. He also has a very interesting collection of characters that he places in these settings in a variety of ways.  I am particularly drawn to the ones he does that have very large creatures hovering or floating in the landscape.

The kids definitely got a kick out of Shane’s work. The characters and scenes drew the kids in pretty strongly. Many of these characters reminded them of characters they have seen in cartoons, stories, and some video games.

I approached this project as a guided drawing. Students had choices in shape size and position, character detail and expression, and color. Students used color sticks, which are like woodless colored pencils shaped like conte, instead of tempera. This gave them practice making values by varying hand pressure instead of adding more or less water like they did when painting.

I chose to do the drawing on gray paper, so that the students could gain some experience creating value and dept on a value that was not white. This way, they could use white in a more dramatic way to emphasize parts and bring out highlights on shapes.

So far, the students have had a lot of success with the drawing and creating value and space. Since we built the compositions together, students could move on to adding color value variety feeling confident in their drawing, and they could relax and focus more on gaining more fluency with value.