Variety is the spice of life

"It takes less time to do a thing right than it does to explain
 why you did it wrong."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow   February 27, 1807

Today we started Cycle 5.  During this 6 week period we will study the element of art TEXTURE

and the principle of design VARIETY.  I decided to change things up a little bit again this cycle.

Instead of requiring a certain number of pages to read and notes to take on the lesson, I decided to leave the amount of reading and note taking up to the student.  I did a similar thing first cycle.

The difference is that this cycle I will be giving them a written objective test at the end to see how much they remember from their reading/notes.  I will be curious to see how this affects their grade and their ability to discuss the lesson.

The other thing I decided to change was the sizes of the works they will pursue.  Since we will be doing a bit of print making this cycle, I felt that large works wouldn't necessarily be the best format for the works.  This way they can experiment on a smaller scale and do more of them.  It will hopefully encourage them to try out a variety of techniques and experiences.

We watched a couple of videos on the Silk Screen Printing process I had prepared at home.  The students seemed to like them and I felt a keen sense of anticipation when they were over.

We are going to do some mono prints as well.  I'm looking forward to seeing how they progress.

I'm posting a copy of the lesson sheet I handed out today so you can see what they will be doing to some degree.  The format is the same as the other cycle's lessons.

Renoir...the Master of Color, loved Black

"Why shouldn't art be pretty? There are enough unpleasant
 things in the world."

"I've been forty years discovering that the queen of all colors

 is black."

Pierre-Auguste Renoir   February 25, 1841

On Renoir's birthday I just wanted to post a very short little video I took with my new toy.  It is a small 8X telescopic lens that fits on my iphone.  I stood on a table in my classroom and recorded some student activity to see how the lens might work.  The video is a little jittery, which is often the case with telephoto lenses, but I was able to capture a few students working on their projects using the "Delivery Systems" I had introduced to them a few days ago.  It's only 45 seconds long, but I hope you enjoy it.

Color me Fun

"Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best
 to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other
 innovations."

"I want to put a ding in the universe."

"I would trade all of my technology for an afternoon with
 Socrates."

Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs   February 24, 1955

The Color/Unity unit finished up today, the last day of the grading cycle.  I had the students turn in their paintings so I could record them for this blog.  I selected 60 works to put up here in a video.  The music is Bach.  Enjoy.

Having AUTONOMY and working toward MASTERY

"The one important thing I have learned over the years is the

 difference between taking one's work seriously and taking

 one's self seriously. The first is imperative and the second

 is disastrous."

Dame Margot Fonteyn   [Margaret Hookham

I rather enjoyed reading this quote.  It made me remember someone as having said, "you'd worry less about what others think about you if you knew how little they did".  Today I am posting a couple of very short videos of two my students working on their projects. I have videoed them before and I have shown their work on several occasions.  Juan and Rogelio personify the attitude toward working in class that I had hoped would be the norm when given the opportunity to be autonomous.  Here they are:

Delivery Systems

One of the most important reasons for living is to do something
 - live outside of yourself and put together an idea, an idea that
 you want to explore and then complete ... Awaken your creative
 sensitivities!"

Jack Palance   [Volodymyr Palanyuk]   [Володимир Паланюк]   [Jack Brazzo]   February 18, 1919

Who would have thought that the "dirty, rotten, thieving Yankee" from the movie SHANE, and almost every other "bad guy" in Westerns back in the day would be so profound.  Just goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover.

Yesterday I presented my students with some alternatives to the way in which paint could be applied to the surface of paper (or anything for that matter) and during my 3rd period class I had a student, Juan, record the event on my iphone.  Unfortunately, the video was 17 minutes long and I didn't know where to cut out the 2 minutes so I sent it to youtube as two segments.  I am posting them here as A and B.  I hope you enjoy them. I will also post them to the website I have set up.  Click on Art Class 2.0 to see them and many other pictures of student work.

Wheels of Color

"Education has produced a vast population able to read but

 unable to distinguish what is worth reading."

G(eorge) M(acaulay) Trevelyan   February 16, 1876

This will be noted as my first posting in the month of February, 2011.  I had actually posted 3 others, but deleted them.  If you had a chance to view them, you probably noted that there was an element of negativity about them.  I decided that this element had no business in this forum.

I hope you agree.  My students are great and do a wonderful job within the context of this new way of learning.  Rather than wax philosophical, I am simply going to post some color wheel designs I took pictures of today.  I hope you enjoy them.