Free-form Shape Shading Project

Submitted by: Susan Marcus, art teacher at Hornell High School, Hornell, NY.

Grade Level: 8-9

 

Outcomes:

  1. Learn to experiment with different shading techniques and styles.

  2. Improve upon ability to shade gradually.

  3. Review how to balance positive (figure) and negative space (ground)

  4. Learn that when shading objects (vs. landscapes), light tones advance, dark tones recede.

  5. Learn the term "Value" as an "Element of Art."

Procedure:

  1. If not previously done recently, have students create a 3 box, 5 box, 7 box & 9 box grayscale.

  2. Keep this in front of student for reference.

  3. On a 12" x 18" (30.5 x 46 cm) draw free-form lines that use the whole picture plane.

  4. Shade 50% of the paper that shows GRADUAL SHADING.

  5. Balance positive and negative space equally.

Shading gradation

 

Common mistakes that students frequently make with above:

  1. Some students leave out white & black in their shapes shaded gradually

  2. Some students do not take the artistic license to be creative.

  3. Some have difficulty the concept of ground can be a "shape"

NOTE: This lesson was submitted in the early days of IAD when teachers had no scanners or digital cameras to take pictures of student work.

 

Pointillist Portraits and More

Lesson idea Submitted by: Mike Kelly,
8th grade art teacher in Tillamook, Oregon.

Grade Level: Middle School

 

Materials:

Use digital camera images or photocopies of student school pictures to make 4 (or more) self-portrait images. (Students use carbon paper and make four images on a large white paper - NOTE: This lesson was submitted in the mid 90's when carbon paper was still common. A good substitution might be Saral Transfer Pointillist PortraitsPaper.). Using different Fine Art posters, talk about various medias and techniques that artists can use to create images. Look at portraits through time - discuss modern art styles. This year we use felt tip pens for pointillist technique, cross-hatching, water color and color pencils. Try different colors plans (Fauves - Warhol). High motivation - parents love them!

 

Enhancement: Have students play online with IAD's Pointillator!

 

NOTE: This lesson was submitted in the early days of IAD when teachers had no scanners or digital cameras to take pictures of student work.

 

Cartoon Modern Masks

Submitted by: John Yagoda, 6th grade art teacher at Avon East in Ohio.

Grade Level: Middle School

 

Procedure:

A discussion of masks and their uses is conducted before the production of the masks. Another option is to discuss African Art and their uses of masks. The students sketch a design which they will use for their individual masks. The subject I chose was cartoon characters.

 

The following class, the students are required to bring in an old shirt, a towel, Vaseline and newspaper. The students cover the table with the newspaper and I tell the students that they must leave either the nose or the mouth opened. Also, do not cover the eyes they can do that later. The students pair up and one student puts Vaseline over their face, while the other prepares the plaster gauze.

 

cartoon mask

Cartoon mask from masks2globe

This process of plastering takes approximately 20-30 minutes to complete. The plaster takes an additional 20 minutes to dry. The following class the students bring their sketches of the cartoon characters to life using their personal masks. They can add ears (Mickey Mouse), horns (wolverine), beaks (Toucan Sam), helmets (Marvin the Martian), etc. The final step is to paint the masks. By this time the students are overly excited to display their hard work in the schools' showcase.

 

Materials:

Book: Maskmaking. - From simple variations on brown paper bags to bal masqué designs, plaster and plasticine molds—the whole range!

 

Alternate: Use Plastic Face Forms

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