Middle school students engaged in a project that pulled together the use of line, pattern, color, and drawing to convey expression. There were several levels to the process, which all came together beautifully in the end.
Students first developed design ideas in their sketchbooks – using principles of design such as pattern, movement, and balance to inspire their samples. It was also helpful for students to have a basic understanding of the elements of art.
.jpg "IMG_0277")
.jpg "IMG_0280")
Students spent one class in their sketchbooks creating drawings of their hands using different exercises such as gesture, contour, and blind contour drawing. They experimented with different hand poses to show various expressions.
.jpg "IMG_0285"){kind=spacer}
.jpg "IMG_0237")
Putting it all together, students created an abstract background using their line and pattern ideas and then drew hands on to light colored construction paper using the contour drawing method. The hands were outlined in black marker to enhance the contour lines and then placed appropriately on top of the background. Here are the final results.
.jpg "IMG_0250")
.jpg "IMG_0224")
.jpg "IMG_0222")
.jpg "IMG_0217")
.jpg "IMG_0216")
.jpg "IMG_0215")
.jpg "IMG_0214")
Upon finishing, students created a reflection in their sketchbook. We are working on producing dynamic sketchbook reflections that combine both written responses and visual responses. This is similar to the work being done at the high school level in IB, so it’s a great chance for them to start practicing these skills early on.
.jpg "IMG_0435")
.jpg "IMG_0440")
-isaac
