ARTistic Pursuits - Sculpture Technique Model Review

Art is one of those subjects that really changes as your students get older.  You start out with basic drawing and construction paper, and then you really start add in new mediums.  This can present a challenge to those of us who are not comfortable at teaching these techniques.  As the kids get older, that is what I am running into.  I spend a lot of time researching new mediums that are still able to be done inexpensively and easily.  We recently had the opportunity to review an art book from ARTistic Pursuits that really helped look into the art of sculpture..... Sculpture Technique - Model ($47.95) from ARTistic Pursuits.

Sculpture Technique - Model was written for kids age 11 - 18.  This book continues on concepts that were introduced in Sculpture Technique, Construct, but you can use it easily alone.  

We have not used the Sculpture Technique, Construct prior to starting Sculpture Technique - Model.  The instructions provides are well written, along with material explaining why specific modeling methods are used.  It allows students to have a guided creativity.  There are projects working with putty, pottery and even fiber arts.  

Students are encouraged to work with clay in a multiple formats.  There are lessons building on mass and creating scale with clay.  They are taught different methods of creating, including pinch, coil and slab.  Fiber art is also included, wet felting, and needle felting.  

Lesson materials are presented in an easy to use and read format.  Older students could easily read through the lesson and work independently.  As you can see above, even materials are highlighted and explained for the safety and proper use.

The one thing that Caty did not enjoy using during this review period, was the putty material.  The suggested material is Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty, and she did not enjoy mixing it or modeling with it.  In fact, we had to mix several batches because of it being too thick or too thin and then it dries very quickly.  Which did not allow for her to fix creations on her time frame.  I think the next time we work our way through this book in the fall, we will not be using this putty so as to avoid frustration.  One of the nice abilities with ARTistic Pursuits is the ability to switch out certain materials, just in case you either do not have that type of paint or you have a child with sensory issues who cannot stand the clay type.

It also dried very brittle, so we had trouble with her projects turning out.   She did spend hours working though on trying to figure out how to mix the clay and make her sculpture.

I have always enjoyed the art books from ARTistic Pursuits.  We have used the entire elementary level series.  I love the explanations given with projects.  Being able to give your students examples and a reason why you want them to do their projects in a certain way is great for their learning.  When I am trying to explain to Caty why she should be filling up the white space on her page, sometimes I even need a little help, and I have that to be able to read to her directly from the book.  I can show her that it's not just mom who wants her to fill the entire page up.

Art classes are very expensive.  So using ARTistic Pursuits is a very easy way to open your children's eyes up to the different mediums of art.  Another benefit of using ARTistic Pursuits is the ability to use the lessons across a wide variety of ages.  I have been able to use them with our youngest through oldest for the same project, making art lesson planning very easy.  

If you are looking for an easy-to-use art curriculum, ARTistic Pursuits has a level for your family.  They offer programs for preschool through high school.

Several members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew were given the opportunity to try out different levels of art programs from ARTistic Pursuits.  Take some time to visit the blog and see how they enjoyed ARTistic Pursuits in their homes.

Art Thursday - Painting with Ink

I decided to get brave and let the kids use ink at art class.  This was a little nerve wrecking because we meet in an area coffee shop and they do not ask us to pay anything.  So it meant table clothes and lots of patience.

This was just a fun fall project for the kids, using supplies they do not normally use.

First the kids drew a still life of a pie pumpkin.  We talked about the curved lines to give their pumpkins less of a flat shape on the paper (this is review from a couple weeks ago).

Next step was using brushes to paint with ink.

 I only had so many bottles, so they needed to take turns at stations.

They agreed that painting with ink was a lot like painting with watercolors.

Caty of course, did her own thing.  But she really liked doing this project.

Art Class - Grid Line Drawing

This year in art class we are working on our drawing technique.  We are also going to learn shading, blending, motion, and shadows.  I am trying to blend artists in with the techniques we will be working on.  There will be some fun projects thrown in along the way!!

This week, we worked on grid drawing.  Or the use of grids to break down more complicated drawing.  I chose to also introduce the kiddos to Pop Art, particularly the works of Andy Warhol.

In prep for this lesson, I printed two works of Andy Warhol's art pieces for the different age groups.  We had kids in the class from pre-k through ages 13/14.  So a wide age group and skill level.  I printed in both color and black/white (to save on printer ink).  A black/white copy was printed for each student.  On those copies, using a ruler I drew grids.  The colored prints I laid a couple among the student levels so they could see that Pop Art doesn't have the typical color.  (As you can see my ink was already getting low.)

At class, using a laptop (we meet in a local coffee shop), we looked up and discussed what Pop Art was and then looked at examples of Andy Warhol's artwork.  We discussed how the colors Pop out at you.  How everyday objects that are laying around the house can really become works of art.  And you are only limited in colors by your own imagination.

So then it was down to business.  I talked with the kids about what the numbers on their drawing pencils meant and they chose pencils.  Next we drew grid lines on pages in their sketchbooks, and it was time to get down to drawing.

The benefit of grid line drawing is to allow your eyes to focus on just one section at a time in order to get the full detail drawn.  (I really tried to pick an easy project for them to draw though...don't want frustration.)  ALWAYS draw your grid lines though in a lighter pencil.  So lower number pencils are best for this and harder leads.  You don't want your lines smearing as you move your arm across them.

 Some of the kids found it helpful to number and letter their grids to keep track of where they were.

The Mickey was a little tough for the younger kids.  But they had fun trying to draw Mickey Mouse.  I missed pics of their artwork.

Here is Joey and Lydia's finished work:

Lydia didn't didn't hold back on color.

 Joey got a little frustrated.  His attention span allows him for short periods (and it was a bad day).  But the nice thing about grid drawing, he can easily find where to pic back up.

This project helps with control and looking at detail.  It works with shorter attention spans.

Next art class we will be working on shading!

The works of Joseph Cornell

Born- December 24, 1903

Death - December 29, 1972

From New York City

Joseph Cornell is most famous for his collage/boxed creations.  He was a Surrealist.  He was a collector of special items.  If he went to a concert, he saved the program.  Had a favorite restaurant or picture, he saved it.  I'm seeing a pattern, oh yeah....my daughter does the same thing.  She collects little items from everywhere she goes.  I used to do the same thing.  He frequented thrift shops and collected beautiful items.  Cornell decided to start art boxes of these special objects.  He would visit book stores and collect special books and create beautiful works of art out of these also.  But his art did not stop there.  He also clipped together snippets of films to create what he felt were humorous works of art.  He became known as one of the first pop artists.

This is one of his most famous films.....Rose Hobart.  Lydia didn't see the "humor" in the film.  But she notice the changes.



Rose Hobart (1939) by Lost_Shangri_La_Horizon

Joseph Cornell's "Rose Hobart" (1936) is a short, 19 minute experimental film created by the artist Joseph Cornell, who cut and re-edited the Hollywood film "East of Borneo" into one of America's most famous surrealist short films. Cornell was fascinated by the star of East of Borneo, an actress named Rose Hobart, and named his short film after her. The piece consists of snippets from East of Borneo combined with shots from a documentary of an eclipse. When Cornell screened the film, he projected it through a piece of blue glass and slowed the speed of projection to that of a silent film. The original soundtrack is removed, and the film is accompanied instead by "Forte Allegre" and "Belem Bayonne", two songs from Nestor Amaral's "Holiday in Brazil," a record that Cornell had found at a junk shop. 

In 2001, Rose Hobart was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Sites to visit:

Joseph Cornell Box

Some more of his artworks:

 This definitely looks like a Lydia.

Some of his re-created books....

I was going to take Lydia thrift shopping, but to be honest didn't have a lot of extra time this week.  So we will save that project for next year.  One of Joseph Cornell's famous "boxed" art pieces was about Lauren Bacall.  

So we decided to do a Justin Beiber Box.  I printed several pictures of him, including his favorite foods.  (Now I call that love that I spent precious time searching the internet for Justin Beiber likes and dislikes...lol)  I turned her lose with an empty cereal box after I cut it for her.

 This was her finish project....Turned out pretty cute.

We kind of felt like Joseph Cornell was one of the original scrapbookers.  He could've easily run a Smash Club!!  We are helping to start one of these clubs in our homeschool group!  We are very excited and already been working on our book.

Next artist is......Louise Bourgeois