continuing contrast

This week the 4th graders finished up their Rodney Alan Greenblat drawings. They also completed exit slips that had them reflecting on how they created contrast and what was the most successful part of their drawing... and WHY:)

That left each class with about 45 minutes to do a quick line drawing activity that reinforced the same concepts while creating something that looked a lot different than their RAG compositions.

For this activity , I shared a couple illustrations done by Mexican designer and illustrator Victor Melendez. He uses variety in line to create contrast in his work. He also heavily relies on contour line to define his shapes and add pattern elements that enrich his work further. We also looked at how one of his final designs was different than the sketch he did. We talked about how this type of revising is an important part of the artistic process. Changes, improvements, and risks are still taken when preliminary work is translated to finished pieces:)

"Tell Me Jaguar"

Inspired by a song of that name from the Mexican rock band Jaguares.

 

After introducing his work and how it compared and contrasted with Rodney's, students were tasked with creating 2 different animal designs that showed symmetry while also used line to create pattern and shape. They picked one of those designs to do slightly larger (6x9) and drew it out softly. They used thick and thin markers to create contrast again and then added color to the background to add contrast that way as well. Now, these drawings aren't as refined as their first projects, but I wanted to give them a chance to explore similar concepts with a different look in a shorter amount of time.

 

There was a lot of variety in the individual approaches to this activity, just as there was with the RAG drawings. I'm looking forward to the ideas these kids explore for the rest of the year!

Below, are a few more RAG inspired drawings that were completed this week. Cool stuff!

the kinders and leonardo.

I met with our little balls of energy (the kinders) for the first time this week and I introduced them to a little monster named Leonardo.

I started our time together by introducing myself and my classroom expectations, since it's the first time they have laid eyes on the silly man with gray hair and needing to be trimmed facial hair;)

After that we talked about what authors and illustrators do. I showed them the cover of Leonardo the Terrible Monster and identified Mo Willems as the author AND illustrator of the book. Mo is one of my all time favorite makers of kids' books.

I pointed out how Mo uses lines to make shapes- circles, triangles, and even monsters. We also talked about how an illustrator can show how a character is feeling by drawing a line for the mouth- it could be happy, sad, worried, etc. I told the students to be on the look out for these things as I read the book to them.

I have to say, I love reading to these classes, especially on our first time together. I find it is a great icebreaker. A lot of kiddo apprehension of me goes away as I get into the narration:)

Once we are done the book, I also point out how Mo made some things look smooth with line, but he made other parts look furry by wiggling his marker back and forth.

I have a predrawn circle on their paper and we draw the rest of Leonardo together. We identify shapes as we draw- rectangles for arms and legs, triangles for horns, etc. Students draw a mouth that reflects how their monster is feeling. When students trace their characters, I show them how they can wiggle their marker back and forth to make them look furry. They may choose to do this or not. They can color their characters as they wish.

There are definitely some interesting looking monsters  in this bunch. This lesson also gives me an opportunity to see who needs help with pencil grip, who needs help with hand pressure, and who can draw basic geometric shapes.

little kids and big squids.

This week I met with our youngest students for the first time this year. I must say that they are a delightful bunch:)

First, I went over my art room rules and expectations with them and then I read them a book.

The book was I'm the Best Artist in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry. We talked about how Kevin is both the author and illustrator of the book. We then figured out what an author and illustrator does in a book.

As I read the book to them, I used my digital presenter to show them the pages. On a number of pages I showed them parts of pages and froze them on the screen so they could see the page layout and composition in full. 

We noticed how the feelings of the characters were shown with simple mouth lines and we identified happy, sad, thinking, worried, serious, and angry. We also noticed how big the sea creatures were in relation to each other- small, medium, and large. We also talked about what makes a drawing simple and what makes a drawing look more real- the artist uses more detail.

I love reading this to my kids at home, so it was a treat to share it with our kinder students at Zamo. I like being expressive with the reading, so kids got to laugh, and got a little spooked when I would raise my voice for a couple of the angry characters' voices.

We then drew our own squids in an underwater setting.  We drew the squids in pencil first. Students tried to make the eyes about the size of oreo cookies. Students added a mouth that showed how their squid was feeling. They could add eyelashes and moustaches if they wanted.

I talked to them about repeating lines, colors, or shapes to make patterns very briefly and then students added tentacles that were made of line patterns. Everything got traced in marker to make the squid stand out.

Then kids added color to the squid. They could make a pattern or color it solid. Students added details and other sea creatures around the main character to make their underwater drawings look more complete. I drew a bunch of stuff on my example and they could copy those elements or do their own thing.

I really like the way these turned out. There is so much individuality present in the different drawings. It's interesting to see the different levels of fine motor control among the classes. The shakiness of the lines, irregularity of the patterning, and asymmetrical features give the different squids a real sense of life.

Great job on your first project kinder kids!

Monster Bikes

I've been following dearada for a few years now. I have been turned on to so much quality work through this source. good variety of artists, locales, and media. I am very grateful to have found her postings online.
Recently she posted about the illustrations of Alex Eben Meyer.
Cool stuff. Interesting finished pieces and he has a fascinating sketchblog. Many of his drawings have a looseness to them that i relate to in my own work.

The pic posted was a bike illustration that he did. Complex shape made through adding on thick and thin lines against a white background. An obvious understanding of the functionality of the parts being added.

Great exercise in drawing to test students' imaginations within limited parameters- black lines & bike parts. A balance between the bike parts and empty parts is key to creating an engaging composition.

I did this with 4th graders. It was completed in one session lasting an hour & ten minutes.

1. intro to Alex's work. emphasizing line, composition, positive and negative space, and imagination
2. pulled up a variety of bikes on my presenter screen so students had references for their drawings
3. drawn in pencil first
4. traced in marker- making some lines thicker than others to create variety in line quality

It's a very open assignment. Students may go many different ways assembling their "monster bikes".

Alex was kind enough to post pics of some student work and give them a shout out on his sketchblog.