IGCSE + Online

This semester turned out to be a bit of a disappointment- I returned in January to find out I had a class of only two students. Then halfway through the preparations for our exam, we went online; only later to find out that the exams are cancelled altogether. To top it all off, this was my LAST chance to teach this class, which I love, due to our school no longer running the program.

Nonetheless, I was privileged to be a part of these students’ creative journeys and I am excited to see where it takes them in the future!

Making Art With Alternative Materials

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  Student work created with coffee, cocoa, mulberry leaf powder and nail polish!

As artists, we are constantly creating and coming up with new ideas. Facing limitations in terms of materials, especially during at-home learning, proves to be no barrier in continuing to make art! I expanded my own horizons in making my first YouTube tutorial to introduce my students to working with alternative materials, click here to check it out.

Bookbinding is typically one of my year end activities, in an attempt to recycle old drawings and paper from the semester. I saw artists all over the internet embarking on quarantine projects and thought it would be neat for us as well to create a collection of work from this time (not knowing that our at-home learning would last the entire fourth quarter!) After binding our own COVID Diaries, I gave the students two assignments per week, consisting of one sketchbook assignment (which they chose from a list) and one art challenge, which we started during our weekly class calls. Here are some of my favourite submissions:

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  Data Drawing

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  Coronavirus Inspired

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  View Out the Window

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  COVID Cartoon

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  Drawing to Music

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  Draw Your Daily Schedule

Figures in Imagined Environments

I still have not grown tired of this project, even after four years and looking at the 70+ sculptures from this quarter! This is such a fun unit to teach, enjoyed by many (if not most) of my students; and I continually have new ideas of how to reinvent it each time.

This year I had my students draw a background to add meaning to their sculpture. We thought about what pose each figure was conveying, where we might see this pose being made and where we could imagine displaying the finished sculpture to add to its meaning.

The sky was the limit! I watched the ideas take off with the addition of props to enhance a pose, and the development of imagined environments through drawing.

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see past figure sculpture projects here and here

Second Grade at the Olympics

For today’s art olympic events, I introduced second grade to the blind contour. I am amazed at the results! We did one blind drawing looking at the object and not at our paper, and one drawing from memory, looking at the paper and not at the object.

 

After drawing, we had a STEAM sculpture challenge. I gave each group an assortment of materials: paper, skewers, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners and bottle caps. We discussed working as a team to create a group sculpture, with points given for teamwork and creativity. I was impressed with this group that created not only a functional machine, but used creative thinking to incorporate additional resources at their table- a castle with a working catapult!

Bootcamp: Colour and Value

Our exploration of colour is spreading over two weeks. As a class, we reviewed primary and secondary colours, complementary colours, tints and shades. First and second graders did colour mixing experiments using primaries, black and white.

Fifth graders began an observational drawing of a form off of their sculpture. We used pastels to add the local colour and its complementary, and mixed to create highlights and shadows.

Self Portrait Haul

Kindergarten/1st

2nd/3rd

4th/5th

All new ideas for this year’s self portraits in elementary! Kindergarten and 1st grade drew themselves in their dream jobs. 2nd and 3rd grade did monochromatic Picasso-style portraits. 4th and 5th grade created self portraits in the style of Roy Lichtenstein/Pop Art.

Decay

This was a unit I did with my IGCSE class in the final weeks of the first semester. I wanted them to have the experience of working with a midterm exam topic to practice working within a limited time, similar to the final exam.

The topic was decay. We began by brainstorming the word, looking at the definition and collecting ideas for subjects pertaining to the topic. I had them do observational drawings of objects, both from my collection and from items they brought in.

After the students had several drawings, we narrowed in to the topic a bit more with a specified task: either to design a fashion garment inspired by decay, or to develop a final piece to be shown in an exhibition on decay. Once the students chose a direction, they began to develop their ideas from their original starting point drawings.

I did a workshop showing them different techniques for distressing paper and fabric to make it look old, worn and decayed. They explored these techniques in their sketchbooks and incorporated some of them into their final ideas.

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The final piece was to be created during three one and a half hour exam slots. My students went into the exam knowing exactly which of their ideas they were going to recreate, what materials they needed and had thought out the steps for completion. There was an interruption of snow amidst the creating, so the midterm was not actually finished before the semester ended. Despite this small hiccup, I think all of them were familiarized with the exam process and the steps needed for taking a topic from the brainstorming stages to completion.

Leaf Prints

This was a two part project. The first day, I had the students create observational drawings of leaves (I am fortunate to have many tree options on my way home from school!) One by one, they each had a turn to make 3 leaf prints using white printing ink on black paper. The next class, we talked about warm and cool colours. I had them colour the details in the leaf prints, 1 leaf using warm colours and 1 using cool colours. For the 3rd leaf, it was up to them to choose which colours to use.

 

Micro>Macro Drawing

I am teaching the Cambridge IGCSE Art and Design course for the second time this year. Once again, I only have four students. I am facing difficulties this year mostly with room scheduling- there is only one art room and two art courses running at the same time (a mostly good problem!) This week was experimental, mixed media drawing; so I decided we would draw on the floor- out on the 5th floor landing. As it is just outside the art room, we had easy access to materials and sinks for clean up. The setting was more relaxed- yoga mats instead of the typical table and chairs- and since more traffic comes through the stairwell, we had more visitors be a part of the excitement.

The students picked from a selection of natural objects to draw. We used bigger sheets of paper- the goal was to zoom in on a section of the object and experiment with materials to replicate the texture. Media attempted for this drawing included charcoal, conte, pastel, watercolour and ink. Following a discussion of the finished results, I had them experiment drawing with thread- stitching overtop of their drawings to create additional texture and interest. I gave them ideas of different embroidery stitches to try and they did the rest. I am so excited to work with this very talented and self motivated group- this is just the beginning!

A First Challenge

I attempted a first in progress critique with my drawing class today. I think it will take some more guiding questions on my part to eliminate the rabbit trails, but it is a start.

We are halfway through the quarter and do not have a lot of finished work to show… but I realized I have never posted images of this challenging first project. I really ask a lot of them from the get-go and this group has truly impressed me with some amazing first drawings.

Here are some close ups so you can see detail. Also included are drawings from past semesters- I have quite a collection! It is neat to see each one interpret the assignment in their own way.

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Series III

I have posted this project before, but I wanted to share some favourites from this past semester. I am always amazed to watch the student’s creative ideas evolve!

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