symmetrical snowflakes.

The winter scene drawings that the 4th graders did were completed about halfway through their 2nd lesson during their shape rotation with me. I took the remainder of the class time to introduce radial symmetry, origami folding, and collaborative work.

I got this idea from H. Mazzuto over at Art. Paper. Scissors. Glue! They shared some wonderful examples and a great how- to post for the process. The only thing I've changed is the color scheme and the collaborative aspect of the project.

I give each student 4 small squares of white paper, so that they can practice each of the folds. After this they work in quartets and fold more paper and create their radial symmetry design. How they split up the work is up to them. For example, they can each be responsible for a different type of fold or they can each be responsible for a different color. I emphasize that if a student has a  good handle on one of the folds and a classmate is struggling with that same thing, be like a teacher and work with that student, so they get it.

Once all their folding is done, they plan and assemble the pieces on a larger black square. They then lock stuff down with their glue sticks.

The kids have had a blast with this one. Even though the vocabulary of shapes is limited to 4, there has been quite a lot of variety in the finished designs.

spinning round with mr. moore.

Testing time!

This week I’m happy to give our 3^rd graders (and their teachers)J a break from the stress from the testing cycle they are in.

We are looking at the work of Matt W. Moore, who wears many creative hats as an artist based out of Portland, Maine. Most of Matt’s work falls into the abstract realm. I love his use of bold colors and hard edged shapes in his striking visual compositions. Many of his pieces have an electricity about them, due to his play with the visual elements of line, shape, and color.

After sharing the range of Matt’s work with the students by checking out his website, we narrow our focus on one mural in particular. Upon viewing this one together, I have students share with me what they see- circles, designs, patterns, colors. I also have them share what makes the circles different from one another in the overall design- the size of them, different patterns, different colors, and so forth.

I also introduce them to the concept of radial symmetry. I talk about how this type is when things radiate or revolve around a central point, like the spokes on a bike wheel or a pizza sliced up.

I explain that each of the students will make a circular design that has a variety of patterns and that is an example of radial symmetry. I also share that their piece will be included in a larger mural type installation inspired by Matt’s mural composition.

When building their pieces students start out with a extra small (3x3)and small (6x6)piece of paper. They draw a circle on each, cut them out, and glue the smaller onto the larger. Once this is done they add patterns to the two pieces. I show them that they can split the circles into smaller bands, or they can leave them alone and create larger patterns.

When that part is complete, students get a medium (9x9)size piece and repeat the process. Finally, they get the large (12x12) piece and repeat as well.

For students that finish early, they may help construct an even larger circle design with others that finish early. These larger ones have not completed in class, so the next class’s early finishers contribute to them as well. Students also have the option of creating a smaller, mini version of the circle design, either by themselves or with a partner.

Below are a couple ideas for installation, along with photos of individual student designs. I’m thinking I would like to have at least 3 large scale compositions to hang as a large installation, or as individual hangings that would be spread out through our annual art show, which is only 4 weeks away!

The family and I are headed back to Portland this summer to visit my in-laws, so I’m looking forward to tracking down his local mural spots and seeing some of Matt’s work in personJ

3d teddy.

I just met with the 4th graders again. Their first 2 week rotation focused on using contour line to describe shapes. This lesson had them using value and color contrast to define edges of shapes.

I recently found out about the work of Teodoru Badiu. He is a designer and artist based in Vienna, Austria. He creates most of his images digitally using programs like photoshop, illustrator, and cinema 4d. His visual vocabulary is quite diverse and has created many surreal visual worlds and characters.

When I introduced the students to Teodoru's work I used images from one of his websites. The kids LOVED the characters they saw.

We talked about the fact that Teodoru makes these characters look like they could be real (or at least made out of clay) by using color contrast to define the edges of objects (no outlines!) and by using tints and shades to define their volume.

The image that we focused on was one that was inspired by the Mexican holiday of the Day of the Dead. We talked briefly about what the holiday was about and then revisited what made the image look 3d.

While viewing the image we also identified the symmetry running through every part of the composition. Symmetry creates unity in a design and it also tends to focus the viewer's attention down the line of symmetry. 

This art project involved a lot of folding, cutting, and gluing. Students folded each layer before cutting to reinforce the symmetry of their design. We designed the skull first. I talked about and demonstrated what each of the bumps were on our head. After cutting out e skull, students added shading with a black crayon to it look more 3d and added a symmetrical crayon design to it.

Students then cut the middle and back layers, tucking each layer into the fold of the previous layer to make sure each was big enough. All 3 layers were then glued to the background sheet.

Since Teodoru's design uses multicolored shapes at the top I decided this would be a good opportunity to use the tie dye paper that I had gotten earlier in the year. These are pre-printed 8.5x11 sheets that come in a variety pack. This created variety in their individual designs and also created it across classes for exhibition purposes.

Students cut and applied this paper into large and small shapes to add a variety of positive shapes to the background negative shape.

Different classes had different background colors. There are ones with red backgrounds that are not pictured yet. I chose white for the first class and they did an amazing job constructing their designs, but I do like the ones on darker colored backgrounds more. The skull and other parts really vibrate against the darker colors.

ms. hayuk

I thought I would revisit symmetry with my 2nd graders in my last lesson with them for the school year. We had previously worked with this concept on a Nate Williams project during their winter rotation. The paintings and drawings of Brooklyn based artist Maya Hayuk were the inspiration for this new project.

Maya uses a broad palette of bold colors, bordering on neon in intensity. She also often plays with geometric shapes to make striking compositions. Many of these works are examples of symmetry, sometimes not pure, but often times in a more informal way. Maya has done murals around the world as well as smaller pieces as fine art or as illustrations/designs for magazines or commercial products.

Even though Maya's work is abstract in nature, the students could pick up on details that make her images look like "something". One of the things I like about abstract image makers like her is that they allow multiple "reads" of their work and kids can come up with some very interesting interpretations.

After checking out some of her work the students were tasked with making their own symmetrical compositions using geometric shapes and bright colors. I modeled how to go about building the abstract image using a variety of shapes and sizes. I made clear that they were to come up with their own image and that I would not be featuring any on the blog that were copies of what I had modeled for them.

They then added color with my favorite drawing tool this year- construction paper crayons.

Students that finished early could read in my mini library or they could contribute a couple pieces to a larger Maya Hayuk inspired canvas. Students from multiple classes added pieces to this bigger composition.

symmetry, space, and suns

This week is the first time I have seen my 2nd graders in 8 weeks. I decided on using illustrator Nate Williams as the inspiration for these classes. Nate does work that has a humorous childlike feel about it. He uses a lot of hand drawn type and his characters are built with a lot of simple geometric shapes. He keeps his color palette pretty simple- primary colors or monochrome schemes.

Half of the classes did a collage and the other half did a drawing.
The focus of both was recognizing and creating symmetry in art. Before creating with both groups, we looked at Nate's website and discussed his job, his use of color and symmetry in his work.

The collage groups made a sun lion. They used both bi-lateral and radial symmetry in their work.

It was a lot of cutting, pasting, and drawing for an hour. Really less than an hour with the project intro. I wish I had 10 more minutes with each of those classes. I think reducing the scale of the project would help in the future.

I switched it up half way through my classes because of this rushed feeling with the collage. The drawing is based on an outer space scene Nate did. 

Along with focusing on symmetry, these classes also did some color mixing. They used construction paper crayons to make secondary colors by mixing two primary colors. As they were adding elements to their drawings I emphasized that they should use different sizes to create some 3d space. Big in the front and small in the back.

Even though the whole composition is not symmetrical, most of the individual elements are.