visioning project results

here are some exemplary pieces from the new "visioning" project I did with my basics students last semester. You can learn more about the process and the thinking behind it here.  It turned out to be a great way to satisfy both conceptual and technical needs for the beginning level student.  By having students choose an image or object with personal resonance and draw it small it was both motivating and less intimidating.  The artist statements the students wrote revealed strong evidence of thinking about objects beyond their literal functions/meanings.  I was impressed at the level of metaphor many of the students tapped in to.

portrait project results

The end of 1st semester was such a blur!  With the dual pressures of finishing up taking and teaching classes I was extremely exhausted to say the least!  Despite the fact the students were very rushed, I think the portraits turned out very well.  Here are some of the most successful examples:

pretty good for students who've never painted portraits before, don't you think?

personal values portrait project

so, sometimes you have an entire project planned for the end of the semester for your students only to find out that you neglected to book the lab enough days.  after pleading with your media specialist you find that the computer situation will remain hopeless - as everyone and their brother is using the computer lab to schedule end of course exams.  so, you have 24 hours to figure out an alternative project for their remaining 6 class periods (one of which will be spent painting their ceramic portraits).  what do you do?

after much deliberation it hits you - 'lil wheezy!

okay, so maybe it didn't happen like that.  my students had just finished up some play with color so i thought portraits would be a good segway.  unfortunately we don't have time for a large unit.  so, i thought students could grid off their own photographs and concentrate on painting the values.  to play with the theme of values i thought students could imbed their own values into their finished pieces.  i can't take full credit for the lesson plan, the middle school project i saw on the incredible art department website was a great sparker.

example assignment with embedded values

So I set forth to design something which incorporated the formal element of values, the identity component of portraiture, and the conceptual connection of values.  Because I knew I know I'll have to take students photos tomorrow (in order to have time to print them, etc) and I knew they'd need some practice (despite our lack of remaining class time) I decided to create a couple of "paint by number" examples using celebrity portraits.  Initially the plan was just to use Mona Lisa, then I thought mixing in some pop culture examples would be more fun.  Here's who I came up with.

To get to this point I imported each image into photoshop, converted them to grayscale, then colorized them under the adjustments settings (I wanted students to work mostly monochromatically).  After I did this initial processing I cropped the images into square compositions (because I like them) and then did a little cutout filter magic.

After this I thought I'd make a coloring book version template for the students by tracing the main features of the images and having them paint on top of the worksheet.  This, however, didn't turn out so hot as my drawings looked awful and I knew they would not escape the relentless scrutiny of my high school students.  So, I decided to do something crazy - why not paint directly on the photograph?

This was my first attempt - about 5 x 5 in size.  Entirely wayyy to small.  I decided to try and work bigger and to begin by printing off a copy of the photograph with a very low opacity (so that it was very translucent).  Here's how it progressed:

Ok, so, maybe his tattoos look a little like chocolate drips - but i wanted it to be really expressionistic.  Guess I won't escape teasing after all.

... wish me luck!

visioning drawing project

For the last several weeks I've been envisioning a new project for my Basics students centered around the idea of them creating a visioning image.  Vision boards (made popular by self help gurus and books/films such as the secret) are a collection of powerful images and words which help you visualize your goals for the future.  An example can be seen below.

Vision board example

As my students have been working so much with technology to collage I thought it would be a good idea to get them psychically involved i the process of collage.  Last week I had them begin constructing their own vision boards based off of one of two prompts 1) "imagine you are looking back on your life when you are 80 years old - what moments, accomplishments, etc will stick out?" or 2) "create a collage which describes how you envision your future life."  These collages will serve as part of the background layer for their talisman drawings.

As cheesy as it might be, part of what makes the visioning process powerful is that by articulating what you want you are also becoming more cognizant of these goals.  In this spirit I thought that constructing a vision board layered with maps (metaphoric for life's journey), the students' vision collages, and their own handwriting would not only be beautiful but very meaningful.  On top of these layers students will be collaging a beautifully rendered drawing of a personal talisman which is symbolic of the hopes and dreams they wish to achieve.

To visualize this process (and the final result) I've constructed two digital mock ups of what I think these collages could potentially look like.  The drawings in the middle are not my own, but I think they are good examples of well-crafted singular objects drawn on toned paper.  You can click on the images for a larger view.

Additionally, I would like for students to complete some reflective writing that is included within the piece. I haven't decided on the prompt yet - but I think it will be a nice addition.  Thus far I am thinking these will be collaged onto canvas panel in between layers of tissue and paint washes.  I think this could be a great way to get students interested in collage and physical layering as well as drawing (without the intimidation of having to draw an entire still life).  I'm pretty pumped - I hope they are too!  I'll keep you posted!

PS - Though I can't find better pics here are a few examples of the layering process as I've experimented with it before (winter 2008).  These were frames I found at Michaels that I collaged/painted to display photographs printed on organza of my late grandfather.  I'll have to see if I can get a hold of the originals to show my students.

this photo shows the process - lots of collage bits torn and layered

the finished piece - many layers of paper, cloth, photos, paint, inks, and leafing.  Miss him horribly :(