trying out texture!

The kinders have been experimenting with texture in their most recent rotation with me. We met before spring break and did one project and then this week (after a 3 week break) we continued investigating what texture is and how you can use it in art.

The first lesson was based on a travel poster series by the Filipino group of Team Manila. Over 1/3 of our students have Filipino ties, so it's always great to share contemporary art from there with them. We looked at one poster in particular and talked about the patterns found on sailboats called vintas in the Philippines. We then got into texture and students volunteered to touch items around the room and described how they felt.

We then drew out the basics of the composition together on styrofoam plates, so we could turn the image into a colorful relief print. We added lines to the sail and students added patterns of their choosing to them. After demonstrating how to hold the marker when coloring on styrofoam, the kids filled their scenes with water soluble marker colors.

Everyone then transferred their image onto a piece of smooth watercolor paper with my help to wet the paper and to hold the paper still as they rubbed.

This week, we have been looking at an illustration by super rad LA based artist, illustrator, and animation designer Kevin Dart. We started by looking at one of his image and spending almost 10 minutes identifying things, shapes, and colors in the landscape. As we identified items, I wrote them on the board next to the image, so the kids could see the wealth of vocabulary present in the image. We used this image as inspiration for a landscape drawing. Instead of using polka dot patterns for the centers of the flowers, we used plastic texture plates to add patterns in those spots. I also encouraged students to add little lines to their field to give that area a sense of grass like texture.

And one last thing! Did a test today using students drawings as backdrops for stop motion shorts. The flying bee was done first against a green screen, took a photo of a student drawing, and then combined the two. My hope is to do much more of this- having kids make their drawings come alive, as a choice center at the end of lessons. We'll see how it shakes out this year:) 

street sweets!

This week I'm chillin' with my kinders and we are using the most awesome mosaics by Jim Bachor to learn a little bit about texture in nature and art.

Jim has been buzzing all over the interwebs lately, and for good reason- his mosaic series of cool treats that are filling potholes in Chicago and elsewhere are super rad! You can use his work to introduce students to a variety of elements- texture, color value, 3d solids, art historical movements/techniques, and the purpose and place of art in society.

With my littles, we have been looking at how Jim uses light and dark colors to make his images look 3d, how the tiles feel different than the cement and road they are placed in, and the fact that these artworks are out in public, actually placed in the street, and not in an art gallery or museum.

I have been sharing some photos of his mosaics from the art blog Colossal and the kids are getting such a kick out of his work and subject. It really is such a great hook to get students engaged. If you follow him on instagram, you can see some more behind the scenes stuff too:)

After we look at Jim's work, we take a little on campus field trip- out to the playground with our black color sticks and white paper to do a rubbing of the black top and then over to one of the mosaics we did with students a few years back, so the kids can actually feel the difference between the tile surfaces and grout.

love:)

Then we come back in and cut out a large grey popsicle shape- larger than the actual pop to simulate the space and color of the grout of a mosaic. Kids pick a color for their treat and add white to a a third, leave a 3rd the color, and add black to the other third. We cut those parts up to little squares and rectangles (keeping them sorted and stacked in the process:) so that we can glue those onto the gray shape on the rubbing paper. I emphasize leaving little spaces between the pieces to simulate the look of a mosaic. Also, when we glue the pieces on, I show them how to put lines of glue on the gray paper, so they don't have to put glue on each individual piece.

And finito- the kinders have a delicious looking intro to texture, all thanks to Jim and the long line of mosaic artists that have come before!

gone fishin.

The 4th graders have gone fishin this week with the help of Erik Abel. A fair bit of students will need some time next week, but I thought I'd share some of the cool drawings that have been completed so far:)

Erik is an amazing artist who is constantly inspired by the ocean, the creatures that inhabit it, and the landscape surrounding it. I love his sense of color, style, and composition. I have used his work as inspiration for multiple projects in the past. I was scrolling through my instagram feed recently (like, this past weekend) and when I came across the image below that Erik had just posted. It's a bit of a departure for him in terms of shape, contours, and mark making and I think it's absolutely awesome! I think it could be the source of a great shape and collage lesson, but I decided that I would use it for a lesson in my texture unit.

We look at a number of images from his website and then I share this image with them. We identify the geometric shapes Erik has used and how he created a bit of depth in the images by changing fish sizes. I also point out that there is a spot on each fish that is handled differently than the rest in that it has a more natural texture than the other parts. It contrasts from the rest and gives the image a little boost of energy. Before the kids start with their sketches we also review our warms and cools from the previous 2 lessons and go over how each of the warms has a cool opposite or complement.

The students need to draw at least 2 small practice fish before starting their large (12x15") final drawing. I walk them through using geometric shapes as the basis for body, head, fins, tail fins, and interior elements like gills.

After their sketches are done, students can start on the large drawing- making sure to alter the size of the fish to create a little depth. Erik's image doesn't have outlines, but I had the students use thick and thin sharpies to outline their parts and create variety in their line weight. 

When students were ready to color, I modeled using texture plates to create different patterns on their fish. I emphasized only using textures on some of their fish parts to create contrast between solod and patterned parts. Students were also to use at least one pair of complementary colors per fish. They could use more than that pair, but they needed to demonstrate that they could identify and use complements too.

Their exit slips are done on post-it notes for this one. I gave them to sentence starters to reflect on the project. 

off and rubbing!

We're back! After 4 weeks of spring break, it feels real good to get back in the class and working with our kiddos:)

All grade levels will be focusing on texture as their next unit of study, so I was able to tie in our visit to Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West for the project. Hello, tax write off! ;)

I've been sharing photos of my family's spring break trip with the kids and then getting into the focus of the lesson. I think it's always good to give students a peek into what we do when we don't have our teaching hats on.

The inspiration for the project is the above mosaic done by Clare Boothe Luce (who was a fascinating trailblazer on so many levels in her lifetime). It hangs in FLW's living room space. We look at the different materials that she used to create the artwork- stones, wood, saguaro and chollas cacti ribbing, deer antler and how these were materials that were native to the location of the house. I ask them to describe what this piece would feel like if they were able to touch it. Then we talk about how other things around us feel.

With this project I want students to experience texture and see how it can create patterns in art. Each class starts with 5 sheets of colored paper (I'm having classes use different sets of analogous colors to create variety in visual displays later on. Since I see half classes, each class will have 2 different color schemes to hang in their classrooms and I'll have a nice range to display elsewhere.) They use colorsticks to rub the texture patterns onto their paper- the textures loosely represent our San Diego climate/landscape- flowers, palm tree leaves, ocean waves, tree bark, and desert rocks. 

The energy is quite palpable during class, as the kids "discover" the patterns created by the texture plates. This aspect of texture rubbings never gets old for me to witness and listen too:)

Once they have colored all 5 sheets, I give them a backing paper to arrange their pieces on. At this point, they can cut and rearrange the color shapes to create a unique composition. We have been sticking mostly with geometric shapes in the designs.

I don't give the kids any glue until they have their entire composition laid out. I do this to encourage play- moving pieces around and trying out different arrangements.

This one is so elegant in terms of color shifts and line quality:)

I just love the energy of this one. How the student broke from the frame to give it 

a more sculptural feel.

 Really digging the way the triangles float over the cloud like forms below them.