Lots has been going on over here! The Fall classes have started and already we have done so much! Printmaking, collages, painting, india ink, drawing...it's been so fun.
Printmaking week was a blast. Preschoolers made monotypes with a brayer, some brightly colored paint, and Qtips. They always love to see their drawing come off onto the paper like magic. Early elementary students etched into styrafoam with a pencil. We talked about Hokusai's "36 View of Mount Fuji" and land features that we see here in the Mat Su Valley, like Pioneer Peak. They made a series of five prints of their own familiar landscapes. The late elementary and middle school/high school students tried carving their own linocut plate! The carving sets are super fun. Everyone tried something different and everyone enjoyed it. They also talked about Hokusai and compared different prints from the Mt. Fuji series.
Preschool hand were busy glueing and painting and painting and glueing!
Preschool through late elementary also worked on self-portraits. The preschoolers nailed down shapes, the early elementary students worked on detail, and the late elementary students learned the proportions of the face. They worked hard!
And now the middle school/high schoolers...
I am going for TAB lessons this term, like I did over the summer. TAB=Thinking for Artistic Behavior. It is such a great way to teach an art class. Basically, I do demonstrations for part of the lesson on various techniques throughout the term. The rest of the lessons are devoted to each student's individual project. We started off with some brainstorming practices. Lists. Mind mapping. (My favorite was when someone's mind map led abruptly from "trouble" to "mom") Then thumbnail sketches and more thumbnail sketches.
Last week these students were ready to start on their projects. We have a watercolor salmon, watercolor landscape, india ink figures, anime-style drawings (don't write it off--it's awesome and definitely some hard work), and a series on pillows that explores all of the media that I can make available. (Next week that student is going to experiment with canvas, batting, fabric, and paint) It is so awesome to see these kids thinking critically and creatively.
