Keith Haring Paper Sculptures

I got the idea for this lesson for my first graders from haringkids.com to create 3Dimentional Keith Haring Figures using strips of colored construction paper... I had no idea this would be such a fabulous lesson!

First, we discussed Keith's artwork and how he conveys movement in his artwork.  I then had the students come up and re-create the dance moves seen in his work.

Students came up one at a time and their classmates had to guess which color person in the painting they were imitating.  This was a really fun way to tie dance into the lesson. 

I then had them watch an old Sesame Street clip that has Keith Haring's people become animated and dance off the screen.  The song is called "Exit" and it is a very catchy tune and fun to watch!

Sesame Street Exit Video

Then the students and I explored the different things you could do to a piece of construction paper 1" by 8"... bend it, fold it, roll it, etc.  I asked the students to show me how you could make legs out of the paper.  Then I let them get to work on their own Keith Haring 3Dimentional people! Below is a sample of what they made

By the way:  This was extremely fun for the students, and for me!!



Next class, they can contine working on their 3Dimentional People, and then they will be drawing their people in Keith Haring's style, but add a background to show us what their person is doing.  I can't wait to see what they come up with!

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!!

Kindergarten Compositions No. 2012

This lesson is always a nice way to discuss lines, shapes, and color with the younger grades.  I like to show many different examples of Mondrian's Compositions and I also added in some of Frank Stella's artwork that was similar.  It is always neat to see what the Kindergartners have to say about these paintings!

Piet Mondrian

Frank Stella

With the little ones, I break this lesson down into very simple parts; handing out the paper first for them to put their names on, then passing out the black strips of paper and just having them arrange them on their paper to experiment the different designs and shapes they can make with the black "lines."

After handing out the different paper squares and rectangles, they arrange them in a few different compositions until they come up with the one that looks the best to them. 

I also ended this lesson by having each student bring up their Compositions and display them next to Mondrian's Painting.  They are always so proud of what they do and to have the whole class see it and then applause adds to their positive experience.  I also take that time to show them how different each Composition is even though they all used the exact same materials. 

Special Surprises

It's notes like these left by an anonymous student that really makes my day! :)

Classroom Behavior Chart

The school where I teach has implemented anindividual behavior color chart I have modified for the art classroom.  Each day when they enter the art room, they entire class is "Ready to Learn" the green color in the middle of the rainbow.  As the time elapses, I move the class up to the next color (yellow) for "Good Day," then orange for "Great Job," and finally red for "Outstanding."  I have challenged the students by giving them an incentive for reaching "Outstanding" three times.  Once they have achieved that as a class, the next time they come to art, they will get an extra special treat for just their class.  I told them it would be a surprise and vary from class to class.  A majority of the students are very motivated and intrigued by what that special day might be like for them once they get "Outstanding" three times!!

Students can also move up and down
the chart by their table number

I also have slips of corresponding paper for each class to bring back to their homeroom teacher.  That way, their teacher knows how well they were for art class!

The teachers then return these papers to me via my mailbox or just stopping by so I can recycle them!  Please notice I do not have any purple slips... that is because Purple is not a good color to end on.  I have informed my students I never expect to hand out any purples; therefore I don't even have any made!

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. 

New Job

I have recently accepted a job as a full time art substitute at an elementary school and I am just loving it! I knew I needed to immediately make a positive impact on the students so that they would be excited to learn about the new art teacher.  The first activity I did was a ice breaker for me to get to know them and for them to learn a little about me.  I asked my students to write down their most favorite thing about art and this is a compilation of all their answers! I thoroughly enjoyed writing down their answers and all the students were excited to see them posted in the art room.