6th Grade: Alternative Self-Portraits

At the end of the year I have my kids draw an image of themselves to help them assess their artistic progress. We did a twist on our portraits inspired by the artist Chuck Close.

1.We watch a short documentary on the work of Chuck Close to help us get to know him and his style.

****Art Lesson with Chuck Close

Other great videos:

Note to Self: Artist Chuck Close Explains why he became an artist

Chuck Close on following a grid Why does Chuck Close use a grid?

2.  I took photos of my students in front of our white board, printing them as large as I could on printer paper. Once printed, students used a ruler and a pencil to draw a grid on top of their photographs. Inside these boxes they drew a simple shape a pattern using geometric or organic shapes.

3. Before we colored, we criticize various images of Chuck Close's portraiture. Why the shapes? What's up with all the colors? How does the grid help him create his images?

4. We used colored pencils to create patterns within the grid pattern mimicking Chuck Close’s style of painting. Paying close attention to warm and cool colors. Cool colors in the gray and black areas and warm colors for any white space.

6th Grade: Mehndi Hands

Mehndi, what is that?

Mehndi is the art of painting the hands or feet, or even the body, with a paste made from dried henna leaves. It creates a stain that ranges from bright red to a dusky brown, but this color is prone to fading with time and strength and quality of the paste you make.

Mehndi started in Egypt over 5,000 years ago and has been used for various artistic and religious uses ever since.Here in the West, it has become popular as a temporary form of tattooing.

Different cultures created different styles of applications. Whether it is the geometric patterns popular in North Africa or the fine designs of India and Pakistan the patterns are created by applying the paste to the skin. Allowing the paste to dry stains the skin and brings the vibrancy of the colors out.
Traditional weddings in India are occasions for brides to be adorned with henna. The Hindu tradition calls for both the bride and groom to attend the henna painting, along with friends and family. This event, prior to the actual wedding is an observance of the Mehndi art as he paints the bride with traditional symbols that can take on a festive atmosphere.

An additional, and older practice, is to mark the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, with getting henna tattoos. These designs celebrate the success of Ramadan, which includes abstinence from paying attention to your own physical looks and beauty. To celebrate, Mehndi artists paint intricate designs on Muslim women.

Although henna has been used as a celebratory event for generations, the important thing to remember about Mehndi is that it is a social event. Friends and family can gather to apply henna tattoo, not for religious or ceremonial use, but as a way to socialize and create beauty.
 History of Mehndi

Students began their Mehndi design on paper before transferring their ideas to the rubber glove. Gloves were to include a varied of patterns and different types of radial designs.

Student wore their gloves as they draw their patterns; invoking the feeling that the intricate patterns were becoming part of their own skin. 

When we finished drawing, the gloves were stuffed with batting to the base of the palm leaving room for a foam cup to be used in the wrist for a base.

Hints: 

• Rubber-bands can be used around the wrist to help straighten out the wrinkles while drawing. Just be careful not to twist them around too tight.
• Sharpie markers are a must, but can still smudge if handle to much.
• Rubber gloves and tear easily, be careful.
• And a special thanks to Valerie Heath for lesson plan!
• And Dick-Blick for the great ideas! Here is their art-lesson on Mehndi Design

6th Grade: Scrolls and Value

 6th  Grade have been sharpening their value skills by undertaking a project called 'Value Scrolls'.

Value:

First, draw scrolls with a pencil.

We drew a few scrolls as a class on the white-board; experimenting if they were rolled slightly different from each other. Easiest way is to start was with a squished swirl and then draw straight lines down from the edges our shape to the bottom of our paper. Don't forget to do the same on the inside, stopping with you hit the swirl lines. (I made a quick tutorial in Paint. Forgive the quality.)

Second, shade the scrolls with pencils. 

I demoed some 'real-life' paper scrolls, holding them up to a lamp to show which sections would be highlights and what parts would fall into shadows.

Heavier pressure was used for the shaded area, lighter pressure for the highlight areas, and left our paper white for where the light would hit the scroll directly. Smooth gradients turned out the best.

We gave our pictures a finishing touch by adding a background and color to our scrolls.

Color to our scrolls had to be done carefully; keeping in mind that the shadow areas would require heavier pressure and lighter pressure where the light hit the strongest.