Art Methods Portfolio

For the oil pastels lesson, we made our own scratch art. We talked about a scratch artist named Sally Maxwell as well as illustrator Eric Carl. First, we used oil pastels to cover a piece of paper in all the colors of the rainbow. Then we covered it in a thick layer of black paint mixed with soap. It had to dry for a while, so in the meantime, we drew out chameleons in the style of Eric Carl on a piece of paper. We could then transfer that design onto a piece of scratch art paper so we could practice. Our designs included a different pattern in each section of the chameleon. After the paint was dry, we transferred the design unto our DIY scratch art paper.  Extension Activity:  I would have students use oil pastels to cover the background in their own unique color combinations and designs. They would scratch off their pattern, and then we would cut them into shapes to create one giant class mural. It could be a chameleon or it could be a different animal. This would introduce ...

 For our clay project, we made little monsters. We talked about and practiced wedging clay, making a pinch pot, slipping and scoring, and carving designs into the clay. Our monsters had to have something added to them as well as subtracted from them. Most people made monsters with open mouths, but I made a cheese wedge. I added eyes and subtracted to make the holes of the cheese. I named my monster Muenster. Extension Activity:  I would have the students write a story about their monster to incorporate a language arts lesson. They would read the stories to each other as well. 

 This project focused on African masks and using symmetry. We used paper to create the masks, and we had to include three 3D elements such as a 3D nose or hair. The designs of the masks had to be symmetrical. We then folded the edges so that the masks would be 3D when we glued them to pieces of cardboard.  Extension Activity:  We could also use masks to learn about other areas of the world. For instance, we could talk about Hispanic culture and make masks based on Day of the Dead. 

 This was the lesson Alexis and I taught. We started the lesson with a PowerPoint about basket weaving throughout history, including in Native American traditions. We then used paper cups and yarn to create baskets. First, we cut the cup into sections to create tabs to weave the yarn around. After weaving the baskets, we decorated them with a handle, ribbon, flowers, beads, or other things. The students then wrote a couple paragraphs about what they learned and what their baskets mean to them. Extension Activity:   I think this could be used as an entire Native American unit. We could either talk about the pilgrims and the Natives or westward expansion to connect it with American history. There could be a series of projects, and we would make more traditional tribal baskets. 

 For this activity, we learned about several printmakers in history and looked at methods and examples of printmaking. We then made our own pieces using styrofoam and ink. First we used crayons or colored pencils to make a background on a piece of paper. Then we drew out a design on a square piece of paper and retraced it on top of the styrofoam. This made imprints in the styrofoam. We used brayers to roll ink onto the styrofoam squares, then pressed them onto our background paper. We did this four times, making the design rotate around the center of the page.  Extension Activity: I would use this idea as a color wheel project. Students would make unique designs on a wedge of styrofoam. We would use the same process of rolling ink on the styrofoam, pressing it onto paper, and rotating around the center. Each time, the wedge would be rolled with a different color of ink. In the end, it would create a color wheel. 

 This lesson focused on the paintings of Jackson Pollock. He created abstract art through the technique of drip painting. We created our own paintings based on how Jackson Pollock's paintings look. We were given three piles of shaving cream and swirled food coloring in them. Each pile had two primary colors in order to create the secondary colors: orange, green, and purple. We pressed a paper shape into each pile of shaving cream, peeled them off, and scraped off the extra shaving cream. In the end, we were left with a super cool design! We then glued the shapes onto a piece of construction paper, used pattern to create borders around the shapes, named our piece, and wrote a sentence about our designs.  Extension Activity: Like I mentioned in my project, these designs remind me of planets in space. This activity could easily be incorporated with a science lesson about the solar system. Students would use colors to mimic each planet and the sun, cut them out relatively to scale...