Tonight in our graduate art education class (AED501) students chose a project from Denise Logan's award winning book "Dynamic Art Projects for Children." The criteria for their choice included a project from this book which could be completed in our class time (2 1/2 hours) with supplies available in our art lab. I also indicated that everyone should choose a different project.
The Process...
As graduate students with teaching experience, I wanted them to choose something most relevant for their classes and appealing to their aesthetic preferences. The activity reminded me of how powerful, interesting, and educational choice can be. As a continuation of the in-class production activity, the students will comment on this blog post reflecting on their own work and the choices they made. They will also comment on the process and products of their peers. Feel free to join in on the conversation!
The Products...
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| Justina's "Psychedelic Sand Dollars" |
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| Allie's "Dragons in Caves" |
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| Catherine's "Abstract Cityscape" |
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| Erin's "Blazing Banyan Tree" |
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| Anne's "Bird of the Rainforest" |
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| Jessica's "Reptile Relief" |
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| Heather's "Alphabet Art" |
Which project did you choose?
What influenced your art project choice?
Did you modify the process from the directions? How? Why?
What would you do the same/differently if you were to do this project again?
Would you do this with your students? How would you modify it? How would you integrate it with another subject?
Other thoughts...
12 comments:
All the art looks amazing...how fun!
Catherine's Abstract Cityscape
Catherine's Abstract Cityscape
I was drawn into this project because it looked like a great social studies activity.
Yes, I did modify the directions. First, I used school glue mixed with water in place of liquid starch. Second, I substituted glue and glitter for the homemade puffy paint. The directions said to outline and define the buildings with the puffy paint. I think the glitter turned out well.
I would love to try the homemade puffy paint recipe and see how it works. Also, I wonder if this would work with construction paper in place of tissue paper? Next time I would let the buildings dry before outlining with more glue. My paper was a bit soggy!
Yes, I could see myself teaching with this activity in a social studies setting. I also feel it could be very effective with early learners in math if you provided the shapes already cut out of construction paper. You could teach shapes, depth, and space through this activity.
I really need this book for my book shelf. I thought all the projects looked great and have potential to integrate into the subject areas.
I chose the "Dragons in Caves".
I really wanted to do the Blazing Banyan Tree, but someone picked it first! I was drawn to the dragon art because I loved the contrasting bright colorst on the black background.
I actually did modify the process from the directions. The directions said to use carbon paper to trace the stalagmites and stalagtites (then wet under a faucet to let smear), but the material was not available. Instead I used watercolor pencils which allowed for more vibrant colors of choice. Though I did make my art look like the example, the colors could easily be changed to reflect a student's preference.
If I were to do this project in the classroom, I would probably show an example with less detail and let students add details of their own.
This process of layering to show use of space and applying more water to vary the value of the color would be very easy to incorporate into a project based on another content area. It would be fun to create a habitat.biome type of picture using this process.
I chose to do the “Birds in the Rain forest”.
When looking at the book, I loved the color the example used. I thought this would be great way to incorporate art into a lesson, maybe about the Rain forest or birds.
I did modify my project a little bit because of time. The directions stated to use a splatter technique for the background. I just used a bright sheet of construction paper. I also modified my work by the materials I used. The directions said to use watercolor paints, but I just used watercolor colored pencils.
If I was going to so this project again, I would pick the construction paper color first or do the technique stated in the instructions. I noticed once I completed my project it was hard to see the bird, because I used a lot of the same colors as the background.
I think this is an easy project teacher can do with their students. I think students would really enjoy using the bright colors and layering the leaves over the bird. I don’t think I would modify the lesson. This lesson is great for any level of student. I would integrate this lesson with a scene unit on the rain forest. It would be a great project for students to do when they are learning about the different animals in the rain forest.
Justina: I love how you used the glitter and colors!
Allie: I loved the use of water color pencils to make the color bleed.
Catherine" Love the different use of different colored glitter!
Erin: LOVE THIS! The colors are amazing.
Mine: Blah
Jessica: I love the Turtle! If you are just looking at the work you almost miss him! It's really great!
Heather: I like how you used upper and and lower case letters. I also like your use of colors.
Post made by Erin...
The project I chose was the Blazing Banyan Tree.
What influenced my art project choice was the colors used in the Banyan Tree. Also I love any kind of tree artwork.
I did not modify the process of the art project.
The only thing I would do differently would draw and paint the tree one day and the the following day use the oil pastels to smudge. I was impatient and started using the oil pastels while some of the tree was still wet and that effected some of my color smudging. This would be a great two day project in any classroom.
I actually have done this project in a fourth grade classroom! I modified it by step by step instructing the class how to draw the tree. The trees still ended up to be very unique. There were no "cookie cutter" trees made. :) Also I did not have my oil pastels with me so the class used crayons and sharpie marker.
You could integrate this project into a science subject. If you were covering the rainforest this could be used when talking about the plant life in the rainforest.
I will be using this project in any class I can!
Justina I love your use of neon chalk colors! Plus the glitter is very eye-catching.
Allie, you can't tell in the picture but I loved how your picture appeared 3D in person.
Catherine, the abstract cityscape was my second choice. I was drawn to it because of the colors used in the example. I like how your buildings are all different sizes and heights. You used the glitter well!
Mine... I'm awesome.
Anne, I love your tropical colors and your different use of lines and shape.
Jessica, I like that when you look at your art project you have to give it a second glance to see the turtle. It appears to be camouflaged.
Heather, I don't know if you noticed but your color groupings are grouped by primary colors or complimentary colors throughout most of the art project. AWESOME!
I chose the "Reptile Relief" for my art project. I chose this project because I liked all the colors used in the art work.
I did not modify my project from the directions.
If I were to do this project again, I would use only one color of chalk in each color block. The chalk did not blend the way I expected it to. Therefore, I was disappointed in the spaces that contained more than one color.
My class is currently studying biomes in science. I plan to ask my students to create a relief using the colors and animals that would be found in a specific biome.
Justina, I loved all the colors in your "Psychadelic Sand Dollar" project. I also love any artwork that has to do with marine life!
Allie, I did not see your finished project in class, but it is amazing! You are really talented!
Catherine, I wanted to do the "Abstract Cityscape" before you chose to do this project. I like abstract art. I also liked all the glitter you used! So fun!
Erin, I LOVED all the colors you used in your tree. I love art work that uses a lot of color. I also like the way you blended the colors together to give it a tie-died look.
Anne, I really like your bird. It reminds me or artwork that I would see on a tropical vacation. Nice use of bright colors!
Heather, I really like your alphabet art. That would be a fun project to do with my kindergarten class!
This is Justina Miles post
The project that I chose was Psychedelic Sand Dollars.
I was influenced by the colors and that fact that the project included glitter. I saw several other art projects that I wanted to do but ultimately decided to go with the sand dollars. I love anything that deals with water and the beach.
I did not modify the directions.
I like the art project and really did not feel the need to do anything differently. However, if I were to do something differently, it would be to use all warm or all cool colors just to see what the project would look like. I would use more glitter and different colored glitter. Yes, I would do this project again.
Yes, I would do this with my students in my class. My students love integrated lessons with art. I could integrate this art project with a science lesson. I would have the students do the art portion in small groups. I really enjoyed doing this pick a project and this class.
Mine: I love my use of bright colors and of course the glitter. Glitter makes everything better!
Allie: Your dragon looks amazing and I like how the dragon stands out against the black background.
Catherine: Glitter!!! I like that her art looks like a real city. I like the use of the many colors.
Erin: I think that the black helps the colors stand out even more. Love it!
Anne: I like the different shades of colors she used for the bird and the different shape leaves.
Jessica: My eye is drawn to the turtle. I also like that she use chalk.
Heather: It looks really abstract and I almost missed the letters when I initially looked at it.
Great job everyone!
I chose "Alphabet Art", and I REALLY enjoyed it! It was a great choice for me, especially being a kindergarten teacher. I could do it and let my children work on letter recognition by finding the letters. I decided that night that if I did it again, I would do more sizes of letters and do more lowercase letters. I only got a few of the lowercase letters in!
Justina: I love the glitter and colors that you used!
Allie: Yours was awesome! I really like the 3D effect it has too.
Catherine: Yours was really good. I love the textured look it has.
Erin: Your use of colors was awesome. I love the way some of them kind of fade into each other.
Anne: I love your use of the bright colors! Brightens my mood just looking at it!
Jessica: I like how yours is almost like a hidden image. Really cool!
AWESOME JOB AED 501! I'm going to miss you all!
Catherine- I love glitter! Definitely my favorite added touch.
Jessica- I like the contrast of the bright colors with the white lines.
Anne- The layering of the leaves really makes them stand out and look 3d.
Justina- I love all the bright colors on the black background.
Erin- I am jealous! This project is just so cool looking!
Heather- I love that I have found an imaginary creature in your letters! The dot on the i is the eyeball.
Fun class ladies!
~Allie
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