mr. mallett- art education advocate

Last week I did a lesson based on designer and animation artist Zac Mallett. His response to the kids' work was one of the most eloquent we have received. I thought it was very on point, especially as the district is about to cut 1600 teaching positions, including 21 art positions. Zac recognizes the importance of art education and its impact on future generations of inventors and designers, as well as the American economy.

Please check it out.

Hi Don,

Your email really made my day (week, month!) Of all the feedback I've had over the years, seeing your lesson plan and the kids' work is by far the most touching and meaningful. There seems to be a real joy in the students' work, and in all the work on the Zamorano page. Their use of colour, combined with the fantastic robot illustrations and really positive messages has made some great pieces. I hope they had fun with the style and they should be very proud of their work!

I'd like the students to know that my day job is creating visual effects for TV shows and movies, and that while most of my work is done on a computer, the experiences I had as a kid in art class (both in school, and in the community) gave me the basic knowledge I use every day. Whether it's drawing on paper, painting on canvas, or compositing a fire-breathing dragon that flies across a movie screen, the concepts of positive and negative space, colour theory, line of action, etc all apply. The education they're getting today will prepare them for possibilities they haven't dreamed of yet, and will enrich their lives no matter what direction they choose.

Don, to see such thoughtful and aware pieces from kids that age is extraordinary, and to have played a small role is their artistic development is extremely humbling. You seem to be doing a fantastic job fueling your students' creativity, and exposing them to such a range of styles, techniques and influences is just inspirational - they're truly fortunate.

Thank you again for your kind words and for making the choice to be an art teacher - people like you make such a huge difference.

All the best,

Zac Mallett

I replied to his email and got another one back, just as inspirational as the first. In my message I mentioned how the arts were taking a big hit in our budget, as well as education in general.

  

Thursday, May 03, 2012 10:12 AM

Hi Don,

It seems that art programs (and anything other than math and science) are being squeezed, or eliminated everywhere. Emerging market growth, jobs moving overseas, and a perceived lack of competitiveness in North America are all strong pressures on decisions makers to push schools to be leaner, and focus more on subjects that are felt to give students a leg up. The arts are often seen as a luxury we can no longer afford, but this is far from true.

In a global economy North America can't hope to compete directly with heavy industry in China, textile manufacturing in Vietnam, or soon even with computer programmers in India. If North America is to preserve our current standard of living we have to embrace a creative, knowledge based economy. Art and design is at the core of such an economy.

When you speak to you school board, parent groups, or politicians ask them this: The iPhone in their pocket was made in China, but where were the layout and images designed? By a graphic artist in America. The Timex on their wrist was made overseas, but it was planed and created by an industrial designer in America. The clothes on their back were made in India, but they were created by a fashion designer in America. You can go on, and on, and on.

Art and design, whether it's industrial or commercial, architecture or Cola ads, is most effective within a cultural context. Art and design are a part of jobs in every sector across America, and they can't be done for 5 cents an hour in China. These jobs are well payed, highly demanding and require a deep understanding of life and tastes in America. These are jobs that cannot be sent overseas.

And each one of those jobs builds on the concepts and creativity that children gain from art class. Art is not a luxury, it is everywhere and in every man-made object we see each day. Schools like Zamorano are not frivolous, but are the building blocks of a diverse knowledge based economy. The artistic knowledge they pass on enriches lives, creates more thoughtful citizens, and provides California with the dynamic workforce it needs for tomorrow.

I'm sure you know all of this already Don, but it's just so important. I hope you and your fellow teachers know that whatever happens, you've really made an impact, and should be so proud of what you've achieved. 

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, upon receiving the Nobel Prize after years of writing and suffering in a Soviet gulag, simply said: "Beauty Will Save the World". I don't know if art can save the world, but it helps to make a world worth living in.

All the best,

Zac

Thanks again Zac for the words of support and encouragement. You are spot on.

motion in the ocean.

Today I introduced the 4th graders to a small selection of work by the late prolific French illustrator/ cartoonist Jean Giraud, aka Moebius or Gir. Giraud influenced countless illustrators with his style and sequencing.

I shared a couple character studies he did for Marvel comics first to hook the kids, and then a few of his surreal land/seascapes. I pointed out his use of contour line to define his settings and characters. The students identified is use of warm and cool colors to create contrast in his images. 

After viewing the last image above, students were able to tell me that the wave looked like it was moving because it was, well, moving. I pushed them further and we agreed that the wave looked like it was in motion due to the shapes and lines Giraud used. He captured what the position of the wave in motion. Same for the floating figure. That dude won't be able to stay in that position and place in the sky for very long.

I guided students through drawing a wave composition of their own. They were free to put a different character or thing in the sky. They traced their lines with an ultrafine sharpie and then they got to painting their scene with watercolors. They remembered that the more water you added to the color would make it lighter, so I asked them to attempt to create some tints of colors throughout their scene as well.

Students had the option of using cool colors in the water or the sky and warm colors in the opposite area.

Many of the students were intimidated by the complexity of the image at first, but I asked them relax and try their best. Even if theirs looked different than mine, his, or a classmate's, it would still come out pretty cool. I also showed them how they could use simple shapes first and then go back and add bumpy, irregular details to them. A lot of students were surprised at how cool their images turned out. I'm glad they didn't quit!

huipils.

This week the 1st graders created paper versions of traditional Mexican shirts called huipils. These shirts have been made by the people of Mexico for many years, dating back to pre-Hispanic times. They are woven and embroidered and are often full of bright colors and bold patterning.

The students looked at photos of a number of huipils and they identified different ways the craftsperson had created patterns- through repeating shapes, lines, and colors.

After that the kids started in on their own paper huipils. They made the basic shirt shape first, drawing and cutting the collar and sleeves. They then laid out their cut paper strips, glued them on, and trimmed them to fit.

Then the patterning was done by applying leftover paper and by drawing patterns with a pen and crayons.

If students wanted to add a fringed border to the bottom and/or sleeves they did that at the end with another larger piece of white paper.

The kids rocked the project with lots of variety in patterning and detailing. When I showcase them at our end of the year I plan on displaying them on a clothesline. The process of this project was borrowed from the art ed blog Painted Paper:)

help!

I'm trying to upload new pics for a post, but I got a message saying my picasa web folder was full and I would need to purchase a monthly storage plan to add more memory. Any way I can get around this without having to pay each month???

Any help would be appreciated.

flowers in the dark

A project post that slipped through the cracks...

Earlier in the year I introduced the 5th graders to the work of the husband and wife design team at Eight Hour Day. Nathan and Katie create striking design compositions that push the possibilities of decorative space while mixing in a little depth through overlapping or size change.

The piece that we focused on after viewing numerous works from their website portfolio was a floral still life.

A fairly simple concept, but I emphasized to the class that the flowers are all different in design. The bottles are all different shapes and sizes. The color palette is limited, but this creates a necessary sense of unity in the design.

We discussed how the shapes, themselves, look flat, but the overlapping and subtle shifts in vertical placement give the design a sense of 3d space.

The students' assignment was to create their own still life of at least 3 bottles and flowers. They needed to strike a balance between decorative and plastic space.

Students drew out their designs in pencil and then used construction paper crayons to add color to the black field. This step proved to be more challenging than I expected it to be. The main reason for this is that after drawing their design in pencil, many students wanted to trace their pencil lines with the white crayon. However, in order to get details to show up in the bottles, students needed to color AROUND their pencils lines. It's not a negative space drawing, but they needed to stay off those lines in order for their details show up. I modeled this numerous times, but I was still surprised by the number of students that still struggled with it.

Despite the struggles with the coloring technique, many students still came up with quite interesting patterns, flowers, and still life compositions.

robot overlords.

Look out!

This week the 4th graders are doing robot propaganda posters inspired directly by a poster by Zachary Mallett. 

Zachary is a 3d lighting artist based up in Vancouver. He makes fictional characters and objects look more realistic by adding light and dark values to the flat base shapes they are made of. He also applies a similar use of light and dark to posters and designs that he creates. The latter works are more graphic and bold in nature.

The kids were pretty thrilled when they got to see some images of Zachary's from his website. They immediately picked up on his use of tints and shades to make things look more realistic. After sharing some of his work with the kids I also showed them some older propaganda posters so they could see examples of the format and style Zachary used in his robot design.

When the students found out that they were going to make their own robot designs, they got a little giddy to say the least:)

They planned out the basic composition first by cutting a black rectangle into a thin piece and a thick piece. They then chose a background square color and glued them all down to the yellow backing paper.

They drew out our robots next and added shadows to them based on an imaginary light source from the left or the right. Then cut out the bots. Some students added a symbol in the sky that related to their robot, but some decided that it was not necessary for their design. I suggested that if their robot was on the smaller side then they should add something to help fill up the background space.

Before gluing the robots onto the square, students added a pattern with one construction paper crayon that faded out as it moved from one side of the square to the other. Then the cut out could get glued down. I asked students to think about which direction they wanted their composition to go. Horizontal or vertical? Skinny black bar at the top or bottom?

Then it was time for them to add their slogan. A simple yet bold statement in the thick black rectangle. I had them write it out in pencil before going back and filling it in, so that they could space the type evenly and they could correct any misspellings.

So far so good, 4th graders. I'm looking forward to seeing more fantastic robots tomorrow!

your start up disk is almost full!

I started to get pop ups like this during spring break, until I got one that said that it was full and I would have issues doing anything on the computer if I didn't take measures to "get rid of a lot of crap". The pop up didn't actually say that last part, but it's what I needed to do. Yesterday, the last day of my glorious 4 week spring break, seemed like as good a time as any to get my computer in working order again. As I was cleaning house I came across some images of projects that I have taught in the past before I started blogging.

This following project is one that was newly rediscovered.

I had introduced Filipino textiles and weavings to the 1st graders and they created a mixed media collage inspired by examples that I shared with them. In these weavings there is a combination of geometric and natural shape patterning. Sometimes the balance is tilted more towards the geometric, sometimes towards the natural. The style of these weavings is abstract in style, the artisans are not concerned with making things look 3d in their designs.

The weavings were worn or used in different ways, and originally only the wealthy wore the fancy ones on special occasions. The colors used to dye the thread and fabric came from plants and other natural sources as well.

Students cut strips of similar colors to create the stripe pattern first. Then I gave them scraps of fancy wallpaper to add geometric shapes to their paper design. The final step was to add patterns using natural shapes with a marker over top of the patterns they already created.

This project was a big hit with the kids because our site has a large Filipino community and the students love to share how many times they have visited the Philippines and who in their family still live there.

It's good to be back!