more Citra Solv fun

More Citra Solv fun... Above, a sunflower, one of my favorite themes to work in. The Citra Solv papers were perfect for creating a textual effect to the layers.  To the left and below are the same image, just turned upside down. I had fun taking the landscape design to another level by creating two in one...I can't decide which way I like the best! Can you?

You can see more Citra Solv works here.

artist trading cards

Artist Trading Cards or ATC's are a fun way to
extend a collage unit, but on a smaller scale. 

Students can choose to create a collage using magazines images and a few accessories as shown above, or create ATC's that are color themed as shown below.

I supply paper scraps and embellishments of various colors separated into boxes.  Students can choose to stay within a color theme, or mix colors if they wish. I have sample ATC books divided by color for inspiration and can be added to.

I included some samples from my Altered Artists Group
for inspiration, also.  Below are student works.

Collages

That time of year again...collage, collage, collage.  Some new collage ideas have been added this year, a profile, a color wheel option, or a letter. 

This student decided to find words that are sometimes felt negatively by girls. It turned out to be an interesting take on self image and promoted a thoughtful solution to the assignment.

The color wheels are 12 by 12 inch in diameter, then divided into 6 sections.  These went together fairly quickly as student collected color swatches, images and words to cover the base.

Students usually create a whole word, but this student wanted to create a large A, instead.  It turned out well as just a letter silhouette, and included fun images.  

You can see more collage ideas here.

recycled mask art

Just a fun quick assignment using recyclables...
Each student chose 3 randomly cut pieces of mat board scraps donated by the local framing shop.  They used crayons and colored pencils to add color and texture.

Students decided on an arrangement of their mat board pieces to create the base for their mask. They then chose bottle lids and/or marker lids to add eyes, nose, etc.  Students could also use scrap mat board to add details.

Final touches were to add colored popsicle sticks,
pipe cleaners, and outlining to finish.

I love the different end results from using the same types of materials. It was also a good way to use up all of those extras laying around the art room!

Dragons in Metallics

Dragons! Everyone loves a good dragon! My niece Emma's love for dragons inspired this 8th grade drawing lesson. Students practiced adding different parts to an already started drawing including horns, fangs, scales, textures, spikes, wings, etc. They also added a bit of a background.  Students could also create their own design from references or imagining.

Students used view finders of different sizes to choose a composition. Some concentrated on the head, or included more of the neck, or the whole body. Students then enlarged their dragon to the shaped paper that coordinated with their idea. We then discussed how to blend and shade using metallic colored pencils to add dimension and texture.

These turned out pretty fun and interested the uninterested! I will definitely do this assignment again!  Thanks for the idea, Emma!

Citra Solv

I recently took a Citra Solv class from Kayann Ausherman of fromvictoryroad.com.  It was super fun and educational.  On a professional day in April, the art teachers in my district and I scheduled a Citra Solv Art Party in the morning.  We learned how to create the Citra Solv pages using National Geographic magazines.  In the afternoon we created drawings and collages with them.  These are my creations.

You can see more samples and the directions to this technique on Kayann's blog.  I have lots of papers to keep making more and more and more...a new addiction has begun!

Monster Selfies

This time of year, many middle schoolers have turned into little monsters.  Some more tolerable than others!  In order to keep their interest in projects, it is a good idea to have smaller elements go together to make a larger work. These monster group selfies are just the thing!

Students begin by drawing several small sketches of monsters from this book. It is an excellent source to draw from, as it breaks the monsters down into easy lines and shapes, making it less intimidating to draw.  Students then combined different parts of monsters to design their own. We also designed robots and cartoon characters for variety.

 Students were then to choose 20 of their favorite sketches to enlarge to about 4 by 5, creating a row of about 4 monsters at the bottom of their 12 by 18 inch paper.

As they finished a row, the monsters were staggered and positioned behind the previous row so that it would look like a group photo.  Each paper would have at least 20 creatures to fill the space. Some classes were also allowed to look up characters on their iPads as inspiration.

Students then chose to use colored pencils, markers, and/or pencil to finish.  We talked about how to shade with a marker that was drying up and how to create texture also.

When finished with this assignment, students either made a felt creature or a cardboard robot inspired from their drawings. You can see these here and here.

Robots in Relief

These are fun end of the year hand on projects.  They are robots created with cardboard layers and textures, painted in metallics, and then embellished with various hardware.

The idea was found on Artsonia from Alum Creek Elementary School in Lewis Center, Ohio.  Even though it was originally a lower elementary project, many of my 7th graders loved it!

The art of music

My school hosted a district music contest this spring.  Art and Music are in the same hallway at my school. Therefore, I decided to have the students who were finished early with other projects create some music related art to then display during the contest.

Some students used pastels.

Others used markers.

This one is watercolor pencil.

Black and White with Sharpie.

This was to be a quick fill-in project, so I made stencils of different music notes and instruments for students to trace. They then chose the medium they wanted to use, creating a background, as well. 

I was pleased with how these turned out and I love the hallway display. I also received many compliments during contest time.