Masked : part 1

 We are making masks. 

We began by looking at the history of masks and what they are used for.

The first part of this project and of the chess board project - planning. The children don't always like this bit nor are they particularly thorough , but I really push them to put all their ideas down on paper. This is not so that they HAVE to do what they planned but rather so that they have something to hang their ideas on. A kind of frame.

 The first problem the children had was to build a shape onto which they could begin to make the mask. That proved tricky and at last we settled on a balloon. I love it when the kids encounter a problem in art because  art, taught well, creates opportunities for children to solve problems . Learning happens.

This was painful for some children and frustrating. We had to work through the moans and groans and disappointments together. Balloons popped and deflated.

 These are some of the masks taking shape. Paper mache was the thing we were using to make our masks.

 The undercoat of white paint was added.

 I quite like these just like this.

 Here the work is progressing as paint and other items are added to the final works.

the Colour Wheel

 This is a fun lesson. We talk colour and the kids make a colour wheel which always takes longer than expected.

 This lesson overlaps with a little on Pop art and so we learn about Andy Warhol and what Pop Art is. 

 The children choose everyday South African items to draw and them paint in primary colours. The background is painted in secondary colours.

What can we do with paper?

 https://www.ted.com/talks/beatrice_coron_stories_cut_from_paper

 Paper art fascinates me.Not just origami, the ancient Japanese paper folding art, but all art created with paper. If you have ever tried to manipulate a tiny piece of paper into a shape or cut holes into a folded piece, not only can the difficulty be exposed but also the wonder, as you fold it out and let it reveal what you have created.

 This art lesson is one of my absolute favourite ones. 

We start with bits of pre- cut paper and through a fairly word lead process, the children begin.

In other words, I ask a myriad of questions and this sparks the children off.

 Questions like...

1. can you make a circle with this piece?

2. how can you join it to the page? How can you join it to another circle? In a new way?

etc etc

 This is the work of a group of children from this art class . I hope you enjoy this work as much as I have.

A Game of Chess anyone?

This year we began a new class in art. It is a class for those kids who have been coming to art for any length of time and who could perhaps have a step up in independence. The idea was that the children would take more ownership of their work and through some guidance of the teacher - me - they could launch themselves off .

 The chess set was the first project.

 The children could choose their own ideas for board pieces . I suggested a theme might work and so their ideas began to roll. We had the option of using clay, board , wire, waste materials etc to make the pieces. Most chose clay. Two chose board and one chose stones.

 This stone chess set here, was delightful. This child spent his time drawing on bits of paper. We stuck these onto the stones and we then varnished the end product. Just wonderful!

 Themes included Minecraft, fantasy, Trump vs Kim ; the Lord of the Rings

Drawing

 We began this term with an old faithful lesson. Drawing something from nature with a B pencil. 

I teach the kids that come to art, that any kind of B pencil is great to draw with. It is soft ad helps to create those darks and lights we use in art as we create value in our work 

 Value : is one of the 7  elements of art and we find it in all art works. It is the work of light in a photograph or the dark shading that produces the shadow in a drawing. Children are extraordinarily good at creating the extreme dark in a work and some grey lights

 I love these attempts at value.

 Look at the shadow in these works. 

 Noticing value in objects is a tricky thing to do and it is something that needs practice. It is not something we naturally look at when we observe the world around us, yet it is one of the very things that makes our world so interesting.