A little Pop and Op mish-mash and a Sneak-Peek!

My DragonWing Arts students have work-in-progress on some really fun projects, but I want to get them done before I tell you too much!  So in the meantime, I realize that I've never shared some of this winter's work with you, when we our class was centered around a theme of Pop and Op art.  For one project, we looked at the work of Roy Lichtenstein, and I introduced a project I've done before, creating words based on his style.  Based on the examples I shared, I had expected the students to all select words like "WOW", "POW", ZOOM", "ZING" and so on.  But, because of the nature of this class (my private business, it is an after-school art enrichment program) I generally am very flexible with adapting to and allowing the choices of the students, since I do not have to worry about meeting certain standards or doing grading and so on.  As a result, a couple of students selected their pet's names, as in the two pics below.

 Or their own names.

 Or just something they really liked

 For the steps we used to complete this project, go to this blog post from 2012 where I completely detailed the process.  In the meantime, the materials were simple: tempera in red, yellow, blue and black, paintbrushes, pencil erasers for stampers, and cotton swabs. 

 For an Op art project, I introduced the kids to the work of Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley.  I have a poster of a Vasarely painting that is a circular radial design, where it looks like concentric circles were cut in the design and each ring was shifted slightly, creating a sense of movement.  I experimented with finding ways to do this on cardboard or foam core, and the kids were psyched to try to create their own.  (My samples are pictured above.)  Again, of course, what they did was totally different from my samples, but I still think they are fun!  Here's some of their creations, below. 

And now for the promised sneak peek!  Our theme this spring is "the magical garden" and my seven students are making papier-mache garden gnomes, and gnome homes in tree stumps or mushrooms, made of cardboard and plaster bandage.  And then we have some adorable birds and bird houses, and hopefully we will find the time to make some flowers for our gardens!  Below, our garden gnomes before painting.

 And gnome homes in progress. 

 I wish I could show you more, but you'll just have to wait a couple of weeks!  Sorry!

The latest from DragonWing Arts!

Yes, my sweet students evidently can dab and paint at the same time...  I'm still not quite sure what it all means, but it seems like a harmless fad and everyone is smiling!

 

Anyhow, a new 8-week session of DragonWing Arts (my after-school art class business) has been underway for two weeks now, and I've got a lively and fun crew!  After a couple of years of classes with just three or four students, suddenly I find myself at my max enrollment with 8 kids!  Half are boys, half are girls; half are 3rd graders, half are 4th graders; three are repeat students, and the other 5 are all newbies!  Luckily, a former favorite student of mine from kindergarten to 6th grade (yes, I admit to having a favorite) is now attending the local community college and is serving as my weekly'helper'.  I'm so glad my schedule and hers jived together, at least for this semester!  She is able to provide a second set of hands, plus, with no sink in the room, she's able to follow kids down the hall to the bathroom and make sure they are being safe and well-behaved.  And I'm so glad to be able to give her this opportunity.  She's a sweet-hearted wisp of a girl with a cheerful spirit.

Anyhow....  Our theme for this 8-week session is POP and OP, and my goal is for it to be a bright and colorful time in the gloom and cold of winter.  So for POP, we currently have two projects underway.  One, pictured above and below, is making food sculptures.  We looked at the work of Claes Oldenburg.  Each student is making, with papier-mache, a slice of pizza, a doughnut, a slice of cake, and an ice cream sundae! 

The shapes are being assembled with cardboard, tin foil, and newspaper, and covered with a variety of papier-mache materials. 

The cakes were covered with Activa Celluclay instant papier-mache, which I had never used before, even though I have substantial papier-mache experience.  I had seen other cake slices on the internet made with this product or Claycrete.  Frankly, I'll never buy the Celluclay again.  It is incredibly dusty when you are mixing it, and we had a hard time making it stick.  I ended up mixing the 2nd batch substituting some Art Paste (School Specialty brand that had been previously mixed) for some of the water, just to make it stickier.  Once it dries, it's rock solid, but keeping it on the sides of the cake while working was a challenge.  Have you ever used the stuff?  Do you like it?  Any hints, since I still have some that is unused/unmixed? 

We also used the Celluclay on the pizza, and used traditional newspaper strips dipped in "dragon drool" (the mixed Art Paste goo) for the doughnuts.  Then, based again on something I'd seen online, we covered both the doughnut and the pizza with a layer of toilet paper and goo.  Again, probably not something I'll ask kids to do again.  The toilet paper formed a terrific surface that looked like doughnut glaze or melted pizza cheese, but using it was tough.  It wanted to stick to everyone's hands instead of the projects!  We haven't started the ice cream sundaes yet but they are gonna be cute!!

And we also looked at Roy Lichtenstein paintings, and are doing some pop word paintings.  Because this is an after-school activity, I tend to be much less directed in the choices I give students.  I suggested they either do their names, or an action word , but most have chosen differently.  Nevertheless, they are doing a great job and you'll see the paintings when they are all done! 

As you can see, the kids are definitely enjoying working on them so far! 

If you'd like to see a video of the kids working on these paintings, click HERE
on the DragonWing Arts Facebook page.  And yes, lest you worry, I have permission to include the faces of all these kids in my photos posted on social media. 

I have another pop art project and a couple of fun op art projects we will be working on soon, too, but I'm not ready to share!  Busy, busy! 

Op Art - 3rd grade

These paintings are by 2nd graders. I tailored the lesson after one I found here: http://artwithmrssmith.blogspot.com/2010/09/op-art-floating-spheres.html but I simplified it for my little guys.

Students each started with an 8" square of white paper, and a 10" square of graph paper with a 1" graph. The kids traced a circle twice, once anywhere on their graph paper, and once on the white paper. On the white paper circle, they made two downward arches (rainbows or frowny-faces), and 2 upward ones (smile lines), then rotated their paper one turn and did it again. Then it was on to painting! I had a choice of 2 colors of fluorescent paint on each table; each child chose one to paint every other square. For kids that got confused, I reminded them the opposite blocks would be black and would therefore cover any mistakes. I helped "dot" the squares for those students who had trouble figuring out the checkerboard, particularly in the circle. (Note they did not paint the inside of the circle on the graph paper.) Then the students painted the opposite squares black,and when dry the painted circle was cut out and glued on the graph paper. Finally some black and white oil pastels were used for a shadow. Here's the whole bulletin board:

A couple of thoughts about this lesson after-the-fact:

• The bulletin board looks really cool, and the kids are really proud, but they lack soul. I have to justify to myself that the kids learned a lot, in particular paintbrush control and the need to follow directions carefully. But this type of project, where everyone's work is essentially the same, is not really my cup of tea - I like the unique vision of children and how they interpret instructions and ideas, and a lesson like this does not leave any room for interpretation.


• One other thought - if I did this lesson again, I would have them trade colors for the circle. One student (the painting at the top of the blog) got the wrong green after being absent one day, and I think that the circle stands out that much more because the color is slightly different. I think using the complement would be even more dramatic.

Relax, it's just a sheet of paper!

My 2nd graders were in WAY over their heads. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may have noticed that, although I've been teaching a million years, I don't like to repeat myself too often and I do like to try out new lessons. Hence my uber-challenging 2nd grade Op Art lesson, using geometric shapes, and intersecting wavy lines creating shapes to paint in complementary colors.


So, when the original shapes began to get lost as the kids attempted to paint every other space of a complicated design, I reminded them that it was just a sheet of paper, and that no matter how many mistakes they made, nobody would notice, because they would all still look great in the end. I was right, wasn't I? We solved the problem of the disappearing shapes by outlining them in black (painted with a giant Q-tip). We cleaned up messes by adding polka dots, and painted black and white frames (which the kids called "cow frames").


I think they turned out great in the end!