What's In Your Head?

My 4th grade students recently completed a paper collage project that answered the question: What's in your head?  We started the lesson by brainstorming what images one would find if the students could look inside their heads... We discussed colors, images, food, family, activities, and feelings. 

Students then did their best to find those images in a variety of magazines and newspapers.  I also drew each student's silhouette using an overhead projector.   Students really got a kick out of what their actual silhouette looked like once it was done. 

The finished product looked very much like each student!! This was a very enjoyable lesson that allowed us to discuss how art can be used for personal expression. 

7th Grade Portraits

I have not done Chuck Close Portraiture with middle school before, and I decided to tackle it with my 7th grade students in the Art Exploration course.  We first explored Chuck Close's early works, discussed photo realism, the "mugshot" look, and larger than life size. 

PHOTO REALISM: Phillip Glass by Chuck Close

We then looked at his later work, created with a grid, and compared and contrasted the two.  We also zoomed in and looked at each individual square and discussed how they each could be a painting in itself. 

PIXILATED Self-Portrait by Chuck Close

Finally, I found a short video from CBS Sunday Morning on YouTube that has a very informative interview and shows how he is able to still paint today despite his paralysis. 

  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbcP8zNrqsk&feature=related

I also found this a perfect time to talk to the students on dealing with adversity.  Chuck Close was a very successful painter, and after his tragic accident that left him partially paralyzed, he was able to find another way to paint, and as he states in his interview, he now paints with more color, and he "celebrates" his ability to still paint today despite all that has happened to him physically.  I hoped to show the students that out of great tragedy, amazing things can happen!

Because our room does not have a sink, they are using watercolor resist with crayons. We should begin painting next week, but below are some of the works in progress.  They are coming along just beautifully!!

Picasso Inspired Cubism Self-Portraits

The first lesson for my 6th grade students was a self-portrait. This way, I could start to learn a little bit about them as well as give them a project that would be successful. These self-portraits turned out better than I expected!

We started our lesson by learning about different types of self-portraits throughout history... Van Gogh, Kahlo, Close, and finally Picasso.  After describing Pablo's cubism style of portraiture, they were given their assignment.

We also discussed using warm and cool color combinations, one for the the background, and one for the face.   I also gave them the option to use imagery in the background to help describe their personalities.