Giant Masks at DragonWing Arts!

 In my after-school art enrichment business DragonWing Arts, I currently have just three students.  Three goofy, wacky, enthusiastic, energetic, sometimes annoying, sometimes loveable, happy kids; two fourth graders, and one second grader.  That's them, in the photograph above.

This fall, our 8-week class session has focused on the face.  (Sing, to the tune of  Meghan Trainor's All About That Bass: "Because you know I'm all about that face, 'bout that face, no elbows...") 

Anyhow, we've made these masks, and completed some other projects I'll be sharing in the coming week.  We have just one more class until after New Year's, when the winter session will focus on various folk arts from around the world.  Should be fun!!!

I first posted about this mask project prior to my retirement.  The post was written September 2011, here on the blog, after I did it with my then fourth grade age students. (Oh my gosh, they are now 7th graders!)  The photo above is from that original post.  Look at that post for a larger variety of student work, and information about the process (though I will tell you about it again here anyhow).  I mentioned in that post, and I want to repeat here, that the original inspiration for these masks came from the post of blogger Lori, on her blog Fun Art 4 Kids.  Thank you, Lori!

My DragonWing students (above) started with large pieces of oaktag, folded in half and cut symmetrically.  I offered some ideas, but did not tell the kids how they had to cut their masks.  The choice was theirs.  Then, we used a combination of animal print tissue paper, leftover construction paper pieces, and leftover pieces of painted paper.  These were cut and adhered to the mask shape with a mixture of Elmer's Glue-all and water, using large foam paint brushes.  First we painted the masks with the glue mix, then put the pieces of paper where desired, and then painted over them to seal them.  We made sure to cover the white oaktag completely.  In the next class, we used the same paper assortment to add details such as eyeballs, mouths, and more, using the painted-on glue mix for large pieces, and just the glue straight from the bottle for small pieces.  The kids were encouraged to add three-dimensional elements, but honestly, they pretty much chose not to.  (The mask on the right in the photo above, with protruding nose, raised eyebrows and curly whiskers is my sample.)  Since the goal of this program is for the kids to have a positive experience, I chose not to force the issue.

In the subsequent art class, when the glue was all dry, the masks were slashed and overlapped (I stapled and hot-glued the overlap for them) to give them a curved 3-dimensional shape.  The kids also decided to add a few jewels and feathers, though not as many as I anticipated or where I expected.  Here are 'mug shots' of the kids and their completed giant masks. 

And here they are again, in a totem pole stack!

Imagination

This is kind of a strange art lesson sort of post for me, because I unfortunately don't have any specific images related to it.  So I'll have to wing it, by adding random pics of student art.

Two divergent things led me to write this post today.  First of all, in the Facebook Art Teachers group and on the blogs, I often see lots of product-oriented art lessons, including many directed drawing lessons.  I'm not saying this is a good thing or a bad thing; it's just something I noticed, that got me thinking about some of the lessons that were my favorites over the years.  These lessons were often focused on getting my students to explore their imaginations.

 Then, today, another retired teacher friend and I went to the movies to see Before I Go to Sleep, with Nicole Kidman, and Colin Firth.  Without getting into to the movie plot too deeply, let's just say Ms. Kidman plays an amnesiac who wakes each morning with her memory totally erased.  A therapist gives her a camera to record her thoughts and memories each day, to help her attempt to recover memories.  This plays a pivotal part in the movie plot.  When the movie was over, and my friend and I were sitting in the local diner eating a lovely dinner and discussing the film, I said the movie reminded me of a lesson I used to do with my younger students.  Considering the twists of the movie plot, my friend was totally befuddled about how this thriller could possibly remind me of a lighthearted kindergarten art lesson!  But it did.  Here's the lesson, basically:

With my kiddos circled around me, I told them we were taking a trip, using our imaginations.  We closed our eyes, imagining it was bedtime, and we were tucked in with our coziest blanket and favorite stuffed toy under our arm.  And off we went to sleep.  While we were deep asleep, a little alien spacecraft landed outside our window.  Inside, the friendly aliens were discussing the celebration on their home planet, and how they wanted to bring some visitors to enjoy the fun, but would have them home in time for breakfast and school the next day.  They chose us to go to their celebration, and off we flew through the night.  We were given cameras to take pictures of the festivities, and all the creatures/aliens we met, the planet we visited, the space ship we rode in, and more.  We had a wonderful time, and tired, we were returned home, back to our cozy beds and stuffed animals before morning.  When we woke in the morning, we thought we'd had a crazy dream... until we saw the photos we'd taken!!  (This, of course, is the connection to the movie.)

We spent some time sharing what was in our photos before we started our artwork.  What did the aliens look like?  How many arms? Legs? Eyeballs? Ears?...  What color was the sky?  How many suns or moons?  What did the animals look like?  The food?  The space ship?  And so on.  No answer was wrong.  I gave them paper, and crayons or markers or whatever drawing or painting material I selected that year, and their charge was to draw their photos, and then to share the story of their artwork.  Very few rules (for example: no blood, no weapons; these were NICE aliens.)  I absolutely did NOT show them an exemplar.  I wanted the ideas to be THEIRS. 

 Above, a couple of aliens on school pictures; fun lesson idea courtesy of Mr.  E.

Anyhow - the point of my lesson was not to show everyone how to draw an alien.  The point, of course, was to encourage imaginative thinking. I wanted the kids to learn to trust their own ideas.  There were no wrong ideas.  I did, of course, expect them to use their best effort, and I used open-ended questions as I circulated, to encourage them to explore their imagination and develop their ideas. For kids doing simple line drawings, perhaps I would ask "what color skin does your alien have?  what color is the sky?" and so on...  For kids without  much detail, I would ask questions such as "How does your alien move?  (legs and feet? Or does he have fins?  Or wings?  Or wheels?)"  or "Where was the celebration?  What did it look like?  What kid of food did you eat?  Were there any animals or trees or houses? "  and so on...  Or simply "Can you tell me about your picture?"

Do you  have favorite lessons that encourage imaginative thinking?  I'd love your thoughts on this type of lesson! 

For a few other lessons that encourage imagination, check out my 3rd grade painting/collages of the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor, or perhaps my Not a Box, Not a CD lessons for lower elementary, or maybe my 2nd graders' 'Texture Fauves'.