Last Friday when I was writing my last post I said I was going to publish a few demonstrations on the techniques of using watercolor. I almost used the phrase, "I will try and ...". I stopped, erased, and re-wrote the words I published. Then this weekend a friend posted a comment by a friend of his that I have used here today. The two occurrences seemed too coincidental to overlook.
I have published the videos on Youtube and have uploaded one of them to this post if you care to watch. I won't say more about it except that I intend to show this one and some others tomorrow to my students.
"One of the secrets of life is that all that is really worth the
doing is what we do for others."
Lewis Carroll
I wanted to get the students fired up about beginning their art works. I had over-emphasized the need for them to research color and work on their color wheels to the point where I thought that some of them would not get anything else done ( or even started ) unless I encouraged them to "hurry up and get the color wheels done". It seemed to work because a number of them did finish and most of them are well on their way.
I didn't get the demos done when I expected to so couldn't move into the media today yet. So I will get to it over the weekend and be ready for Monday. In the meantime, here is a short little video of some of the finished and partly finished works during period 2. I'll also include a couple of still photos of color wheels. Like this one:
and this one:
but here's the video:
DON'T FORGET TO GO TO ART CLASS 2.0 TO SEE MORE STUDENT WORK
"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there."
Lewis Carroll January 14, 1898
I haven't used (posted) to the companion blog, djochum2.blogspot.com , for awhile because I decided to just include in this blog the various forms I have generated for use with this curriculum. The one I am posting today is for the current lesson on unity and color. I thought I would also share another couple of paintings done last year that I thought particularly well done.
First, here is the outline of the lesson:
DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT ALL THE PAINTINGS AT THE NEW WEBSITE;
"Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work."
Jack (William) Nicklaus
The title of today's post is a phrase from an old 50's song by Perry Como. It refers to the fact that today my classes began working on part of their academic portion of this cycle's lesson, which is onCOLOR. Since they have two text books for reference, I have required that THEIR color wheel must NOT be in the shape of a circle. I DID however, point out that it must be circular in concept so that various relationships could be established, i.e. ANALAGOUS, COMPLEMENTARY, and TRIAD color schemes. I pointed out that referring to the unit on balance would help because I was basically talking about a RADIAL BALANCE DESIGN. . With each class period there was something I must have either not said, said loud enough, or completely enough for them to just proceed on this seemingly "mindless" activity. I use that term because, after all, they ARE just basically copying information out of the book. The only real creative endeavor comes in the the designing of the "wheel" on which the colors are to be placed. I gave them the "idea" paper with the 6 squares for trying out designs, had them choose their favorite (your ONLY idea is NEVER you BEST idea) blow it up on a piece of copy paper, and then transfer that over to the good paper BEFORE beginning the watercolor process. Does anyone have any idea how many students went directly back to get bowls of water to begin painting? As the horse said, raising its tail when asked if he wanted more oats, "justafew".
So we are now underway of this cycle's lesson. I have cut 12 x 18 watercolor paper for the students to use on their major work of art in case they want to use watercolor or tempera. I was able to get the money loosened up for the purchase of some gallons of tempera paint and some masking tape so I can make the Silk Screen unit available to all students, not just those who would bring in the needed supplies. I'm looking forward to that experience with this program. Once some of the students finish their original color wheel designs I will post some of them on the blog. I'll also create some more footage of them working in this medium and of course as they create in the Silk Screen process as well.
I'll post a couple pictures from last Spring of abstract paintings after we studied Kandinsky for a little while. He will be one of the choices on this lesson as well.
CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT THESE CLASSES COME UP WITH.
"A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art"
Paul Cezanne...1839
Today we began the second semester of the school year. The students had had a week of finals and a four day weekend. Some were ready some were not.
I had them get out their folders where they kept their sketches, ideas, and experiments along with various pages of information I had handed out. I told them to sort out what they had into two piles. If they thought they might take an advanced art class and they were interested in art they might want to keep some of this information for future reference. If so, to place it into their backpacks and take home. The other stack would be thrown out so they would have a nice clean folder to keep handouts they would be given this semester.
Then I proceeded to introduce the next unit, UNITY and COLOR. We looked at three of the student's works that I felt demonstrated good unity. The first was a composition of lines and triangles shaded from dark to light. We discussed how the composition was unified by the use of these elements. The second was of overlapping circles and the third was of three flowers using value very well.
I passed out the six week test academic handout discussing what chapters/pages to read and take notes on the two concepts being studied. We looked at the color wheel assignment briefly and I gave them an idea paper to work out 6 preliminary designs for theirs.
I told the students about the fact that a few students had suggested that they might do better about getting the reading/note taking done if I would just "make them do it" on given days instead of always leaving it up to them to decide whether to do that or work on their art. I relayed an incident in my past when I was signed up for an Art History class my last semester during my graduate work and had to decide each day whether to go to the library to read/write or to the studio to create art. I always chose the studio and dropped the Art History class after 2 weeks.
So we spent the remainder of the period either reading/writing or finishing up their last 6 week's drawings if they still had things to do to them.
One of my students, SaVonne, had handed in her finished drawing late and I hadn't included it in the previous array of art work by the students. You might remember her because I videoed her working on this drawing on two separate occasions and posted them on this blog. I will end this posting with a photo of her finished art work. I think she did an amazing job and I think you will also.
"I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong."
Benjamin Franklin January 17, 1706
I was able to find a few silk screen frames, cut out the old used screen, and replace it with new silk. I also found a printing rack with hinges to keep the frames registered. I brought home some tempera paint to see how it would work in the printing process using paper stencils. I found that it worked just fine. Now I've got to decide whether to go ahead and purchase a few gallons of tempera or go through the "begging" process of seeing if the school will shell out the money in a somewhat near future time frame. In the meantime, here is a little video lesson I will be telling my students about when they start the new semester on Wednesday. I will encourage them to bring it up on their computers at home so they can have a pretty good idea of what they might want to do about it during this unit on color we will start this cycle.
"Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting"
Edmund Burke...1729
A very appropriate quote for today's post. Today I administered an exam to test my student's "artistic digestion" from the 1st semester's curricular offerings. The test was designed to encourage each student to recall his/her experiences during the course of each cycle's lesson and relay it in an essay format. Since we only studied 6 art concepts, i.e. 3 elements of art and 3 principles of design, I figured that the student would have a fairly easy job of remembering his/her details. For the most part I was correct. In reading the answers given, I was greatly encouraged by the overall ability of the students to express themselves and discuss at length each of their experiences. I had them look over their daily log books prior to taking the test and I think that helped jar their memories. This helped me feel that having done the log books was a good idea.
The test itself was thus:
1. During this semester we studied the elements of art and the principles of design. List the 3 elements of art.
2. The three principles of design we studied were:
3. In the space below, combine the element and the principle studied with it. Discuss as thoroughly as possible what subject, media, and expression you chose to help you demonstrate you understanding of each combination.
Then I asked a question that would elicit comments about how the students' felt about the program and what they would like to do next semester.
One of the best examples of the students' answers to these questions was done by Portia. Below is her responses.
Then I ran across Maria's paper and couldn't help decide to include her comments:
One more positive feedback comment paragraph by Brittani before we close:
I hope you have enjoyed reading these "testimonials". I'm still reading them from my last period's class and will possibly be posting some more before I move on. We start 2nd semester next Wed., Jan. 19.
"You only pass through this life once; you don't come back for an encore."
Elvis (Aaron) Presley January 8, 1935
Since I had quoted James Dean on his birthday I thought it only right to quote the other male icon of the 50s on his.
This posting is about ending the third cycle this year and preparing for the end of the semester tests. I had the students hand in their art works, finished or not, so I could record them as they were on the last day of the term. Some have already taken their work home after I recorded them so they could give them as Christmas presents. Here they are:
"Minds are like parachutes, they only function when they are open."
Lord Thomas Robert Dewar January 6, 1864
We came back after our Christmas vacation today. Faced with 2 days left (including today) of the six weeks cycle AND the end of the first semester, there was definitely a need to "get back to work" in earnest. Not to say that ALL the students needed to be put into "panic mode". A few of them came back with finished work they had done over the break and were pretty well caught up on what they had left to do in class. Some had done enough that the time left will be sufficient to accomplish their goals.
I started each period with a discussion of what would be expected of them by end of the period on Friday. I would be looking for completed art work. They would be turning in their grade sheets for recording this cycle. They would be turning in their "6 week test" which amounts to having completed the two value charts/scales given them the first day of the cycle. They would need to look over their notes, re-read the texts, or in whatever way they can think of to prepare themselves for the semester exam next week. I told them that it would basically be an essay type exam where they would be writing about their experiences this semester and relating how and what they did in this class. So a little review would help them a lot.
I gave the students the address of the new website, ARTCLASS2.0 and what would be found there. I showed them the Welcome page on the classroom computer which had one of the student's art work as the opening photo. I told them that I had 3 goals for this website. The first was to highlight their work for them to show their parents at home and for others around the world to enjoy. The second was for them to look through the various projects I have had students at Skyline do over the last 4 years in case they saw something they would like to pursue themselves. The third was to post "INTERESTED ONLY" demonstrations of art techniques that those who took the time outside of class to look at the site would learn from and come back to class with the desire to do those types of things. This is going to be experimental in its concept and I will see how it works over the next cycle to see if I will continue it.
The following is the second video in a series of demonstrations on the art of silk screen printing. I plan to have this process available to the students next cycle. I plan to start with those who watch these demos online and then come into class with the desire to do it.
"I have always been a great believer in today. Most people live
either in the past or in the future, so that they really never live
at all. So many people are busy worrying about the future of
art or society, they have no time to preserve what is. Utopia
is in the moment. Not in some future time, some other place,
but in the here and now, or else it is nowhere."
"Photography is not an art. Neither is painting not sculpture
literature or music. They are only different media for the
individual to express his aesthetic feelings... You do not have
to be a painter or a sculptor to be an artist. You may be a
shoemaker. You may be creative as such. And if so, you
are a greater artist than the majority of the painters whose
work is shown in the art galleries
Alfred Stieglitz January 1, 1864
Some pretty interesting thoughts expressed by one of most renowned photographers of an era and husband to Georgia O'Keefe.
I didn't get back to this blog on Saturday because I was a little tired around 7 in the evening. Still a little jet lagged from trip back from Germany. I decided to start running again this year (at least for now) so I did a 2.2 mile run today as well. Anyway, here I am at 3:34 A.M. finishing THIS blog so I can start on my next one right away. I'm going to input a short video I created over the break on the art of Silk Screen Printing. I want to begin working in this media shortly after the second semester begins. Of course, the students will have their choice of working with it or not, but I believe enough will want to that it will catch on quickly. So here are the videos. Hope you enjoy them.
