Creepy Crawly Critter Sculptures

This week, we started a new project which will encompass creating an insect character and sculpting it out of paper mache.  From there, we will write a story about our creepy crawly critters and create a digital slideshow.  First, we talked about how artists interpret insects in nature.

Some artists use actual insects in their art!  Some create sculptures out of found objects.

Student worksheet with a ladybug drawing

After we looked at the slideshow and watched the video of insect possibilities, we can see that possibilities are endless.  Not only are there millions of species to choose from, but Mrs. Luker and I are giving the students artistic license to create an insect that may or may not exist in nature.  Can a beetle have a mohawk?  Why not.  Extra arms and legs?  Go for it!

Student worksheet with an insect with extra legs.

As we create these insects, there are a series of questions to answer on our worksheets.  Besides aesthetic qualities  what kind of personality do you think your insect might have?  Thinking about the personality of the insect might affect how the insect will look.  How can artists convey emotion through aesthetic qualities?  For example, and aggressive or angry spider might have big teeth, big hairy eyebrows and squinting eyes.  Thinking about the personality will also help us to come up with stories about our sculptures for the digital slideshow story.  Next time we'll work on sculpting these insects using newspaper and plaster.

Group 2 Working on Circle Mural

This week, we welcomed Group 2 of this year's Art Enrichment students.  They are continuing with the project started by Group 1, the Quill Paper Circle Mural.

Mrs. Luker demonstrating how to roll the quill paper.

To start a circle, you have to roll the quill paper tightly on a wooden dowel, laying the paper on itself as you go.  Once you get the first stip on, you can add a strip in another color or stay with the same color to make a wider ring of color.  Some of the students liked the process, which does require some patience. We'll work on these some more next week and then move on to a multi-week project where we'll create three-dimensional insects. We hope to take this project further by creating a digital format for these insect sculptures.  Stay tuned!

Quill Paper Circles

Permanent Art at Plain City Elementary

Here's the finished collaborate puzzle piece that will hang in Mrs. Luker's Art Room. I plan to have 8 x 10 photos for all of he Art Enrichment Students in Group 1 to have as a keepsake.

Group One's Amazing Collaborate Puzzle Mural  24" x 36",  Mixed Media

Underneath this piece, Mrs. Luker had vinyl letters made to put underneath it that say "Every Child is an Artist. - Pablo Picasso."

For the past two session, Group 1 is finishing up their time in Art Enrichment by working on yet another permanent piece for the school lobby.  They've been hard at work rolling Quill Paper on wooden dowels to create colorful circles.  Group 2 will also create circles for the mural.  In a couple of weeks, we'll call Group 1 back to come in and help assemble the circles on a large canvas.  

Two students having fun with Quill Paper Circles

Modigliani Inspired Self Portraits

For this project, we talked about the work of Amedeo Modigliani. Modigliani was an artist in the early part of the last century. He was born in Italy and worked primarily in France. He was known for his stylistic portraits that featured elongated necks and heads. There was a certain endearing quality to them.


 Our task was to create a self portrait using the style of Modigliani. Using these parameters, students worked to recreate themselves with Modigliani style characteristics using oil pastels on black paper. Oil pastels have a very nice quality on black paper. Students have to think about how each color choice is affected by the color of the paper. Some blending with 2 or more colors may be required in order to achieved the desired tone and quality. I think the art enrichment students did a great job answering this "art problem". Each one is different...no two are alike.

Group One Portraits, Oil Pastel on Black Paper

Stop Motion Videos

It's been a while since I updated the blog.  Since my last post, the holiday greeting videos were completed.

Here they are!  

Group 1:  "Merry Christmas"

Group 2:  "Let it Snow"

Group 3:  "Merry Christmas"

Group 4:  "Deck the Halls"

Stop Motion Video Project

A few weeks ago, I attended a stop-motion video workshop that was taught by video artist Jenn Deafenbaugh of Itty Bitty Studios.  Mrs. Luker and I thought stop-motion videos would be a perfect project for our 4th grade Art Enrichment students.  I connected with Jenn and we discussed possible themes.  We decided to go with holiday greetings, which we thought had some really fun possibilities.  So, last week we got started brainstorming ideas.  The students divided themselves into four groups, as Jenn had 4 platforms to shoot videos on.  Each group came up with a message and concept, using letters and other props.

This week, we began shooting.  Jenn told the kids how stop motion works and how to take pictures using the Droid Galaxy's stop motion app.

Jenn Deafenbaugh demonstrating how the Droid Galaxy takes photos

Stop motion is a somewhat labor intensive process.  You can't move your objects too much, or they'll look like they are jumping around.  The idea is to make the objects look like they are moving on their own.  Jenn brought refrigerator magnet letters for the students to create messages and the students brought in items from home, such as small toys, ornaments, and pictures.  

Each time you take a picture, that creates a frame for the stop motion movie.  Students learned to wait for a "click" sound on the Droid Galaxy to know that a photo was taken.  

Students practicing taking photos and moving objects.

A student group working through the animation process.

Mrs. Luker looks on as students create their stop motion video

The students did a great job of working together on this project.  They had to take turns moving objects and taking the photos.  This project took a lot of patience, cooperation and of course, creativity.  I'll post the finished videos as soon as they are edited together.  

A New Year!

I'm a bit behind on posting for this year's art enrichment classes.  We began in early November and we've made a few changes this year.  In order to accomodate more students, we have split Art Enrichment up into two groups.  The first group will meet from November through January and the second group will meet from February through April.  Mrs. Luker and I are thrilled that there is such an interest in Art Enrichment, now that we are entering our fourth year of this after school program.  Breaking the students into two groups has allowed us to serve 46 students over the course of five months.

For our first class, we completed a getting to know you exercise.  I had students fill out a questionnaire that included questions such as, "What is your favorite artist?"  The students mentioned Vincent Van Gogh more than any other artist.

Our first project, is an altered puzzle which will hang in the art room at Plain City Elementary.

A student creating three-dimensional cut paper butterflies

Paint, paper, and other found objects working together.

Working through composition ideas and color choices.

Just like a regular puzzle, no two pieces are alike. 

We talked about artists who alter books and other media to create works of art.  Many of these artists take an unwanted or discarded book and creatively "upcycle" using paint and collage.  Each art enrichment student is creating a work of art using a giant puzzle piece, which will fit together to form a collaborative work.  I plan to photograph the finished puzzle and hope to have a printed copy for each student to hang at home.  More on that soon!