Radiant pastels and Northern Lights

For the second part of the class I got the kids to watch the video below and take note of the different colours they see. The calming music really helped them settle after their break and they took to the task with care and consideration. I think this kind of activity would be great for art classes that are scheduled towards the end of the school day. 

I showed the students how to carefully apply the black oil pastel onto the watercolour paper (I made sure they were aware that the paper is expensive so must be treated nicely). I then showed the students how to create different effects by allowing the watercolour paint to react with the water that I had already brushed onto the page.

Northern Lights

Monochromatic Scales with my 9-13 class

Mondrian Paintings with my 7-10 group

Tonal Scales with my 9-13 class

Oil pastel animals with my 9-13 class

After visiting the exhibition "No Second Prize" (mentioned in previous post), I got the kids to create posters with environmental messages. I wanted to incorporate printmaking methods so first instructed the students to colour a page with different oil pastel colours. We then covered the pages in black paint and used cotton bud sticks and skewers to draw animals (based on print-outs) into the black paint. Before going to the gallery, we covered a page each in watercolour marks and set them aside to dry. After finishing our oil pastel works we cut out letters from the watercolour pages to spell out messages such as "Save the Red Panda" and "Care for Animals."

Printmaking with my 7-10 group

This activity involved dividing the class into two different groups (red group and blue group). They were each given a large piece of cardboard and asked to glue a variety of craft materials on. We had previously talked about abstract art and so the children were aware of creating a sense of balance and unity in their arrangements. While the glue dried, we visited a nearby gallery and had a little break. When we returned I got the kids to roll paint over their collages using a printmaking rollers and paintbrushes. They chose areas to push pieces of A4 paper onto and created some beautiful prints. They then used the prints as backgrounds for tonal animal drawings. The exercise was a great way for the kids to warm up and practice thinking about composition. It also helped them to become more comfortable with each other and allowed them an opportunity to practice their teamwork and communication skills.

Gallery Visit: "No Second Prize"

Today I took both of my extra-curricular classes to Tafe Central Gallery to see the exhibition "No Second Prize." The artworks were responding to animal cruelty, specifically the treatment of horses throughout the Melbourne Cup. Despite the weight of this particular issue, the artworks were generally non-confrontational and child friendly. The kids were luckily ready for their cordial and biscuit break before we arrived at the slightly more macabre horse skeleton painting (which was incidentally brilliant in case you are the artist reading this!) I was very mindful to keep my personal opinions to myself throughout the session because I don't think it's fair for parents to be absent in these kinds of discussions when the kids are so young.

Before attending the gallery we had a discussion about appropriate behaviour in galleries and exhibition spaces. It surprised me that only a couple of children had been to an exhibition and I got these kids to describe their experiences to the rest of the class.

Together we made a list of rules and expectations which included the following:
- Do not touch the artwork (I had to adapt this rule to include the lovely white walls with the other group because everybody in the first class seemed to want to stroke their hands all over them!)
- Be aware of your surroundings (some galleries just have paintings along the walls and you can step backwards to look at them but this one has 'installations' which are often placed in the centre of the room).
- Stay together - we will be discussing the artworks together so no skipping ahead or lagging behind.
- No running - enter into your 'calm mindset' before entering the gallery. Walk slowly and carefully.

Both classes were very mature throughout the visit and I was really impressed! I asked the kids to talk about what they liked about each work and got them to point out how the artist had used different art elements and principles. These were two of the favourites:

Polystyrene prints with my extra-curricular art class (7-10 group)

For this group of younger students we used polystyrene sheets and acrylic paint. The students engraved a combination of abstract and representational shapes and patterns into the polystyrene with pencils and rolled the paint over the surface. They then pressed paper onto the sheets and used their hands to apply pressure evenly. Some students found that they did not press their pencils hard enough into the polystyrene surface, so corrected their approach and created an extra print. The prints below are some of the more successful examples of the activity.

Lino-cuts with my extra-curricular art class (9-13 group)

Today was the first time I've introduced printmaking activities in my extra-curricular classes and it went really well (phew!) Some of the younger, smaller kids struggled a bit with the lino-cutting tools and needed a bit of help but I found that their simpler work was just as effective as the older kids' work. We started the activity by talking about different ways of printing and how with some printing methods (such as this one), the image is reversed. I got the students to first draw an animal of their choice, based on a pile of print-outs. We then covered the back of the images with oil pastel, placed them over the lino boards and drew over the lines of the animals, imprinting the image onto the lino. I then showed the students how to evenly cover the surface of their boards with ink and put their work through the press. The student really enjoyed rolling the wheel together and were super excited to see the results of their prints. I taught them about editions, and got them to create three prints from the same lino board. 

Children's Extra-curricular Art Classes

Today I got my 7-10 class to create drawings and paintings while listening to Vivaldi's "Five Seasons." At the start of the lesson I got the kids to listen to "Fur Elise" with their eyes closed and think about the different colours, shapes, objects and/or images that come to mind. We then brainstormed as a class our different ideas. My favourite suggestion came from an eight year old girl who said she imagined a mouse running up and down a piano with a cat chasing it. It was really interesting to see some of the ideas they came up with!

Four Seasons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRxofEmo3HA

Last week we looked at Picasso and abstract portraits. I instructed the children to first create a portrait of themselves by looking at mirrors. We went through each step of portrait drawing together as a class. I walked around the room and listed the steps needed for each facial part as the children drew. The steps included considerations about proportion and how the actual shape of our facial features often differed to what our brains try and tell us about these shapes. We then talked about the difference between representational art and abstract art as well as primary colours. The students were instructed to use two sets of primary colours.

Picasso's Portraits

Kid's Portraits

Personal Symbols with Year 9s

My example:

Student example:

Professional Practicum Semester 2 - Sea Bowl Designs with Year 7s

Professional Practicum Semester 1

I absolutely loved my first prac. My mentor teacher allocated me her Year 7, 9 and 10 art class. Here are some awesome examples of the clay fish I helped the Year 7s make. The process involved planning the fish, learning how to handle clay, firing in the kiln, under-glazing, colour glazing, more firing and finally adding beads and string to the creations. 

While the clay fish were being fired we moved onto zentangles! We talked about organic and geometric lines and shapes and I encouraged students to use a combination of both in their work.

I also helped my mentor teacher with a project she was designing for Year 6s on open day by cutting stencils of Mona Lisa. We helped the students direct the spray cans correctly and use two different colours.

Below is an example from a project I designed with my Year 9 class. I helped them to create stencils of their favourite singers and spray them onto the opposite wall of the Mona Lisas along with some lyrics. Leading up to the task, we talked a lot about street art and the differences between street art and graffiti. I also introduced image analysis tasks to the class beginning with Banksy.