Printed Cityscapes

First graders continued with the cityscape theme and learned a relief printing technique using styrofoam sheets (a relief print is a print from raised images). We reviewed shapes and lines we would see in a cityscape such as rectangles, squares, triangles, straight lines, horizontal, diagonal, and vertical. Then, students planned their drawings on 6"x9" copy paper (same size paper as styrofoam sheets). Once competed with their cityscape plan, students then taped the drawing to the top of the styrofoam sheet and began tracing their pencils lines with an incredibly sharp pencil. The difficulty with this part of the assignment was making sure students applied enough pressure with the pencil to transfer an indentation into the styrofoam sheet. Sometimes, the planned drawing would tear as students transferred their lines. This was perfectly normal.

After all pencil lines were transferred to the styrofoam sheet, students then inked their styrofoam sheets with black water based block printing ink using a brayer, printing the image three times,  and re-inking after each print for good contrast.

As a class, we discussed how artists sign and number prints. Artists use numbers very similar to fractions when signing. Most students signed their print with a 1/3. The bottom number represents the total number of prints created. The top number represents one number within the series of prints.

Cityscapes

First graders are experimenting with a variety of materials to create their own cityscapes. After examining a slideshow of various examples of cityscapes created from different materials and brainstorming many objects or items we would see in a city, students are using the following materials at stations to develop their own unique cityscapes.

Newspapers: We discussed how columns of text, headlines, or even rectangular ads can appear like buildings in our mixed media cityscape.

Scrap Paper: Students have a large selection of colored and textured paper to choose from and even wall paper samples to create buildings, windows, or other elements within our cityscape.

Magazines: As students are looking through the magazines, we discuss proportion and how some images such as people may be too large for our cityscape and appear like giants next to our buildings. So, students are looking for images to cut out that would fit within our cityscape theme proportionately.

Chalk and Oil Pastels: Details can be added by drawing with the chalk and oil pastels. I am noticing most students are using these two materials to create their sky or enhance their newspaper or scrap paper buildings.

Cardboard Printing: Scraps of cardboard cut in various sizes can create the straight lines that we would see on buildings and skyscrapers within a cityscape. Students tap one side of the cardboard in black paint and stamp the cardboard on their paper to create rectangles, squares, and triangles for buildings, windows and doors within their cityscape. The goal is to create lines with cardboard not to paint and fill inside the buildings like a brush.

As students are working at each station to build their cityscape, we discuss how materials such as newspaper and magazines can overlap to create various areas of space within our mixed media art. By overlapping newspaper on top of our cardboard printing, some areas of our cityscape will appear up close while other areas will recede into the background.

Lines, Lines, and more Lines!

I must admit that this lesson idea is not my own, but an idea I borrowed from the great Cassie Stephens at  "What the Art Teacher Wore" blog.  Line is one of six basic design elements in art and students learn about new line vocabulary at the kindergarten level through this lesson and my first and second graders can review their basic line vocabulary as we paint, draw, and sculpt various different lines.  First, kindergarten students are introduced to basic line vocabulary through a poem called "Larry the Line" written by Cassie Stephens.

Larry the Line

Is a friend of mine 

(creating a snake by opening the fingers of your hand, puppet style and there's your snake!)

He can make three

(hold up a three with your fingers)

Straight lines for me!

Ver-tickle

(create a vertical line with your forearm)

Diagonal and horizontal!

(pantomime each)

Any curve, he can learn

With a twist and a turn.

When he's out of his tangle

he makes a great...angle.

(created by placing your hand on your hip and pointing to your elbow)

Any line, he can make

After all, he's a snake! 

After learning the Larry the Line poem, students receive a demonstration on painting. Cassie Stephens likens the bristles of the paint brush to a ballerina: It always dances on it's toes and never scoots around on it's bottom. We also discuss how we dip only the tip of our brush in the paint and never smash Mr. Brush's hairs for that will give him one bad hair day and an awful headache! After demonstrating how to paint a zig zag, wavy, straight, dotted, and dashed line, the students paint the same lines on their own paper using black tempera paint.

Kindergarten add colors of their choosing.

On the next day of this unit, kindergarteners were introduced to our tempera paint cakes.  Students were reminded to use lots of water to activate the tempera cakes and how to clean the brush before choosing another color. 

My first and second graders are also reviewing lines, painting, and brush procedures with a Kandinsky inspired art lesson. On the first day, we examined one of Kandinsky's Compositions using Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS). We also discussed key life facts like where he was born, what inspired him, what was going on during his life, etc. with a keynote presentation. Over the course of 3-4 art classes, students painted chinet plates (perfect plates for painting because of its stiff texture) with Kandinsky inspired concentric circles. We also discussed how radial designs can also appear circular like Kandinsky's concentric circles. Once the plates are painted and patterned, my first and second graders will turn these paper plates into looms and weave. I will be honest, I am a little nervous about teaching first and second graders how to weave. Can you imagine the chaos, but we are going to give it a try!

Lines, Lines, Everywhere!

I must admit that this lesson idea is not my own, but an idea I borrowed from the great Cassie Stephens at  "What the Art Teacher Wore" blog.  Line is one of six basic design elements in art and students learn about new line vocabulary at the kindergarten level through this lesson and my first and second graders can review their basic line vocabulary as we paint, draw, and sculpt various different lines.  First, kindergarten students are introduced to basic line vocabulary through a poem called "Larry the Line" written by Cassie Stephens.

Larry the Line

Is a friend of mine

(creating a snake by opening the fingers of your hand, puppet style and there's your snake!)

He can make three

(hold up a three with your fingers)

Straight lines for me!

Ver-tickle

(create a vertical line with your forearm)

Diagonal and horizontal!

(pantomime each)

Any curve, he can learn

With a twist and a turn.

When he's out of his tangle

he makes a great...angle.

(created by placing your hand on your hip and pointing to your elbow)

Any line, he can make

After all, he's a snake! 

After learning the Larry the Line poem, students receive a demonstration on painting. Cassie Stephens likens the bristles of the paint brush to a ballerina: It always dances on it's toes and never scoots around on it's bottom. We also discuss how we dip only the tip of our brush in the paint and never smash Mr. Brush's hairs. After demonstrating how to paint a zig zag, wavy, straight, dotted, dashed, and curvy line, the students paint the same lines on their own paper using black paint.

Kindergarten add colors of their choosing.

1st and 2nd grade follow Rainbow order.

On the next day of this unit, the first and second graders were introduced to Roy G. Biv (a great way to remember the order of the rainbow) and tempera paint cakes.  Students were reminded to use lots of water to activate the tempera cakes and how to clean the brush before getting another color. My first and second graders watched "The Magic School Bus Makes a Rainbow" (season 3 episode 7) and played with a prism and flashlight to break white light into colors of the rainbow. Second graders also had the opportunity to play with my Primary Science Color Mixing Glasses to view items through the colored lenses. Students in first and second grade will use this knowledge to add a rainbow color pattern to their black line painting.

Magic School Bus Makes a Rainbow

Primary Science Color Mixing Glasses

After learning about line and color (2 of 6 design elements), students will focus on making line sculptures. First, we discuss the difference between flat two-dimensional artwork and three dimensional sculptures. After looking at sculptures examples, we find ones that are familiar and share how can walk around each one, such as the Statue of Liberty.  Using glue and straight lines (strips) of paper, we create a small fold at the ends of the strip creating feet. It's there that glue is applied.  Cassie Stephens suggests to animate the paper which is great for the young elementary students I have in class (to which the strip of paper always responds, "oohh, that tickles my feet! Ohhh, that glue is soo cold!"). Hold the paper in place on the base for about 10 seconds. Students add strips all around their base even folding the paper into zigzags and loops if they so choose.

Line Sculpture with strips of paper.

 

Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Anchor Standard 2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.

Anchor Standard 8: Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.

Anchor Standard 9: Evaluate artistic work based on critical and sensitive response to various visual art experiences. (2D versus 3D)

Creativity Stretcher: Automatic Drawing (Scribble Line Drawing)

This week's focus in art is Creativity Stretchers. After returning from a long weekend, it is sometimes difficult to get back on track to routines, procedures, and projects in the art room, so creativity stretchers are a great way to refocus creative energy into productive quick drawings.

Automatic drawing was developed by the surrealists as a means of expressing the subconscious. In automatic drawing, the hand is allowed to move randomly across the paper.  The drawing produced may be attributed to the subconscious. Artists who practiced automatic drawing include Joan Miro, Salvador Dali, Jean Arp and Andre Breton. The technique was transferred to painting as seen in Miró's paintings which often started out as automatic drawings.

Nocturne by Joan Miro

To start this activity, doodle or scribble with your eyes closed or open.  The objective is to keep a loose hand and “feel” your way through the scribble.  There is something to be said about happy accidents and unplanned ideas! Stop whenever it feels right or as a teacher, set a time for students.  My students are shown how to scribble first by drawing various lines covering the paper completely. I tell them to imagine they are toddlers again. I think my elementary students find great joy with this part of the activity. It may seem messy, but after one minute, I ask students to stop and use their creative eye to transfer scribbles into an interesting design or image using only the scribble lines at first to create a representational image or object.

Some rules that I establish with my students:

• avoid slow methodical planned scribbles (there is no spontaneity with a planned scribble)
• scribble fast and scribble the entire one minute
• when searching for an image, avoid numbers and letters (too easy)
• use the scribble lines as the original form, but add details to help evolve the found image (for example, if an animal shape is found, add texture or face details if not readily found in the available scribble lines)
• No Erasing! 

Once students start the search for an object, animal, creature or whatever pops out from the scribbles, we trace the necessary scribble lines with black permanent marker to make our found object or creature stand out from the rest of the scribbles. This activity is very similar to the hidden picture image in the comic section of the newspaper. I encourage students having a difficult time finding an image to turn their paper and view the scribbles from a different perspective. I even encourage students to hold the scribbles close to their face and pull away to see if anything "pops" for them.

I must admit that this activity is difficult for any concrete "left brain" thinkers and less challenging for those who are easily abstract "right brain" thinkers.  Although incredibly difficult for some the first time, after several attempts, this activity will become easier.

I think the quote below is very applicable to any of the creativity stretchers completed this week...

“Don’t underestimate this idea of mine, which calls to mind that it would not be too much of an effort to pause sometimes to look into these stains on walls,  the ashes from the fire,  the clouds,  the mud, or other similar places.  If these are well contemplated, you will find fantastic inventions that awaken the genius of the painter to new inventions, such as composition of battles, animals and men, as well as diverse composition of landscapes, and monstrous things, as devils and the like.”

Leonardo da Vinci