In My Shoes

 

Students examined artwork of footwear by artists such as Andy Warhol, Vincent van Gogh and Rene Magritte.  We discussed how shoes can tell a lot about someone's personality.  Each student chose a shoe that captured their spirit and created a careful observational drawing.  Next, we looked at ancient repoussés and tried a similar metalworking technique by using a tool to push up on our foil from the back.  The last step was adding an antique finish by rubbing in a little ink. 

To conclude the unit we viewed a few bronze casted shoes and discussed how this was a process made famous by Violet Shinback and The American Bronzing Company and was common place for many families to have done to their babies shoes. Students decided it must be to capture such a special and fleeting moment in time.

Vincent van Gogh, 1886

Student Work

 

Ink Blot Comics

Students spent the first day of this unit viewing the work from artist Stefan Bucher who creates ink blots and then uses their shape as inspiration for his monster drawings. Each student used different tools to create an ink blot without knowing what they would be used for.

Stefan Bucher

The next class we began by examining a variety of comic strips and discussed how  we can turn one of our ink blots into a character. After our character was created, we sketched out the frames and illustrated our stories. We even joined forces with literacy to write more developed versions of our comic strip.

If I Ruled A World

 

We began this unit in November when  the President of the United States had just been chosen.  As a class we had a discussion around what makes a true leader.  We used the web based site called Popplet.com to create mind maps listing different qualities we thought a leader should have, what type of leader we would be, and who we believed was a leader to us.  Qualities students named were being brave, kind, work well with others, strategic, and competitive.  In addition to working in the art studio we joined forces with their teachers and the literacy team to  create an essay asking those same questions. Students wrote about leaders they admired such as George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr.,  Barack Obama, and Malala Yousafzai.

In the art studio, we examined artwork of leaders throughout history such as King Tut, Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Queen Elizabeth, and Nelson Mandela.  We watched a video clip where the past President Obama shared the qualities he believed his successor should have.  We began a discussion on if we could rule a land what would it be like? What would we wear? What would our expression be in our self portrait? We started drawing our faces from observation using specific portrait techniques.  Next, we added in fun accessories such as what we would wear and what jewels and crown might adorn us.  To add color, we used watercolor and finished it off with color pencil for the small areas and to add shading. A contemporary artist we looked to for some inspiration was Kehinde Wiley who paints African American men and women in heroic poses often recreated based off of other historic artists. This lesson was adapted from the blog In The Studio.

  

Student Artwork