Inspired by George Rodrigue: Blue Dog Paintings

I recently introduced 4th graders to George Rodrigue and his fun Blue Dog paintings.  We watched this video and this video to introduce the project.  Since George is an artist who was living (until he sadly passed away in 2013) during their lifetime, its neat for them to see him and hear him speak about his work.  They especially loved the references to his dog and the stories of the Loup Garou (a Cajun werewolf.) 

We looked at a calendar I had of Blue Dog paintings and checked out a few more on the internet.  Students were inspired by the variety of Blue Dog paintings that Rodrigue created and were excited to create their own.

I led them in a guided drawing of a basic blue dog and asked them to add background or accessories to their dogs to give them personality!  Many of them chose to paint their dogs blue, but they were allowed to use any color they liked.

After practice drawings, students redrew their dog on 12 x 18 paper and painted them with tempera cakes, outlining in black marker when done.

      

Students love the Blue Dog and I love seeing their creativity get fired up!  Happy Painting!

Flat Areas of Color Paintings

One of the challenges of teaching students to improve their art skills is teaching them TO SEE!  This painting project does a nice job of teaching them to really see all of the color changes in a subject matter.  

In this project, I ask them to find a magazine photo to use as a resource (we try to stay away from this type of resource as much as possible…but for this project it is very helpful.)  They take a pen and outline every color change that they see.

If it is a gradual change, they have to make choices about where the breakdown of color will be.  Each shape becomes a flat space that is a separate color.  We work with a square resource so that when they are done outlining all of the color changes, they can draw a middle horizontal and vertical line to create quadrants.  

On their paper, (18” x 18”) they create those quadrants again lightly in pencil.  This becomes a good guide to trying to draw as accurately as possible.  As they enlarge, they use the quadrants as a guide. 

After the general shapes of the subject are on their paper, they add all of those “color breakdown” shapes.  They pay careful attention to catching all of the colors (although I do let them simplify things a little bit if an area is really complicated.)

Some years we have used acrylic paint with this project, but sometimes we use tempera paint (like this year.)  Either works find for this project.  I don’t worry too much if their finished paintings look exactly like the resource photo as long as they’ve done a good job seeing and portraying all of the color changes.

Once they get this painting under their belt, they have a better understanding of all of the colors they need to be paying attention to in a subject matter.   In their next painting they can blend colors and make things look three dimensional in a more natural way.  It makes an excellent exercise and students are generally surprised at how well they turn out  - especially those students who vehemently tell me that they “can’t paint!”  :-)

Happy Painting!

High School Finger Paintings

I’m always looking for ways to breathe new energy into a common medium.  This painting project did just that - better than I had hoped!

To loosen up our approach to acrylic painting, I asked students to come up with 20 different things they could paint with instead of a paintbrush. I asked them to think as far outside of the box as possible.   Although they made excellent lists (toothbrushes, Q tips, sponges, erasers, bottle caps, etc.) most of them chose to paint with…their fingers -  the most handy tool available to them at all times and at no cost! 

At first, I was a little disappointed because I really wanted them to see what other items could do.  But as the project progressed, I was thrilled with their complete and utter absorption in this process.  For the most part, they had not finger painted since early childhood.  Working from resource photos, they very enthusiastically jumped in and smeared, blended, dabbed, and smoothed the paint onto the paper.  They still had to pay attention to highlights and shadows, but the effect of their fingers loosened up their work and gave it a flow that can sometimes be missing in beginning painters' efforts. I'm now considering adding a true "finger painting" project to my curriculum.  

Don’t you love it when students take your idea in a completely different way than you were imagining and just run with it?  

Happy Painting!

Set Painting: The Wizard of Oz

We are painting sets!!  Oh the joys of being a supportive high school art department!  While this is not my favorite job - nor is it an artistic strength of mine -  we are doing our best to create an awesome atmosphere for our musical and theatrical classmates and teachers as they present The Wizard of Oz. 

We haven’t done a large musical for several years, so this is a process of reminding myself how to go about this creative undertaking in a way that is most beneficial to all of us.

We are continuing with our regular curriculum, but taking individual classes here and there to work on each of the four scenes.  Most of the students have enjoyed helping with this endeavor - and many of them are also in the play, so that adds extra incentive! Take a look at our progress so far…

(Can you see the kids peeking between the panels as they hold them up so we can see how they look
on the stage all together?)

Happy Painting!

Painting like Monet and van Gogh

Painting like Van gogh

“Are you going to be Monet...or van Gogh?” This is the question I pose to my students before we start a popular painting project.  I created this project a few years ago for my freshmen because we needed to bump up our Art History knowledge.  I’ve always been fascinated by the turn painting took when the Impressionists came along... 

          

Claude Monet 

and equally fascinated by how the Post Impressionists took that new idea in so many different directions.  

Vincent van Gogh
(It is so hard for me NOT to capitalize
that V!)  

Some art historians lump van Gogh with the Impressionists, but I tend to agree with the ones who put him more in the Post Impressionist camp.  
And so...a project was born.

Painting like Monet

I start by giving students a little background on what the art world was like before Monet and his crew came along.  We don’t go into great detail, but just talk about how there were “rules” for being a painter according to the French Academy and Claude Monet didn’t want to follow those rules, so he and a group of other painters made up some new ways of painting.  I show this video and we discuss what a big shake up this was, even though they did not get a lot of respect at first (as often happens when someone is trying to do something new.)  We look at a lot of Monet’s paintings and talk about how he used light, brushstrokes, etc...

Then we turn to Vincent van Gogh and I show this video (just the beginning because its long) and this one (just for fun.) 
We talk about how he took what he saw from the Impressionist paintings and did his own thing with it (Post Impressionism.)  We look at several of his works and pay attention (once again) to the way he uses color, brushstrokes, and pattern.

Painting like Monet

Then it is time for students to choose.  Are they going to be Monet...or van Gogh?  I ask them to choose a photo that they are going to reinterpret as an Impressionist or Post Impressionist painting and we begin.

I give a short demo on how to manipulate the paint .......

and after sketching their subject in pencil, off they go! 
 Most students find its much easier than they thought.  
They start to see all of the the colors they can bring in to a subject and are thrilled with the results when they do so. 

Its always fun for me to help them bring their natural abilities to life.  







So which are you going to be...Monet or van Gogh?

Painting like van Gogh

Happy Painting! 

Cartoon Cubism - Studying Picasso

Explaining Cubism to students is never easy...and having them try to create a Cubistic work is even harder!  This is a project I’ve done with freshmen art students for many years.  It is not my original idea, but I’ve tweaked and condensed it quite a bit from the original.  Through the mists of time, I cannot remember where the original lesson plan came from, so my apologies for the lack of attribution.

SUPPLIES:

Sunday comics 

Tempera paint and brushes

12” x 24” paper

Examples of Picasso’s Cubism pieces (online and reproductions)

Picasso Video - biography.com (see link)

We begin our lesson with a short little video about Picasso. Don’t you just love Picasso?  I do.  Unique, egocentric, womanizing man that he was, he was also a genius who changed the way people made - and make! - art...and see art for that matter!  Trying to convey that to students always frustrates me because its just so BIG! 

Three Musicians by Pablo Picasso
courtesy of wikipedia.org

After watching the video, I have a handout that simplifies the explanation of Cubism and what Picasso was trying to do in his paintings.  We discuss this and look at various Cubistic works as the kids try to puzzle through exactly what is going on.  Its a real brain-stretcher for them, especially when I tell them that they get to try it, too!

To make it more fun and less intimidating, our subject matter for this project will be comic strip art.  Students choose one frame of a comic (I ask them to pick one that has at least two characters in it) and crop it to a square.  

They are given the 12” x 24” paper and asked to draw a line down the middle of the paper so they have two 12” squares to draw and paint in.  On the left side, they draw an enlarged view of the the comic they’ve chosen.  This is the “Normal” side of the artwork.

Enlarging is sometimes hard so I encourage them to draw a four-square on their paper (horizontal line in the middle of the paper and vertical line in the middle of the paper to separate the 12” square into 4 equal parts) and do the same on their cartoon.  By using this simple grid they draw more accurately and they’ll need this when they paint anyway, so they’re a step ahead.

We then tie in a little color theory. (Sure! Why not?  We are juicing up this lesson plan big time!)  We discuss and take notes on primary, secondary, complementary, monochromatic and warm and cool colors.  This is supposed to be a review - and it is for MOST students. :-)  

Time to paint!  That four square we talked about now comes in handy as the way to break up the space on the comic.  Students paint the correct colors in each square, using tints and shades of those colors also, if needed.  Here is the diagram they follow:

Once done with that, we move on to the “Cubism” side of the paper.  I ask students to look at their comic and attempt to draw a simplified view of the picture.  They can stretch, distort and shift shapes and leave out details.  I stress that there is not one right answer in this step, which is very hard for some of them to grasp, but can be very freeing, too!

On the “Cubism” side, they paint using a monochromatic color palette. And...we’re finally finished!  Ta Da!!!

As I said, this is a simple version of Cubism.  Would Picasso recognize that what we are studying is Cubism?  Maybe not.  But they have been introduced to a big idea and attempted to try it on their own, while honing their brush and paint control and reviewing color theory.  There’s a great deal of value in putting all of that together.

Sorry for such a long post this time...let me know if you have any questions!  Its all clear in my head (and on my lesson plan) but not always when I try to explain it to you in as few words as possible. :-)  

Happy Cubism!

An Artroom Tip: No More Wasting Paint

Have you ever had a problem that bugged you and bugged you...and then suddenly you found a simple solution that really worked?  Isn’t that the best feeling in the world?

To me, there is nothing more satisfying than identifying a process that solves a problem.

That’s what this little tip did for me...

Like every other art department in the vast universe, we live on a limited budget.  I can’t complain too much because I am mostly able to purchase what I need within my budget, but I don’t do anything too extravagant and supplement my supplies and curriculum with items I purchase myself.  

(A big shoutout to my school:  this year they replaced my 20 year old tables and 15 year old kiln with new...I am in heaven!!!)

I was struggling to get my students to use smaller amounts of paint - waste waste waste was pouring out of those bottles!   They needed a fraction of what they poured and ended up with styrofoam/paper plates/trays of paint that went in the garbage.  Even when they tried to save them from day to day, we ended up with stacks of them being wasted and unused. 

One night, while making a quick pasta dish for my family, I was rinsing out a spaghetti sauce jar and the lid.  Something clicked...these little lids were the perfect size to hold paint (but not too much paint!)  They were sturdy, easy to clean and I did enough cooking with jarred items (mushrooms, pizza sauce, pickles, olives, etc...) that in a short amount of time, I had enough to use in my room...and I keep replenishing and replacing continually, as I save all of my lids now.

I tried it out with the kids and it worked like a dream!  Suddenly there wasn’t enough room to waste too much paint and it really reinforced my demonstrations of how much they needed.  

It also works well with older students who are mixing colors and need to keep paint from day to day.  They can keep a few lids in a container with a lid or on a plate with a ziploc bag and it seems to last longer than other items we have tried.

Try this for yourself!  Or share another easy tip you that has solved a problem for you...

Happy Painting!

Middle School Color Theory Painting

COLOR! COLOR! COLOR!  I love teaching kids about color!

If I always start the year with drawing skills in some form, then the next thing to come is always color theory.  My poor younger students...they get these concepts drilled into their heads every year...but every year I pick up a few more students who now know it all by heart - and that’s my goal! I’m always looking for fun ways to help them use this color theory information and this one is popular with my 8th graders. 

We start by discussing color theory in relation to the following color groups and take notes on our discussion:

Primary

Secondary

Complementary

Warm

Cool

Tint 

Shade

Monochromatic

I make a deal with them:  if they participate and take great notes, I won’t give them a quiz (because they learn better with implementation anyway.)  BUT...if they don’t take good notes and participate...its QUIZ TIME!  This tends to work quite well to inspire all to be involved.

For this project, they are asked to create a drawing (I use 12x18 heavy paper) incorporating their name in block letters (or the font of their choice), a favorite team logo, a favorite food, a favorite hobby/interest, and two other objects that represent them. 

After the drawing is completed, we break it into vertical stripes that are three inches in width so they have six spaces to paint.  In each of those spaces going across they must use a certain set of colors.  In order, from left to right, we use:  primary, secondary, one complementary pair, warm OR cool, monochromatic and the last one is their choice.  

We use tempera paint to paint them and they are allowed to use the tints and shades of any color, as long as they are staying within the guidelines of the piece. 

In grading these, I focus on control and neatness of the paint (they are given a demonstration on how to control it when we begin), use of correct colors, composition and overall neatness.

Its a good one!