Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Monday, April 3, 2017
Spiritual Non-Built Place
This is the cherry tree in the backyard of my home in Riverton. When I was younger I would climb up it sit on a branch and spend a lot of time there just thinking.
Monday, March 27, 2017
Monday, March 13, 2017
Reading Responces
Graphic Novels as Contemporary Art?
I liked how this article shows how graphic novels can be used to teach contemporary art practices. Things like appropriation, recontextulization, symbol and metaphor are important for students to understand in art and culture. I also like how it talks about graphic novels being accessible to students and how teaching students with something that they find enjoyable can allow them to learn these concepts easier.
How the Teaching Artist Can Change the Dynamics of Teaching and Learning.
I liked this article's ideas about creating a classroom that encourages spontaneity, were teaching is more about having a conversation and were unpredictable outcomes are expected and encourage. I do get worried sometimes with this article and our book about the teacher being an artist because I really feel that my work as an artist is pretty underdeveloped. But I'm not sure that you have to be an amazing artist (or even have art as a subject matter) to do a lot of these things. As the article talks about though, I do think that an important part of having an open and hospitable environment is having a sense of play and playing with and working alongside students.
Copying
I liked how this article said that copying is a great way to learn something because once you are able to practice using something that is proven to work then you can add and change things to make it your own and make it better. The article talks about how teachers can do this as they follow the example of other teachers and it can also apply to the way we have students learn to make art. If we allow them to copy but encourage them to make change things to make it their own then they can make really great work.
I liked how this article shows how graphic novels can be used to teach contemporary art practices. Things like appropriation, recontextulization, symbol and metaphor are important for students to understand in art and culture. I also like how it talks about graphic novels being accessible to students and how teaching students with something that they find enjoyable can allow them to learn these concepts easier.
How the Teaching Artist Can Change the Dynamics of Teaching and Learning.
I liked this article's ideas about creating a classroom that encourages spontaneity, were teaching is more about having a conversation and were unpredictable outcomes are expected and encourage. I do get worried sometimes with this article and our book about the teacher being an artist because I really feel that my work as an artist is pretty underdeveloped. But I'm not sure that you have to be an amazing artist (or even have art as a subject matter) to do a lot of these things. As the article talks about though, I do think that an important part of having an open and hospitable environment is having a sense of play and playing with and working alongside students.
Copying
I liked how this article said that copying is a great way to learn something because once you are able to practice using something that is proven to work then you can add and change things to make it your own and make it better. The article talks about how teachers can do this as they follow the example of other teachers and it can also apply to the way we have students learn to make art. If we allow them to copy but encourage them to make change things to make it their own then they can make really great work.
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Figure Drawing Unit: The Body and Emotion
Essential Questions: How are emotions related to the body? How do we display or hide emotion with our bodies? How can we control emotion with our bodies?
Rationale: There has been a lot of discussion about mental and emotional health in today's world. I think that it is important for people to understand how our physical and our emotional well being, as well as how all emotions have physical responses. I think that artists who use the figure can become aware of these facts as they use the human figure as a way to express emotion.
Learning Goals: Students will be able to use the human figure in their artwork in order to express emotion.
Knowledge Base: Rembrandt, Degas, Picasso, Willem De Kooning, Wayne Thiebaud, Frida Kahlo, Norman Rockwell.
Learning Activities:
Structure: Students will learn about the proportions structure of the human form and create figure drawings using simplified shapes of boxes and tubes.
Gesture: Students will learn about gesture drawing and then do some gesture drawing using a variety of materials that force them to use large gestural motions such as drawing with sticks and ink, really large brushes or chalk on a long pole.
Exaggeration: Students will study illustrators and cartoonists exaggerate human forms to be more expressive and then will will create a figure drawing that exaggerates the human form.
Stylization and Abstraction: Students will do research on different artists who have used the figure in their work. Then they will pick an artist whose style they are interested in and do a drawing of the figure in their style.
The Big Project: Students will each choose an emotion that they would like to try and convey in a portrait. The emotion can really simple or really complex. The students will then write down ways that that emotion could be expressed through the human form. The students would then each have a chance direct a model into a position. Student's will have to communicate their idea to the model by specifically telling them how to position their body (they can't just say "act happy" or "look down like you are depressed.") The students will then take photographs of the model and print them out so they can draw from them. The students will then use the images in their drawings to create a larger drawing.
Rationale: There has been a lot of discussion about mental and emotional health in today's world. I think that it is important for people to understand how our physical and our emotional well being, as well as how all emotions have physical responses. I think that artists who use the figure can become aware of these facts as they use the human figure as a way to express emotion.
Learning Goals: Students will be able to use the human figure in their artwork in order to express emotion.
Knowledge Base: Rembrandt, Degas, Picasso, Willem De Kooning, Wayne Thiebaud, Frida Kahlo, Norman Rockwell.
Learning Activities:
Structure: Students will learn about the proportions structure of the human form and create figure drawings using simplified shapes of boxes and tubes.
Gesture: Students will learn about gesture drawing and then do some gesture drawing using a variety of materials that force them to use large gestural motions such as drawing with sticks and ink, really large brushes or chalk on a long pole.
Exaggeration: Students will study illustrators and cartoonists exaggerate human forms to be more expressive and then will will create a figure drawing that exaggerates the human form.
Stylization and Abstraction: Students will do research on different artists who have used the figure in their work. Then they will pick an artist whose style they are interested in and do a drawing of the figure in their style.
The Big Project: Students will each choose an emotion that they would like to try and convey in a portrait. The emotion can really simple or really complex. The students will then write down ways that that emotion could be expressed through the human form. The students would then each have a chance direct a model into a position. Student's will have to communicate their idea to the model by specifically telling them how to position their body (they can't just say "act happy" or "look down like you are depressed.") The students will then take photographs of the model and print them out so they can draw from them. The students will then use the images in their drawings to create a larger drawing.
Monday, January 30, 2017
Teaching Artists Handbook Chapter 1
I don't feel like I have really developed my art to the point that I want it to be at. I like drawing characters that are heavily stylized and have a graphic quality to them but I can also work more directly from observation and I really enjoy working that way as well.
Really though I still feel like I am still exploring and I think that is part of being an artist to continue to explore and change. I hope that part of what I teach students is to explore and find things that they enjoy as well.
Really though I still feel like I am still exploring and I think that is part of being an artist to continue to explore and change. I hope that part of what I teach students is to explore and find things that they enjoy as well.
Monday, January 23, 2017
Drawing
Drawing is something that I really enjoy and I really want to teach students how to draw and how to develop the skills to draw well. I think that drawing is a useful skill and that a lot of students really want to learn how to draw. I think there is value in taking the time to slow down and do the observation necessary to draw well and I think it can be useful to learn how to master a skill through practice.
But I also know that drawing can be very frustrating for students and it is easy to have them compare their work to others and feel that they will never be as good as someone else.
Because of this I plan to show my students that drawing and painting realistically isn't the only way to make art and it isn't even the only way to draw. The important thing is that you are making things you enjoy and are responding to things that interest them.
I also want them to understand that drawing is a skill that can be learned with practice and I hope to show them that if they spend time practicing each of them can get better.
But I also know that drawing can be very frustrating for students and it is easy to have them compare their work to others and feel that they will never be as good as someone else.
Because of this I plan to show my students that drawing and painting realistically isn't the only way to make art and it isn't even the only way to draw. The important thing is that you are making things you enjoy and are responding to things that interest them.
I also want them to understand that drawing is a skill that can be learned with practice and I hope to show them that if they spend time practicing each of them can get better.
The First Day of Class
For my first day I want to do something to help me get to know my students and to get them excited about making art. I would like to start the class by having them either write or draw in their sketchbooks something that they like to make as well as something they would like to learn to make. Then to introduce themselves by sharing what they wrote down. It would be important to make sure that everyone's answer is treated as important and interesting. I would also want to take note of what students would want to learn to make so that I could focus on some of their interests in the class.
Springville Museum
The Man, The Tree, The Rod, and the Words of Strangers and Friends. Justin Wheatley.
There Appeared an Angel. Walter Rane
Sainted Heroes. Jenna von Benedikt
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