Mixed Media Bas Relief Sculpture

For an inexpensive art project that makes a big impact, I gave my students cardboard and let them get busy. They didn't plan anything out ahead of time, just chose a color of acrylic paint and started painting. 

The project itself is part of our mult-media art unit and this was our third week using cardboard. This assignment is specifically to create a bas relief sculpture. There needs to be layers to create a tactile image, of shapes, textures, colors, and pattern.

There was plenty of extra cardboard for students to cut shapes, many of which wet with a paintbrush so that the top layer of cardboard be peeled away to reveal the corrogated middle. I even had really thick cardboard that had an almost honeycomb center.

Stencils and spray paint were used on the bottom structure to activate the background and break up the space. Some students used masking tape to create stripes or plaid from the spray paint. There was no need to worry about the fact that a lot of it would be covered up, because the same types of stencils could be used on top layers and intentionally shifted to make for interesting use of space. Some students also used little wooden shapes or popsicle sticks to make the piece even more tactile. Because my students are blind, this is an important element to every art piece.

Some students used thin or thick cardboard cut into strips of various size that were then stood on edge, like quilled paper.

Collaged wall paper added another tool to add a focal point or a background pattern depending on how it was used. Everyone was so proud at the end of the week for figuring out how to make their relief sculpture one step at a time, by playing with values, colors, shapes, and just seeing what worked and what didn't. There's a life lesson in there somewhere.

 

Out of this world Mural

They say that students never care what you know until they know how much you care. How do they know you care? By your listening intently to them talk about their interests, and letting them incorporate those interests into their classroom work.  I had one student who absolutely loved graffiti art, so I showed him examples of brilliant contemporary street art, then I gave him a can of spray paint and a wall.  Actually, he had to take the initiative in consulting the principal, finding a teacher to offer their wall, and coming up with the idea.  Then as a tiny team,  we made the sketches, and went to work.

Luckily, the science teacher was ready for a change from his large, off-white wall with a sun and the equation for photosynthesis. I took my three  students and we painted that wall black, around the sun.Then we recreated a sketch of the color system in chalk on the wall. We made a paper stencil to match each chalk planet, and hit it with a little spray paint.  The biggest challenges were creating ventilation (fans and open doors), making sure surfaces were covered before painting (and quickly wiping down those that weren't), and finally dealing with the equation coming through the layer of latex and spray paint.  We still need to go back and do a few more layers on Jupiter for that one to be fixed. I want my students know that I believe their ideas are worth pursuing even if they sometimes seem far-out.

Leaf Stencils

Fall has officially started and it is the perfect time to explore the many types of leaves before they're gone. I took my students on a "scavenger hunt" last week, for as many different shapes and sizes of leaves as we could find. While collecting leaves took up most of the class period, the art project itself only took a minute. We simply set a few twigs and leaves on a sheet of paper outside, and spray painted them and the paper around them. When we picked up the leaves, the shape was documented as negative space. The documentation of the leaves will last years after the actual leaves shrivel and turn to dust. I love the ephemeral quality of the finished products and the instant gratification of this project.   

My friend, Matt Forrest helped me teach the concept of stenciling on a deeper level by making silk screen of a few of our spray painted images. My students learned how to pull serigraphs (screen prints) with textile ink. While the ink was wet, my students dusted the images with flocking which gave a fuzzy texture. The second day and added process was worth it to make the images more meaningful for my students who see with their eyes.