Self-Portraits

Looking for a fun end of year art activity? Check out the National Gallery of Art classroom activities. I am fortunate to have a computer lab to take my classes to now and then. Yesterday I prepared my students for the NGA Self-Portrait lesson by playing a youtube slide show of Vincent Van Gogh paintings set to, of course, the Don McLean song, "Starry Night." Then students went to the NGA site and with a worksheet to guide them, learned about Van Gogh and the genre of self-portraiture.

Today students talked excitedly about the digital photographs we will take over the next few days - see the Self-portrait lesson on the NGA site. Because my teaching schedule is interrupted by lots of special end of year activities I needed an easy, self-directed art activity that the student could work on in between field trips, band performances, field days and waiting for access to the digital cameras. I came up with the idea of picture "frames" for the self-portraits.

Students used white colored pencil on black construction paper. They were given a list of 8 items to include in their frame, for instance: Two hopes, wishes or dreams, three personal characteristics, four activities they enjoy, five places they'd like to visit and so on. I told them they could use words, images, designs, symbols, fancy lettering and so on to complete their frames. So far, they're coming out great. Each frame is so different, and since it's basically doodling, the kids are having a great time, talking while they draw, sharing with each other the images and words they've chosen to represent themselves. I'll try to put a photo of some frames up on the blog in a few days, so check back!

Plein Air Painting: Take the Time!

We had just 49 minutes after attendance was taken. Walking to the duck pond was 7 minutes each way at a brisk clip. Two minutes were sucked up by the pond water minus pond muck demonstration. Then a minute each was spent pointing out the park boundaries and reminding students to use all four techniques learned the previous day: ink with watercolor wash, tissue lift for clouds, wet on wet and dry brush for plants and details. Oh, and passing out paint boxes, paper, sharpies, tissue and water cups ate up at least three minutes.
But by 8:27 a.m. we were painting golden spring light, ducks on the pond and lacy new greenery. Laughter echoed across the pond as students dipped cups past green scum to the somewhat clear water beneath. Painting outdoors, as the impressionists knew, was time well spent really seeing the light. There were some muddy jeans and my feet were sore by the end of my fourth class trip, but a good time was had by all.

7th grader, Hannah, makes her initial line drawing with an ultra fine point sharpie (top). To the right is her finished painting.

Learning to Draw: Confidence Plus Effort Equals Success!

On the first day of class, each term, I ask my students to raise their hand if they can draw a stick figure or a happy face. Usually most every hand goes up. I follow this easy question with a harder one: How'd you learn? "I don't know" or a shrug of the shoulders is the typical response. Probing deeper, kids will say they watched someone else, or copied or just figured it out. Great! I tell them, that's how you LEARN to draw anything.
Most middle school students (and lots of adults, too) think that being a good artist means you can just naturally draw well. To relieve the anxiety many middle school students feel about art class and their own assessment of their lack of drawing ability, I start class by insisting that being a good artist isn't about natural drawing skills, that drawing skills can be learned, just like learning to draw a stick figure or write alphabet letters.
During the past week my students learned contour line drawing and gradual tone shading. They learned how to use a valuable art tool, the index finger, to smudge graphite as they shaded, they learned to use an eraser to reveal highlights and most importantly they learned to see with their eyes, not with their mind, so that they could draw the shoe in front of them with all its creases, tears, and scuff marks, not the idea of a shoe in their mind's eye.
The results of these simple drawing lessons amaze the students. Last Friday my second hour class installed our SHOE exhibit in the cafeteria. They hung 72 shoe drawings - one from every student in three classes. Sure, some are "better" or more accurately drawn than others, but each drawing shows amazing growth in the way the individual artist learned to see shape and form, highlights and shadows, and depict this on the 2-D surface of the paper.
Several teachers and a lunch lady commented on what excellent drawing skills this particular group of students has. I nodded my head in agreement, but silently added, EVERY group of students can draw, when they combine a few simple skills with confidence and effort!

Contour Line Drawing with a Twist

It all started with a basic contour line drawing of a shoe followed by a simple challenge: You've drawn it while looking, now close your eyes and try it blind. The results were funny, we laughed and I was ready to move on to the SERIOUS drawing lessons.

But the 7th graders in this class are never predictable and rarely serious. Someone suggested trying it backwards and before I knew it the kids were all up out of their seats practically dislocating their shoulders to draw on the desk behind them. The results were almost as hilarious as watching this room full of contortionists trying to draw a shoe.

Then, Travis, known as DaTravio in the art room, drew a pretty decent shoe with his elbow, so everyone had to try that!
Clearly, when roucous laughter broke out in the corner of the room and shoes were flying off feet instead of being carefully drawn by studious art students, all hope was lost for completing that day's carefully planned lesson. Soon everyone had their shoes off, pencils gripped between toes, drawing shoes on the floor. It was an unpredictably wonderful place for my simple contour line drawing lesson to end up!