Dangerous Art

Next year's seventh graders came to visit today from our 5/6 middle school. They looked so small! The first group entered the art room just as I was demonstrating how not to gouge a finger with a linocut tool. I was being rather dramatic, explaining that they could cut their finger to the bone if they don't follow the safety procedures and use the bench hook properly. The little 6th graders looked so scared! Art can be dangerous...but also fun, I assured them.
I asked the visitors to look around the room and pick something they'd like to do next year. I have a lot of abandoned art everywhere and one of the favorites today turned out to be the life sized rocker in gold glitter boots pictured here. Not only was this a favorite pick of the 6th grade visitors today, it was a hands-down favorite of art students last year.
To create these figures students worked in groups of 2-3. This project followed a figure drawing unit where we learned proportion. Students drew an action figure on a large piece of corrugated cardboard from various boxes that I scavenged.
Finally, they created a palette of colors by tearing up magazine pictures into inch sized random shaped pieces sorted by color in small resealable baggies. The action figures were then "painted" with these small mosaic pieces and white glue. Shadows were created with darker values of colors. Skin tones were built up with a wide range of colors. Features were both 'built' mosaic style and cut out whole from magazine pictures.
This was a particularly successful end of year project with my 8th graders who were ready to move on and move up to high school. They loved working in groups, socializing while they worked. The only dangerous part was cutting the cardboard figure out with craft knives, but no blood was shed with this one!