6th Grade Self-Portraits (Or "Bob Ross is a Genius")

Anyone else find themselves quoting Bob Ross in the classroom? He had a beautiful way of expressing the joys of art, and "happy accident" is probably my favorite Bob-ism. This current 6th grade self-portrait project has certainly yielded a number of very happy accidents. What began as a failed ink and oil pastel batik project turned into a large crop of fabulous sgraffito wonders! (See the original post here.) 

So after two classes (for some students) of scratching away at the india ink that just wouldn't wash, my 6th graders were actually thrilled with the results. I had to keep on them, though, because they just couldn't visualize the end. To them, it seemed that their brightly colored self-portraits were ruined. And then they saw the results, and wow, what great discussions came from problem-solving our way through our original "failed" technique.

Here are a few of the (much-needed) lessons my 6th grade young artists gained from this experience:

1. Never give up. If something seems difficult, keep at it. You have the ability to complete anything you start.
2. Don't judge your work until you reach the end. Art evolves through the process of creation.
3. Keep an open mind. If you find your work moving in a direction that's not quite as you planned, just go with it. See where it takes you.
4. Learn from your "mistakes." Mistakes are necessary in order to grow as an artist.
5. Artists are problem-solvers. If something doesn't go as planned, explore other solutions. If you're still not satisfied, see lesson #3. (This is a lesson I voice in every class.)

And here are their results. (Some finished and some close to finished. A few students will go back in with white pastel to brighten their eyes in our next class.) I actually love this more than the original plan. Happy accident indeed! For students who were a bit behind, I gave them the option of applying a coat of black tempera paint and rinsing the drawings (which is what I was originally planning to do with the ink). Some chose to do that, and some chose to go ahead with the sgraffito technique. The tempera batik portraits are at the end. They turned out really well, too!

Sgraffito Self-Portraits (India ink over oil pastel)

This is a future self-portrait of sorts. This student
drew his dad. :)

This student was the first one to try to rinse away
the india ink. Her drawing tore a bit, so she's going
to add a bow or other hair adornment to cover
the hole. So smart!

Tempera Batik Self-Portraits (Tempera wash over oil pastel)

6th Grade Self-Portraits (a learning experience)

This is only my 2nd year of teaching Art in public/charter schools, so I'm still experimenting with a lot of techniques and media. I've been wanting to try oil pastel batik with a class, and since my 6th grade classes are the only ones for which I have sink access (I use a science classroom), I thought this would be a good place to experiment. So glad I've been telling my kids all year that art is an experiment and a terrific forum through which to practice our problem-solving skills!

Demo: Aside from a few gray lines where
the ink hadn't dried completely on the
paper, it worked just fine...

My demo turned out exactly as planned. I created the line drawing with white chalk pastel, then filled the image with oil pastel, laying it down heavily and leaving the white chalk lines visible. I then painted black India ink over the entire image, waited for it to dry (about 25 min), and rinsed it in the sink in my office. It came out GREAT, and I was so excited to do this with my students.

So I went through the process with my 6th graders...they spent a lot of time on their under-drawings, pressing firmly, leaving chalk lines empty. They really did a fantastic job. Only when we inked the drawings and began washing them, the ink didn't come off like it did with my demo. I'm perplexed. The first few students who began rinsing their drawings were washing away the oil pastel, as well, in trying to get the ink off, and one ended up with a small hole. So...I put a pause on the project until we get back from Spring Break. My only solution for salvaging these (the kids have put SO much effort into them) is to turn them into scratch board drawings. One student has already started on this process, and while the result is a bit "dirtier" than we were going for, it's not such a bad solution. I think we'll be touching them up with more oil pastels, as well, particularly the eyes and other focal points.

Student self-portrait w/
scratchboard technique begun.

I report when we're done. (View the updated post here!) In the mean time, if this has happened to anyone else, I'm open to additional ideas. I've read that some people add dish soap to the ink (which I didn't do), so perhaps that's part of the problem? Also, some of the kids inked theirs in one class, then washed at the start of the next, a space of two days wait time. I thought that might be the problem, so I had a couple of students ink theirs while we had time to wait for them to dry (again, about 20-25 min), but that persistent ink wouldn't come off of theirs either. So we just decided to let them dry again and wait to try the scratchboard technique. Aside from drying time with the first set of student work, there's absolutely no difference in materials or technique from the demo I made and the students' work. Ah well...mistakes are the foundation for discovery. We'll work it out. :)

Printmaking Test

"Inked" plate ready to go...

I've just started a printmaking project with 2nd grade, using foam printing plates from School Specialty. With Spring Break just a day away, our minds are on the beach, so our theme is folk art beach houses. I stayed after a bit today to do a few test prints, and WOW, I'm so excited to share this process with the kids!

I've used markers to ink plates before, but I just got a set of Mr. Sketch watercolor markers. And after all the great things I've read about them, I couldn't wait to try them out. They work beautifully for inking foam plates! The trick is that you have to print on damp paper (NOT wet...see below). It took me a few attempts to figure out exactly how damp the paper should be to yield successful results. (Note: Lay printing plate flat and lay damp paper on top of plate, pressing gently all over without moving the paper.)

Here are a few photos showing my experiments with various degrees of wet/damp paper.

Print #1: On dry paper, just for comparison.

Print #1: I dipped the paper in the sink, let it drip
a bit, laid it on newspaper to soak up a bit of water,
then laid it on the plate. Didn't work so well.

Print #3: I laid dry paper on the inked plate, then
sprayed water on the paper. Again, not so good.

Print #4: Woohoo! Success!! I dipped the paper in
the sink, then pressed it between newspaper until it
no longer dripped. Then I laid the damp paper on
top of the inked plate, pressed gently to transer the
image, and lifted the print.

Note: I just checked the print, and as I've been typing the edges of some colors have bled just a tad. I'm thinking maybe I'll do one more test (tomorrow...time to go home!) with paper that is just a bit more dry. I think I'll bring in a couple of towels tomorrow and see if that helps. I'll add an update after the adjustments are made.

Endangered Species

This lesson was inspired by my fellow art teacher last year. I can't remember the web site from which he printed the animal photos (if I find it I'll post the link), but students chose an endangered animal to draw, working from the photos (simple lines, not a lot of detail...we talked a lot about simplifying).

After working out composition, students drew their chosen animal on a sheet of 12x18 colored construction paper. They then traced their lines in glue. The clear, dry glue allowed the construction paper color to show through as the line color. Students then used chalk pastels to add color to their drawing.

Love messy hands!

The big ideas of this project were color and composition. Simplifying the lines of the drawings was an excellent exercise for students, as well, since young artists often get "blocked" when faced with too much detail (where to begin??). So we broke the background information down into basic shapes and spaces. Also, too much detail and the glue lines run together creating puddles, so simplifying was of practical importance, as well. Another benefit was that simplification often led to abstraction, which brought the animal into greater focus.

Here are a few of the finished drawings:

Seascapes

I did these pen & ink/watercolor paintings with 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students last year. I'll be doing watercolors with all of my students soon, but I realized I never posted these. I think they turned out really nice.

Background: Since we live in Fort Lauderdale, the ocean is a large part of my students' daily lives. Not the "Spring-Break-Girls-Gone-Wild" beach that everyone thinks of when they think Fort Laud or Miami's South Beach, but the calm, quiet, still ocean that those of us who live here year 'round know and love. The water is clear and blue, the sunrises are amazing, and the evening breeze is one of the most revitalizing and calming sensations you'll ever experience. This is the ocean my students and I discussed when preparing for this lesson.

Process: Three 40 min. classes
1. Discuss foreground, middle ground, and background. Students followed along with me to begin the drawing, beginning with large palm-like fronds in the foreground. We then discussed the horizon line, and how placement of elements in relation to the horizon line changes the perception of perspective. Students could choose their own elements to add to the middle ground (water) and background (sky).

2. Nib pen instruction and inking the drawing. There were a number of ink splatters as students became comfortable with the nib pens and a few spills, as well. Next time I'll use deeper ink wells (I just used condiment cups) and have a pen rest available (students kept wanting to put the pens in the cups when they weren't using them, causing the wells to tip...this only happened maybe 4 times, but that's 4 times mess too many...ugh.) We talked about line variation, and students practiced on a test sheet before beginning to ink their drawing.

3. Paint with watercolor. We tested wet-on-wet for the water, let that dry for a few minutes, then used wet-on-dry or dry-on-dry for the rest.

I really love the results, and using the nib pens made the students feel like real artists (they are!).

Cubist Hearts (Paul Klee)

I LOVE this lesson on Paul Klee from A Faithful Attempt! "Miss" has done an excellent job of laying out the background and process, so please visit her blog for the complete instructions. She has a number of additional excellent projects posted, as well.

Many of my 6th grade students said it was their favorite so far (we did it in early January), and the success rate was extremely high. This could easily be done with younger students, as well (3rd and up maybe?). It's an excellent introduction to Paul Klee, abstraction, and cubism.

I required my students to choose a color scheme for their composition: warm/cool, complementary, analogous, monocrhomatic, or triadic. A thin wash of tempera paint is applied over black colored pencil (for the lines) and construction paper crayons. The results are beautiful, and students got to experiment hands-on with the way color can change the mood of a composition. (Some layered a couple of tempera washes, going from blue to blue green or blue violet, etc., because their color combinations didn't turn out in reality the way students imagined they would. Great learning experience.)

I've done the project now with three of my four sixth grade classes. Here are a few finished pieces...