OLD SCHOOL and NEW SCHOOL: Part 2 - Picmonkey Inspirational Letter Art

Because we are now a 1:1 laptop school, I am always looking for ways to incorporate technology into my students’ art experiences.  After we created our collograph prints the “OLD SCHOOL” way...it was time to create some letter art the “NEW SCHOOL” way. 

Enter: picmonkey.com!    

I’m sure many of you are familiar with Picmonkey...its a fun photo editing site...addictive really...kind of hard to stop once you start playing...you get the idea.  

Anyway, through a fabulous tutorial from Tempting Thyme  and some playing on my own, I decided that this was the perfect thing for my 8th graders to use to create a digital version of the saying they used on their collograph letter prints.  I gave them a tutorial in print form and turned them loose!  There is nothing better for their little brains than to have to read and follow directions! (How do I do this? What do the directions say?  What’s my next step?  What do the directions say? etc...)

Here's my simple how-to:

8th: DIGITAL LETTER ART

 Go to picmonkey.com.  Click “CREATE COLLAGE” You will be using your printmaking saying to create an artwork.

Change the dimensions at the bottom to 1200 x 1500 px (which will make an 8x10).   Click Save. Save as “Pierce” to your computer.  Click the X in the upper right corner and it will take you back to the beginning.

 Click “EDIT A PHOTO” and upload the white “collage” you just saved to your computer.  This is your background and the base you will build on.

 Next:  To make your background:  choose the BUTTERFLY shape (along left side) then 

 GEOMETRIC, then RECTANGLE (first shape.) 

Then:  Fill the canvas with your color choice.  Stretch the shape to fill the entire canvas.  Now you have your background.  At this point you can click Merge (symbol: 2 papers/arrow) to keep the layers together. Click the “Magic Wand” button to play with textures/treatments of the background color.

 Next:  click the “T” along the left hand side and begin playing with fonts,

 placement.  Use the other buttons for colors, textures, treatments, etc.   

Play with it and see what you come up with.  Have fun!! 

 After my basic instructions, there were so many variations and options for them to play with - the possibilities are literally endless! The biggest thing I tried to help them with was knowing when to stop so their works didn't get "over picmonkeyed."   On the other hand, the nice thing about teaching kids technology is that you don’t really teach...you facilitate a learning experience and then get out of the way as they fearlessly explore, play and create. I love that!!:-) 
Happy Picmonkeying!