8th- Modular Sculptures

This project is brought to you by THAT ART TEACHER, she has a super awesome blog too! You should check it out sometime!

 Tate defines modular as “a term used particularly in relation to minimalism, referring to a work of art with constituent parts that can be moved, separated and recombined.”

During the 1960s artists began creating simple sculptures made from industrial materials like sheet metal, plywood and bricks. In order to distance themselves from traditional sculpture, minimalist artists would describe these artworks in very literal ways, calling them ‘specific objects’ or ‘modules’.

The term modular is closely associated with the artist Sol LeWitt who, in 1965, began working on a series of open and closed cubes, like building blocks, which could be ordered and inter-locked in various different combinations in accordance with a pre-determined system.

Rasheed Araeen is a great artist to study minimalism, geometric shapes and modular art.  You can read about his work here on the Tate Museum website.

Camilla Løw is another artist that connects to minimalism and geometric shapes.  She creates fun sculptures that are great examples of non-objective art.  See examples of her work here.

Directions:

MAKING MODULES

Remember,  Tate defines modular as “a term used particularly in relation to minimalism, referring to a work of art with constituent parts that can be moved, separated and recombined.” 

1. You and your partner need to decide on a shape and make as many as you can with the popsicle sticks provided. Be creative and think of all the different shapes you could make before deciding. You can use Elmer's glue for this step. 

2. After all of your modules have been constructed, you and your partner will choose a color to paint them. Paint all of your modules the same color. 

3. Using your cardboard base as a starting point, begin arranging your modules to create an interesting abstract form with your shapes. Use hot glue to put the modules together. You're sculpture needs to be balanced and stand on its own. 

(Remember, your sculpture will be painted a single color at this point)

4. After you finish assembling your sculpture, you will be able to add another color to your sculpture by splattering paint onto it. 

5.  Let your sculpture dry and submit your sculpture to Artsonia.

You should submit two photos of your sculpture from different angles for full credit.

Your and your partner should both submit photos. 

7th- Graffiti

7th Grade Graffiti Unit- 

"From 'Tags' to 'Pieces': Creating a Personal Identity"

For the next couple weeks we will be working on creating a personal identity and showcasing it through our artwork. We will be learning about the history and art form of graffiti. The term graffiti is writing or drawings that have been scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and it has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire. In modern times, paint, particularly spray paint, and marker pens have become the most commonly used graffiti materials. In most countries, marking or painting property without the property owner's consent is considered defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime.

We will be using the website https://graffitiknowhow.com/ for a lot of info.

Graffiti History

 

DAY 1-3

During our first week you will decide on a tag, or nickname, to use for the graffiti unit; practice creating graffiti letters and brainstorm ideas for your first piece.

1. We will work together and discuss some characteristics that are showcased in graffiti fonts, such as layout, letter structure, overlapping, add ons/break offs, and shading techniques. 

2. Practice creating different lettering ideas. You should use your initials for this step. You can take a look at one of the links below for help and inspiration. You can also use sites like 1001fonts.com to find graffiti inspired fonts. 

3. Create a nickname for yourself that is at least four letters long. Fold a piece of paer in half and practice your nickname using two different graffiti fonts. Choose a color scheme and practice blending some of your colors together to make interesting color combinations. Think about how you will create contrast between your background shape and your name. 

KEEP YOUR SKETCHES FROM THESE TWO DAYS. YOU WILL NEED TO SUBMIT THEM FOR CREDIT. 

https://cooltourspain.com/graffiti-letters/

Here is a link to a site that discusses creating graffiti letters. It could also be helpful as you work on creating your different design ideas. 

Here is another website with a good tutorial on word placement and blending colors.

Here is a wikihow with two font design tutorials with step by step instructions.

Here is a Youtube site, DK Drawing that has a ton of graffiti tutorial videos.

DAY 3-8

Our final project will be creating a small fence sculpture with your graffiti painted on its side. We will be using paint and posca pens to paint your graffiti design on the side of your fence. 

Take a look at the link below for a bunch of step by step pictures of the entire process.

https://amslerartroom.wordpress.com/student-work/graffiti-fence-name-designs/

Remember to make your piece bold and colorful. This is a personal art piece that represents you. Use colors that you like and choose a style of letters that you enjoy.

 

7th AR Standards: CR1.7.1 CR 2.7.1 CR2.7.2 CR3.7.1 P5.7.1 R7.7.2 CN10.7.1 CN11.7.1

6th Grade- Henna Hand Zentangles

Our next project will take us halfway around the world to an ancient tradition practiced for over 5000 years. You will create a henna design on a hand using the zentangle method and then color your design using crayons or colored pencils. Zentangles and henna designs will create awesome patterns and textures in your artwork.

Check out this link about henna --> http://www.art-is-fun.com/henna-hand-designs
Here are two links on zentangles --> https://www.zentangle.com/   http://tanglepatterns.com/

Origin of Henna

The art of henna (called mehndi in Hindi & Urdu) has been practiced for over  5000 years in Pakistan, India, Africa and the Middle East. There is some documentation that it is over 9000 years old.  Because henna has natural cooling properties, people of the desert, for centuries, have been using henna to cool down their bodies.  They make a paste of henna and soak their palms and soles of the feet in it to get an air conditioning affect.  They feel its cooling sensation throughout the body for as long as the henna stain remains on their skin.  Initially, as the stain faded away, it left patterns on the skin surface which led to ideas to make designs for decorative purposes.  In the ancient Egyptian times mummies wore henna designs and it is documented that Cleopatra herself used henna for decorative purposes.

Henna was not only a popular adornment for the rich but the poor, who could not afford jewelry, used it to decorate their bodies as well.

Henna in the West

Today people all over the world have adopted the ancient traditions of adorning their bodies with the beautiful natural artwork created from the henna plant.  It became a very popular form of temporary body decoration  in the 90's in the US and has become a growing trend ever since.  Celebrities like Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Yasmine Bleeth, Liv Tyler, Xena, and many others proudly adorn their bodies with henna and show them off in public, movies, videos, etc. People throughout the west have adopted the eastern tradition in their lives by having their hands and feet painted for weddings, bellies painted while in pregnancy, heads adorned with henna while going through chemotherapy, scars camouflaged to make them unnoticeable, etc.

DIRECTIONS:

STEP 1: TRACE YOUR HAND, PUT YOUR HAND TOWARDS THE TOP OF THE PAGE SO YOU CAN HAVE SOME OF YOUR WRIST TO DRAW ON.

STEP 2: CHOOSE A TRADITIONAL OR ZENTANGLE STYLE HENNA HAND DESIGN.

STEP 3: CREATE YOUR DESIGN IN YOUR HAND. USE THE WEBSITES PROVIDED ABOVE TO HELP WITH YOUR DESIGNS.

ZENTANGLE HAND

TRADITIONAL HAND

AR Standards: CR2.6.1 R8.6.1 R9.6.1 CN10.6.1 

5th- Robots and Doughnuts with Eric Joyner

Our next project takes a look at contemporary artist Eric Joyner and creating a metallic effect with colored pencils by blending them together. 

Contemporary art is the art of today, produced by artists who are living in the twenty-first century. Contemporary art provides an opportunity to reflect on contemporary society and the issues relevant to ourselves, and the world around us.

Take a look here for more examples of contemporary art:

http://arthistory.about.com/od/current_contemporary_art/f/what_is.htm

http://www.art21.org/teach/on-contemporary-art/contemporary-art-in-context

Pulled from Eric Joyner's website.

In 1999, I started to enter various juried shows at Artisans Gallery in Mill Valley, CA. and the work was well received. Shows in other galleries, (usually group shows) were positive as well. In 2000, after years of painting other people’s pictures, I made the decision to only paint things that I liked. Four series of paintings of different subjects were started; they were: San Francisco urbanscapes, paintings of old newspaper cartoons characters, Mexican masks, and last but not least, Japanese tin (toy) robots. Though all four series of these subjects were enjoyable to do, I chose to focus on the tin robots, as they were the most popular and seemed to have the most possibilities. So, armed with a small collection of tin robots and spaceships I began painting them in earnest. In attempt to bring them to life without losing their charm, I showed them where they belonged: outer space. By 2002 the paintings were looking good, but they still needed something to play off of… perhaps a nemesis. After a month or so of searching for a ‘nemesis’ I had an epiphany while watching the movie ‘Pleasantville.’ In one of the scenes, Jeff Daniels paints a still life of…donuts. With thoughts of Wayne Thiebaud’s pastries always close at hand, it wasn’t difficult to see the battle scene of robots retreating from 300-foot tall donuts when I went to bed that night. The rest, as they say, is history.

This video is a tutorial showing some different colors you can blend together to create some metallic textures. 

Directions:

Create a robot artwork inspired by Eric Joyner.

Add donuts (or another type of sweet treat) to your robot drawings like Eric Joyner. 

Create a metallic texture on your robot using the blending techniques we worked on in class. 

There are many robot part examples below here for inspiration. 

AR Standards: CR1.5.2 P6.5.2 R7.5.1 

7th- Illuminated Letters

Our next project examines the art of Illuminations. 

Look at the slide show to learn about illuminated letters.

After looking at the slideshow,

 create an illuminated letter using the first letter of your last name.

Use the square piece of paper provided.

Illuminated Letters Introduction from traciecampbell

There are two different approaches to completing your illuminated letter project.

The top piece is more of a traditional approach to the illumination and the bottom piece is a more modern approach. Both pieces are inspired by items that I like and can relate to. You should do the same. 

Using the square piece of paper required, draw your letter first and then add details and embellishments to your design.

7th AR Standards: R7.7.1 R7.7.2 CN10.7.1 

7th- Keith Larsen- The Faces in Places- Google Drawings

This project will be a digital assignment using Google Drawings. You will need to look at the slideshow for all instructions for this project. 

Your first task will be creating an original emoji. This project will help you learn how to use the tools. The next part of the project will be to create an image in the style of Keith Larsen's Faces within Places drawings.

Your second task will be to find an item in the real world that looks like a face and take a photo of it. Then you will use what you learned creating your emoji smiley to create a unique character from your item.  

Take a look at the video for some examples of this. This is a phenomenon called pareidolia and everyone experiences it. 

NOW take a look at the slideshow and begin your project!

8th Grade- Art Careers Poster

This week we will be researching an art career and making a poster to share your information with everyone. You will be assigned a career so everyone will research a different career.

You can use The Art Career Project to help research your career. You may also use other valid internet resources. 

As you can see below there are MANY art careers out there for you to research!

Day 1-2

Research and answer the questions below about your career. 

Day 2-5 Create Poster 

During these four days you will work on creating a poster that details your career. Use the research worksheet to help you organize information on your poster. Your poster must contain words and images, and will be graded equally on creativity and neatness.