shaping up with p-nut.

The 4th graders have been focusing on positive and negative shapes the past couple of weeks. I've been using the super rad work of painter and designer Greg Pnut Galinsky as the inspiration for this shape exploration. (A couple years ago I did a similar project inspired by Greg's work.)

In particular, we have been looking at a series of skateboard decks he did a few years ago. The 4th graders are all involved in band and orchestra this year, so I thought this would be a great connection to tap into. I introduce the concepts of positive and negative to the kids. We also discuss the importance of balance between the positive and negative in terms of filling the page and making an interesting composition. We look at the work they already made for their line study and identify them in those. I then share Greg's skate decks and students can identify the contrast between the subject and background pretty quickly due to his contrast in white and color.

For this project, I provide the students handouts of the instruments that they are playing this year. I model sketching 3 different designs that have at least parts of 2 instruments in them. Students do their thing in sketch form and when they are done I ask them to break up the negative shape with at least 3 lines. Once they complete their sketches, they think about which one they want to do as their final and write down their reasoning in the form of a "because" statement. Students then share their reasoning with a neighbor. With this step I also model being an active listener- the listener should then replay in support of the designer's choise or offer reasoning of their own why another design might be more interesting.

Students shape their paper decks by cutting curves at the ends of a long sheet and draw their chosen image softly out on the larger paper. They trace their contour lines with black markers, and like their line lesson, make some lines thin and others thick for added variety and contrast.

When it comes to coloring their decks, they must only use one color. They can alter it's value by pressing soft, medium, or hard. They may also add black to the color. Once they are done, they complete an exit slip reinforcing their understanding of positive and negative shapes.

Boom. Pretty engaging for the kids. Greg's style is totally approachable and workable for the kids, and anytime they get to design something pop culture related, the kids more readily get into it.

wavy faces

Last week the 5th graders looked a the work of California artist Erik Abel. I have used Erik's work to teach students about different elements in a few projects before. In this one, we used Erik's work as the focus for an exercise in color value and relief sculpture.

Erik's work is all about the water. We looked at numerous images from his website and looked at the wide variety of work he has done that ties into this theme. The image we focused on was called "Neptune's Crown of Coral". I pointed out that Erik and created variety in color by adding white or black to mainly one color.

The 5th graders have been working with tints and shades for a few lessons, but not with the limitation of using only one color to make a monochrome image, so I thought this would make for an interesting visual challenge for them.

Erik's painting is flat, but I thought it would be cool to add a relief element to the project, so after students drew out and colored their abstract portraits they cut them into several pieces and reassembled them on black paper. I showed them how they could have each section pop up once or twice, depending on how many places they added glue to. These pop outs tied in well with the water theme of the portraits too:)

We did draw out the basic shapes together- nose, eyes, mouth line, but I offered variations at each step. If students wanted to do something different at each point, they could go for it.

painting with pnut.

Or Mr. Greg Galinsky:)

Many 4th graders needed more time this week to finish their Hundertwasser complementary color paintings, so I wanted to do something this week that kids could jump into at different times during class and still have success.

I came across Pnut's work earlier this month on pinterest and pinned a photo of a deck series that he had done for FTC skateboards.

I loved the simplicity of the shapes and composition. Economic and clean. Pared down shapes and colors. I thought his work would make for a perfect exploration of monochromatic color schemes.

I introduced his work to the classes via his website. I showed them the pics from his bio page and shared that he is a month older than me. It was so "nice" to hear from numerous students that Pnut looks so much younger then me! Darn you Pnut;)

We looked at some of his commercial work and a few of his paintings. I contrasted his work with the bold, many colored work of Hundertwasser. We talked about how Greg's work has a strong sense of unity because of his use of monochromatic or analogous color schemes. We also identified his use of contour lines to define the shapes in his work, both objects and background shapes. We also addressed his use of tints and shades of colors to add variety to his images.

I wanted students to use Pnut's work as inspiration, not to simply copy it, so I decided to give them a choice. They could use an instrument for their subject or they could use a music listening device instead. I projected images of an ipod, boombox, walkman, record player, and phonograph for the students to choose from.

Students started the project by shaping their board with scissors. They then did at least 2 skethces on the name side of their board. Once they had something they liked, they drew it out lightly on the front and traced it over with a black crayon to make the  contours bold and strong.

I demonstrated how to make tints by adding more water to their tempera paint and how to make shades by adding black.

It has been interesting to see the variations in subject, color, and composition that the students have come up with.

So far, not much love for green. Same goes for the phonograph:)