This week I went in to the middle school class that I was working with. They were working on a painting project. Some of them were on their second or "extra" one. These students seemed to be totally focused on their work. Others that were lagging behind a little were the talkative type or a little distracted by those talking.
I worked with the high school student Travis on the airbrushing of his sculptures. he is getting the hang of using the brush and seems to understand the settings on the gun for the amount of paint. He readily adjusts it back and forth if needed. The fins have come a long way since we have been working together. A parent of former students came in to observe students working and to speak with Gary. The parent is a professional fisherman and really appreciated Travis' work. He said that it needed "more gore" as Gary had suggested as well. This is something that I could surely help with considering my professional background in special effects. Travis has many fins within his piece, not to mention the shark bodies as well, which we haven't gotten to yet. I am enjoying working on this project with him and I think he will achieve a good solid piece once it is finished.
Will have pictures in a few days to show.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Week 11
The middle school class started a new project this past week with Gary that went along with the found-objects show in the school's gallery. It is a project he likes to do every year and is very in expensive. The students build an architectural sculpture out of cheap hot glued-together plastic silverware. The need to build it at least 18" high and use different techniques, such as X-ing the pieces, fan shapes, pyramiding ,and building a solid substructure. After the base, the students can apply decorative forms out of the silverware throughout the structure and at the apex. They had a lot of fun building and had somewhat of a competition to build the highest or most elaborate. using the hot glue gun was a plus for the boys. This project went quickly (about a week or less since they have art every day). Would take longer at a public school when you only have art once or twice a week. this project would be a good precursor to a larger found objects project. The larger could be a cooperative effort with students bringing in or finding objects and working together to design and place the materials.
Tuesday and Thursday I also worked with a high school student that i have mentioned in previous posts. he is working with the over grazing of fisherman and especially the shark fisherman off the coast of Japan harvesting fins and throwing the rest of the fish out. I took in my airbrush and showed him techniques to get a nice blended appearance on his fired-clay shark fins. The mastery will take a while because it takes a lot of practice to understand the techniques. The student is doing well and has improved the patina on the fins dramatically. He is considering acquiring his own air-brush. he has a lot of pieces to work on, so this will be an on-going project that I look forward to assisting him in.
Tuesday and Thursday I also worked with a high school student that i have mentioned in previous posts. he is working with the over grazing of fisherman and especially the shark fisherman off the coast of Japan harvesting fins and throwing the rest of the fish out. I took in my airbrush and showed him techniques to get a nice blended appearance on his fired-clay shark fins. The mastery will take a while because it takes a lot of practice to understand the techniques. The student is doing well and has improved the patina on the fins dramatically. He is considering acquiring his own air-brush. he has a lot of pieces to work on, so this will be an on-going project that I look forward to assisting him in.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Week 10
The project got finished up this week.
The students had a renewed interest in the project once they started to embellish the skeleton figures with hair, cloth, and beads. During the painting sequence, the students started to get a little restless, but as soon as they started cutting cloth for the clothes and applying hair, they were very focused. I think that having many stages to a project keeps it new and exciting to them. Gary said that the students are more focused when they do a longer project since they are investing more time and want a good result. The timing of this project was unsure because of some scheduling issues due to assemblies the first couple of days. What I mean by timing is that we weren't too sure how long it would take the students to complete the sequences or the project as a whole.
I learned that the personal touches that students apply is probably one of the most engaging sequences of this project next to the actual sculpting/building. The students enjoyed the final embellishing sequence more because it reflected their interests and a part of themselves in the piece.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Week 9 Tues - Fri
Tuesday:
The students had to pick a persona for their skeleton. One student made an army soldier with a bazooka, while another student made Shakira. They had to bend the wire to fit the actions of their character before the clay was applied.
The students began putting on the DAS clay onto their armatures. The clay is somewhat dense, but was applied pretty well. I showed them on my example where to put the segments for the joints and the ribcage location. The material started to dry out toward the end of class so we put out some water dishes and a sprayer to keep them moist. The students didn't get finished modeling them.
Wednesday:
The students continued modeling their figures and adding details such as ribs and fingers. Most of the students seemed to work pretty well with the DAS clay, although some had some difficulty smoothing it out and balancing the figure because of figure form or clay weight. The main idea for today was to finish the figurative form and its details. The students finished so we left them uncovered to dry for the next day.
*For this project and for one similar, I don't think I would use this clay because it drys out too quickly for young artists. When it is drying out, it is hard to add more clay on top of it, so it has less chance of adhesion. This is a problem that I would rather not deal with especially with this age group because they get a little aggravated.
Thursday:
The students came in and began covering their projects with gesso. The gesso gave them a nice bright white appearance that the DAS didn't have. The DAS was a rather dull white. The gesso will also allow for other materials such as paint and glue stick a little better to the skeleton. This was a step that didn't take too long, but had to dry before the next step. The students finished applying the gesso and then we talked for the rest of the class. I asked one student what aspect of sculpture is different than 2D. He replied that "we get to see things for real and in 3D stuff".
I thought this was a good reply for a middle school student.
Friday
The students began painting the figures today. The students painted the bones on the body, if applicable because some were wearing clothes and some of the skeletons were girls. The bones were to be painted on very simply as the Mexicans do to their Day of the Dead sculptures. The students seemed to do very well painting on the bone lines and the skull features.
This project seemed as though it was challenging enough for them to keep their attention. they also had a lot of fun with the project as well becaus ethey all said that they enjoy sculpture and working with clay.
The students had to pick a persona for their skeleton. One student made an army soldier with a bazooka, while another student made Shakira. They had to bend the wire to fit the actions of their character before the clay was applied.
The students began putting on the DAS clay onto their armatures. The clay is somewhat dense, but was applied pretty well. I showed them on my example where to put the segments for the joints and the ribcage location. The material started to dry out toward the end of class so we put out some water dishes and a sprayer to keep them moist. The students didn't get finished modeling them.
Wednesday:
The students continued modeling their figures and adding details such as ribs and fingers. Most of the students seemed to work pretty well with the DAS clay, although some had some difficulty smoothing it out and balancing the figure because of figure form or clay weight. The main idea for today was to finish the figurative form and its details. The students finished so we left them uncovered to dry for the next day.
*For this project and for one similar, I don't think I would use this clay because it drys out too quickly for young artists. When it is drying out, it is hard to add more clay on top of it, so it has less chance of adhesion. This is a problem that I would rather not deal with especially with this age group because they get a little aggravated.
Thursday:
The students came in and began covering their projects with gesso. The gesso gave them a nice bright white appearance that the DAS didn't have. The DAS was a rather dull white. The gesso will also allow for other materials such as paint and glue stick a little better to the skeleton. This was a step that didn't take too long, but had to dry before the next step. The students finished applying the gesso and then we talked for the rest of the class. I asked one student what aspect of sculpture is different than 2D. He replied that "we get to see things for real and in 3D stuff".
I thought this was a good reply for a middle school student.
Friday
The students began painting the figures today. The students painted the bones on the body, if applicable because some were wearing clothes and some of the skeletons were girls. The bones were to be painted on very simply as the Mexicans do to their Day of the Dead sculptures. The students seemed to do very well painting on the bone lines and the skull features.
This project seemed as though it was challenging enough for them to keep their attention. they also had a lot of fun with the project as well becaus ethey all said that they enjoy sculpture and working with clay.
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