Figure Drawing - Silhouettes

Last summer I ran into a student who told me she REALLY wanted to learn to draw human figures better. So, when I got around to planning lessons for this year I remembered that request and decided to make that the focus for at least one project for 4th graders.

We began with a mini Math lesson where kids figured out how many head lengths (top of head to chin) tall they were. It came out to about 6 or 6 1/2 head lengths. Then we talked about how the body looked when playing soccer (or some other physical activity where motion was involved). I think it is especially important to notice the angles of the arms and legs, where they bend, the tilt of the head, etc. We played a game where one child would freeze in some animated pose and the class would try to guess what s/he was doing. FUN!! (sorry I didn't get photos of this phase!)

Then I modeled on the big screen how to draw a stick figure (6 heads tall, of course) with just the head, shoulder line, spine, hip line, arms and legs. I talked about the angle of the shoulder and hip lines and drawing my figure so that the head/limbs "bumped the edges of the paper (so that later they would create negative space areas for painting).
I also talked about the importance of placing the head near the very top of the paper (unless your arms are going to be raised above the head) so the figure would be tall enough. We used white crayon on black construction paper.

 Next came a contour all around the stick figure lines. I found that, as the first group of kids tried this step, some forgot to go all around both sides of their stick figure line, making the limbs too skinny at first. So, in the next class I really emphasized that point as I was demonstrating.

 I have done lessons similar to this before, using pipe cleaners, paper strips, etc.( see here and here) to help students form a body in motion, but this time I wanted to try it "from scratch" without any crutches to help. I had seen a similar project done with older students on Artsonia (HERE) where the silhouettes had clothes. So at this point I showed the children how to add small touches (sleeves, cuffs, hair) that would enhance the idea of MOTION.

This was a little tricky for some. Adding these touches was optional or "artist's choice"
but I noticed that most kids gave it a try.

The students did a GREAT job of cutting out their silhouette. We only had one head and one arm cut off in 2 classes, and that was an easy fix when they glued the silhouette on the background later.

 Once the figure was cut out, students traced around it onto their 9" X 12" white illustration board making sure that the white crayon lines were on the back, not showing. (You could use construction or watercolor paper for this, I just have a large collection of cut board that I wanted to use up.)

 The boys at this table thought this guy looked like a combination of Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and somebody else that I can't remember -- they're right! Love it!!

The next step, after discussing the vocabulary words "positive and negative space", was to paint their areas of negative space with different tints and shades of one color. Students used cake tempera and liquid white tempera. They had a yogurt container lid for their palette and we talked about how to use the palette without smearing color over the entire surface and trying to keep separate little areas for mixing. If the palette did get "full" they could easily wipe it clean with a paper towel and start again.

One tip, when painting the negative spaces, I asked kids to paint a little over the pencil line, into their positive space area, so that later when they glued they would only see only color and not the white, unpainted background.

When all the negative spaces were painted, children put dots of glue around the edges of their silhouettes (on the back side where the white crayon lines were), flipped them over carefully and glued them in place.They placed them on the drying racks, but since we are in the middle of a heat wave, these were dry before I knew it!!

I am loving walking down the halls these days!! What a view!! Makes me feel like exercising (well, almost)!!

I REALLY love what the addition of clothes does to the silhouettes!!!

Textured Background and Contrast

The meanderings of a Saturday afternoon:

Sometimes the idea for a piece of art comes from whatever surplus items I happen to have around. The other day, as I was cleaning out a closet, I came upon by bag (or, to be more precise, BAGS) of leftover yarn. And so this art project began...

First step was to wrap and tape some yarn to a piece of board.

Next, I painted the whole thing. I used primary colors, but I am thinking that kids could use whatever color theme they like.

Then I unwrapped the yarn, but wasn't all that happy with it because of the lack of contrast. Think I'll give it a try using liquid tempera instead of cake tempera.

However, as it dried I noticed there were some darker areas . . . I thought, "Maybe if I just make them darker." So, out came the crayons.

I find that one of the hardest things to teach elementary students is to "see the darks" and get a full range of value. This might be a good exercise for that.
I chose dark values of crayons and deepened the painted areas that were already a bit dark. Huge improvement!!

Satisfied with the results, I went back to my closet organizing. Right in front was my newest project (which I found through Pinterest here - it's a great tutorial!) -- twisted twine made from fabric scraps (which I have in abundance in another cupboard!!). Maybe fodder for a future post!

This, of course triggered phase two of my little art project -- some lines. At first I made a black and white line and then tried a secondary color line to mimic my twine. I wasn't sure which I liked and left them both sitting there on the background while I continued my closet project. When I came back I started moving the 2 lines around and intertwining them until I found a composition that I liked.

I think this will be a good process for kids at school to reinforce how artists often don't just crank things out at one time, but rather, mull over their options and discover new solutions:)) And now, back to my closet . . . ho-hum . . .

Keith Haring, the Olympics and Mondrian

What do these three entities have in common? Well, last week 5th graders used the positions that Olympic athletes might assume to create a Haring-like figure. They used pipe cleaners and card stock shapes to form a figure showing MOVEMENT.

They quickly drew a contour line around their figure and drew lines to segment that figure into a minimum of 12 sections and cut out the piece.

This drawing was done on white card stock.

I used Mondrian's Compositon A to illustrate how artists think about color BALANCE as they make paintings. For example, Mondrian did not place all his blue shapes in the same area of his painting; he spaced them out. Students then considered that principle of art as they completed the color portion of their art.

Our goal was to create a collaborative "installation" using figures from all 5th graders in the school. Here is part of that work:

As I walked around I noticed that most kiddos were conscientiously considering balance as they chose locations for their colors and patterns/designs. One adult passing the hallway display said I should title the whole board "HAPPY". Not a bad idea as we welcome the Winter Olympics this week!!

Santa Monica Seascapes

While much of the country is under a blanket of snow, it is still pretty nice here at the beach. (Truth be told, we do have a trace of rain today, though.) 3rd graders finished up their multi-media Seascapes, adding people, sailboats, etc. to their work. We did the painting part of the seascape last week (HERE).

The glue is drying on these five. I am thinking that this would be a great collaborative project for a long bulletin board!!!

After demonstrating the difference size makes in giving the illusion of depth, I asked students to make at least one object to place in the background (near the horizon line), mid-ground (in the waves) and foreground (on the beach), making sure to vary the sizes. It was fun watching kids generate ideas and share them with their friends. I'd say that most children understood the concepts, but some could still use some more practice implementing the skills. Either way, their seascapes are charming!!

I loved the person diving (feet up) and the person relaxing on the chaise lounge under the umbrella on the left AND the cruise ship the girl on right added!!! We don't see many cruise ships off our coast:))

Let the Seascape Paintings Begin!!

While many folks on the east coast are suffering through extreme weather problems, I am almost embarrassed to say that Southern California has barely begun to feel the beginnings of Fall. Actually, it pretty much still seems like summer in our little beach town. So, this week we started a seascape painting.

Using the Smartboard, I began each class with a quick "Hang Spider" game (just like Hangman, only we form a spider hanging from a web instead of a hanging person) with the secret word being "beach." Next, I shared the following selection from a book I was reading a few weeks ago. It was a perfect launching place for us to discuss what the beach often looks like on a nice day:

                           The beach is crowded with color, humming with motion,
                            dappled with sun and shadow. It's windy, but that
                            just makes the waves sparkle and dance.  One of
                            those days you get a glimpse of where Monet was
                            coming from.
                                 from Face Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan
3rd Graders had questions about the underlined parts of the paragraph, so this was a perfect opportunity to integrate language, writing and Monet!! After our discussion I had kids close their eyes so they could visualize the scene while I re-read the passage. (I'll use this text again next week when we add people, boogie boards, beach balls, etc. to our seascapes.)

I shared a bunch of beach photos like those above. It was the next best thing to being down on the beach ourselves! We discussed the difference between the blues in the sky and the blue-greens and darker hues of the water. I also used my "Mr. Brush" chart as we talked about care and cleaning of our brushes. In this project we used 3 different paints and brush types, so I modeled the use of each throughout the lesson.

Watercolors, white acrylic paint and tempera paint.

Students started by drawing a single white crayon line for their horizon line (this helps them see where the sky ends and the sea begins when they are painting). They used the side of crayons to quickly shade in a beach area in their foreground and then the painting began. They filled one of the compartments in their watercolor tray lid with water, tinted it with blue and painted their sky.

Next, they added more water to the tray and mixed whatever colors they wanted for their ocean. I find one of the hardest things for young children to judge is how much water to put in the tray to be able to cover their painting areas, so I circulate quickly to answer those questions.

When kids were finished with this watercolor phase, I showed them how to quickly clean their paint trays using their dry paper towel and we put those paints and brushes aside so they could switch to white acrylic paint and sturdy synthetic brushes used to stipple ( a new term for them) on the waves. Students could use the ends of skinny plastic paintbrushes to "dot" on the sunlight glinting on the water if they wanted.

A final step for the classes that had enough time was to use white tempera to "splatter" on some paint to make it look like the waves were splashing up water. This is ALWAYS a popular step for "more active" students !!!

Here are a few examples drying. I had more paintings than I had drying racks, so we had to put some outside to dry. Next week, when kids have added all the fun details, I'll post our results.

Kindergarten Wildflowers

I first saw a version of this lesson on Kids Artists back in February. See here. Jaquelien did the lesson with 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders, I decided to give it a try with Kinders in their last session with me this year. We celebrated the wonderful wildflowers we see on hillsides outside of the city this time of year.

First, we used construction paper crayons and colored pencils to make stems on black cardstock (5 1/2" X 8"). Children were asked to start at the BOTTOM of their paper (where a plant would actually start growing) and make stems of varying lengths and thicknesses. I also encouraged them to overlap stems and give them different directions to create the impression of movement.

Next, having viewed slides of wildflowers and noticing how they look sort of like blobs of color when seen from a distance, students used Q-tips to apply different colors of paint. Children had noticed how some flowers on the hillsides are clumped with like colors together, and on other hills the colors were pretty random. Their art reflected these different approaches. I only had 2 colors of paint at a table at one time, and then changed the colors, to encourage more thoughtful placement of "flower" colors.

The classroom teacher and I were both pleased with the balance of color that children achieved. As a side note, using Q-tips instead of brushes made for VERY easy clean-up. We even had time for a story after we put the paintings on the drying racks -- and that hardly ever happens!!