We are well into the 2nd semester and have completed THREE (update) projects.
The first introduced two artists to the students. First they met Andy Warhol and his style of repeating an image as he emulated mass production in current marketing. Andy Warhol would use the images of social icons. These were products, people or current events. One of the images he used was Marilyn Monroe's face. The students all created a single piece, enlarging the same Marilyn Monroe image. The enlargement was done by gridding the paper and transferring the photo by what was seen in individual squares. Then they were allowed to use any hue to color and shade the face and hair as Warhol did, repeating the image but changing the color.
The grid approach introduced another artist, Chuck Close. Chuck Close is best know for the supersized portraits of his friends. These portraits can been seen at the Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Va and National Gallery in Wash. D.C. They tower above the viewer and are mesmerizing in their detail. The individual gridded Marilyn Monroes were a practice to step up to a larger collaborative project. Drawn in the teacher's parking lot, each student was responsible for a square, drawing and coloring their part. The finished piece is of a large sailboat. The drawing was done Oct. 31st and should last about 2 weeks, weather permitting. Keeping my fingers crossed that it'll be there for parent/teacher conferences.
Last week, while waiting for the clouds to break up so that we could do the outside portion of the previous project, we worked on a watercolor painting. Get out the frames folks because you are about to see some very beautiful paintings enter your homes. I was very pleased with the outcome. We did a practice painting that introduced three watercolor textural techniques. Then the students chose a landscape from magazines and personal photos as inspiration. They did a marvelous job.
Now we are into another project. Today, they started the first of three drawings. They will draw a horse (step-by-step instruction, of course), a dragon and a tree. All three were chosen for the different textural appearance. One of the things I try to help students advance to is not to just color in a space but to create a difference in appearance. Hair (horse)looks different from scales (dragon) and bark (you get it). Then the three drawings will be incorporated into a collage depicting the story of St. George and the Dragon. Following the collage the students will be introduced to how variey and unity work in their pictures.
Next week we will be in the computer lab creating ads for internet safety. Monday we will discuss how advertising influences the public, particularly images. Tuesday they will here a safety awareness account on the website Netsmart, describing how easily predators can get personal information. They will work as partners creating the ad on Corel Paint Shop Pro. With this the students will gain more insight into how working on the internet should be handled and gain new experience with the Corel program. This was a very successful lesson last year. I look forward to the result this year. UPDATE: The students did a great job with this challenge. Working with Paint Shop Pro is elusive in it's manner. The students had to work through exploration to try and get their ideas for the ads to fruition. We all know that learning in life is through trial and error. Art provides the opportunity to develop the "thinking-it-through" skill since there are no absolutes.
Starting 11/12 through the end of the 2nd gradingperiod, 11/29, the students will be picking up the previously started project. It's time to draw the afore mentioned dragon and tree. Then they will combine the drawings along with magazine clippings to create their version of St. George and the Dragon. They are allowed to pick any magazine images for the knight, St. George and a "damsel" in distress. I will look for creativity, in ideas and application, overlapping of images, to create depth and interest, will be a requirement.
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