Printmaking - An autobiography book cover 2016

For this project students were presented with an artistic challenge: 

"If you were the author/artist for your own autobiography, how would you design your book cover?"

Students were encouraged to explore many avenues of their lives to include on their cover.  Common themes were: fond memories, favorite foods, music, sports, animals, family, the list goes on and on.  To begin, students were assigned to capture as many of their ideas quickly on paper by drawing smaller thumbnail sketches.



Once students developed and explored many ideas, they had to pick one idea or a combination of several ideas to use for their final design.  They then created "relief" by carving the design into the "block" or "plate."  In this case, we used flat pieces of Styrofoam (the example here has been printed many times which is why it looks so discolored).

Then students learned the process of printmaking to create their prints. 

The four most basic steps to create a good print are:

1. Load the brayer with ink

2. Apply the ink on the plate

3. Print onto paper

4. Label the print

 Students learned about the traditional ways to label their prints.  In the beginning stages of printmaking, the artist "proofs" their plate.  This is the process of creating several test or practice prints to make sure all the lines and shapes are printing how they want.  During this stage, changes can be made to the plate between proofs.  This is also a time to try out different colors.  Because of this "testing" time, those prints are labeled as a proof in the bottom left.  Then the artist traditionally signs their work on the bottom right.  You can also see how the image on the plate is different from the printed image, it prints as a mirror image opposite of each other.

Featured Artists - Radial Design

Grace F.

 Caitlin W.

Elise W.

Colin W.

Emily M.

 Hudson F.

Isabella D.

Jenna C.

 Ellie M.

 Joshua S.

 Kyle D.

 Lauren W.

 Myles S.

 Natalie V.

 Riley P.

 Taylor G.

Teegan E.

Native American Indian Inspired Pinch Pots - 2016

To start, we began with raw white clay.  First we wedged the clay, which is the process of getting all the air bubbles out of the clay.  Next, we rolled it into a ball and we started a hole with our thumb and began pinching.  Pinching is a process; slowly rotating the pot in our hands while we pinch.

After we made the standard round pot shape, students had the option to "pinch" the pot into any other creative shape they wanted.  We discussed different possibilities for size, shape, and if we wanted the pinch pot to look like a new pot or an old artifact.  Students did a great job making theirs unique and interesting.

Next we carved traditional imagery into the wet clay.  Carving into the surface creates RELIEF.  We had many options for the relief such as: animals, symbols, patterns and natural elements.  Students could use one or all of these traditional themes.

Here you can see many student pots drying out before going into the kiln.

Then we glazed the pots using common earth tone colors from ancient tribes (red, brown, black white).  Glaze looks much different at first.  When we first put it on, it is nothing like how it will eventually look once it has been fired in the kiln.  At first glaze looks very dull, has a flat finish.  In the kiln, is goes through a chemical change (science!) where it melts, releases gasses, activates certain chemicals (don't worry, totally non-toxic), and then cools.  When we take them out of the kiln they look much different!!!

Here are a few examples of some of the finished glazes!

Featured Artists: Emotional Abstract Color Wheel

 Grace S.

 Isaiah B.

 Maria M.

 Karsyn B.

 Christian G.

 Kathryn G.

 Maddy A.

 Andrew K.

 Aiden S.

 Grace A.

 Megan H.

 Audrey W.

 Kylie V.

 Alissa M.

 Kaylee D.

 Isabella B.

 Parker W.

 Sage O.

 Ella N.

Drew L.

Radial Design Color Scheme Painting

For this painting, students first began with creating a symmetrical radial design.  Symmetrical mean it is the same on both sides, or in this case the same from side to side and from top to bottom.  Radial means it is based on a circle, and even though it is on square paper, the design moves your eye in a circular movement around the piece.

First, students folded their square paper in half (into a rectangle) and in half again (back to a smaller square).  From there students create four interesting (but not too complex) lines that will eventually become the entire design.  This is one quarter of the design.

 Then students folded the smaller square backwards and rubbed really hard.  This transfers the crayon lines faintly to the other small square.  Then they went through and retraced.  Now they have half of their design.

Then this process of folding and rubbing is repeated one more time, transferring one half to the other have, give the students their finished symmetrical radial design.

From there students had to select either an analogous or complementary color scheme to paint their design.  An analogous color scheme uses any three colors in a row on the color wheel (ex. yellow, yellow-green, and green).  A complementary color scheme uses two colors across from each other on the color wheel (ex. red/green, yellow/violet, or blue/orange).  Once painted, the final step was to retrace the outlines with black crayon one last time.

 The above example is an analogous color scheme painting using green, blue-green, and blue.  Notice the bottom half has been retraced, compared to the top half which has not.  There is am identifiable difference in the quality of the lines.

The above example is a complementary color scheme painting.  Complementary colors are called so because when placed next to each other, they make each other more intense and bold.  The opposite happens when they are mixed, they dull each others intensity.  If students selected this option, they would have had to mix them together at least once; in this example, they were mixed together in two different ways.  The lines in this example are also retraced completely.