Cubist Portraits

Here are examples of our abstract portraits. During my lesson, I talked about how european artists first got the idea to start painting in ways that were not realistic. At first some of them (Fauve and German Expressionist if anyone wants to look it up) did this by painting realistically but with crazy wacky colors. We looked at pictures of people with green skin and orange hair. Afterwards, other artists (like Picasso) started moving different body parts around. For my example, I asked students to try using experimental colors and then cutting them up. This one was another big hit with students. After focusing so hard on drawing realistically, I think it was really liberating for them. 

Mythical Creatures

Tissue Paper + Water

Collage Color Wheel

I've had my students do color wheels before so I wanted to change it up. This project was really successful and students did an amazing job with the color matching.

Collage

This quarter, I've been lucky enough to work with local artist Keegan Xavi. She did some amazing work with the students and consequently I've been thinking a lot more about collage. 

This technique is a little different from what she usually does. I tend to use more geometric shapes which give it more of a mosaic look. I also encouraged students to draw some kind of basic design to start off to give their finished pieces a little more structure. 

Superheros

One of the classes I'm currently teaching is an Arts Literacy integration class. After doing some experimenting during the first quarter, I've decided to focus the class more closely on comics, graphic novels, and illustration. This project was for a unit on characterization. Students were given xerox's of a wide assortment of Marvel superheros and were allowed to collage them together and color them to create their own characters. Afterwards we completed a short writing assignment that included inventing appropriate backstories, motivations, and goals for our characters.

Mythical Creatures Collage

When I read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, I was expecting the format to be similar to a field guide. Boy, was I ever disappointed. The book contained lots of written descriptions but NO PICTURES! It did however give me this wonderful idea for a student project. I printed off several different illustrations form the Website ClipArtETC and made copies for the students. Students used the Xeroxes to make collages of their own imaginary creatures.