Syrup Business

Repeated Patterns and Fabric Design (suitable for almost any age group)

2016-04-26T13:21:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, a friend posted a tutorial on how to make your own repeated design, and I had to try it! I began thinking what an all-inclusive lesson plan it would be k-12, but really it would be great on the college level, too.

The lesson can be tweaked for simplicity, or it can become as complex as you want to make it. So many concepts can be taught here: line, pattern, unity, color, emphasis, rhythm; if choosing to do this lesson all by hand, it can be a great exploration of fine-tuning motor skills and craftsmanship; it can also become a digital design lesson; and you can cross-discipline the heck outta this-- I focused on African patterns, flowers and animals. I decided to make a swatch of fabric out of mine, and will likely sew something from it. If you're feeling industrious with your students, it can likewise become a sewing project (which I'm all about, especially with younger kids. Sewing provides SO many lessons, and really instills a sense of competency in children).

There are lots of tutorials already online on how to draw a repeated pattern, but I will show you my steps:

1. Draw an image in the center of a sheet of paper. Don't touch the edges. Draw in pencil first, focusing on contour line, and go over with pen. Erase pencil.

2. Precision comes into play here, especially if you're doing this all by hand (instead of digitally). Cut your drawing lengthwise in half like so, and tape on the back.

3. Cut in half one more time in the other direction, and tape back together on the back of your drawing. You'll have a large white space in the center of your work, as you can see to the left.

4. Fill in the negative space with another design/drawing. Again, start in pencil and go over in pen.

5. At this stage, you can one of two things: if you want to continue on by hand, scan and print out at least four copies, line up, tape together on the back, and add color with whatever medium you wish. I chose to scan the image, and use a computer program to duplicate, fit back together and add color.

The nice thing about working digitally, is that it's very forgiving-- you can play around with color, and smooth out any rough areas where the copies may have not lined up so well. You can leave your pattern right here, as a cool drawing or painting, OR...

6. ... you can upload your design to this nifty website, and have your own fabric printed! I haven't decided yet, what I will do with my swatch. I've thought about doing a small quilted piece, with some embroidery stitching, and sewn in beads, or I may just make a simple pillow, or bag. Possibilities are endless, and really I just want to make more patterns!

3D Joseph Cornell Inspired Assemblages (Suitable for University, High School and Middle) Student Work

2016-03-24T12:30:00.005-07:00

Students are introduced to Joseph Cornell, and asked to complete their own assemblage. Each assemblage:

•Will tell a story. This can be a personal story, a fairy tale, a news story. How literal you are in your narrative is up to you, but you will also be using symbols to tell your story.

•The symbols you choose can be archetypal, personal or cultural. You are required to “invent” at least one personal symbol.

•We are to use Cornell’s work as inspiration but this doesn’t mean we have to work strictly in his format. For instance, what does containment mean in your work? Perhaps your objects “break” the boundary, and enter the viewers’ space.

•Things to consider from a formal perspective: Unity, Variety, Space (with overlapping, creating layers), Visual Balance, Repetition, Emphasis, Color (how does color impact concept?), etc.

Wire Figures (Suitable for University and High School) Student Work

2016-03-24T12:18:00.002-07:00

WIRED! (Site-Specific)—Lesson plan by K. Gunter ARTS 104

Check out: Mark Jenkins at xmarkjenkinsx.com

George Segal (the artist, not the actor)

For how-to instructions and images on tape sculpture: http://www.tapesculpture.org/

Materials: You will need wire and wire cutters (provided for you). As an option, you may also need several rolls of clear packing tape, plastic wrap and scissors. See below.

Site-specific art is artwork created to exist in a certain place. Typically, the artist takes the location into account while planning and creating the artwork.

Strategy:

1. Pair up if desired. Scope out potential sites in and around the art building. Your sculpture cannot block hallways, stairways, doorways, or hang from sprinkler systems. Get the okay for your site before beginning, in case we need to secure permission. Consider limitations and feasibility. Most wire figures have to hang or be supported in some way. Consider this as you’re looking for sites.

2. Decide how your figures will be interacting with the site. Remember that site-specific sculpture takes into account the site itself. Is there a story you want to tell? What is your concept? See George Segal’s work for some site-specific human form sculpture. Also, Mark Jenkins.

3. This part is extra credit, but highly recommended: Cast yourself out of packing tape in the position you want to replicate with wire. Explore dynamic poses – poses that are dynamic and suggest movement, or that moment of anticipated motion. See the above site for in depth tutorials on how to tape cast the human form. You will most likely need help with this and this is where having a partner could be beneficial. Having this form will allow you to see the human form on site so that you can make adjustments if needed; it will help you with proportion and positioning of the human form; can provide an extra figure for your wire figure to interact with. Keep in mind, however, that the wire figure takes precedence, and the quality of this figure and how well it interacts with the site will be crux of your grade.

4. Begin constructing your wire form (at least one 3lb roll of wire will be supplied for you. If you desire more wire, this can be found at Lowes or Home Depot). You will be considering line, and how this line either crosses the contour of the form to create it, or how a gestural line can be used to build mass and create form. You may need to build an armature or skeletal form first to support cross contour, or gestural line. You may decide to try to use one wire without cutting it; or you may build it in sections and assemble it. Your figure should be at least 75% realistic. Some abstraction can occur, but we as the veiwers, should understand that you have a handle on the proportions of the human body.

5. Install your work. We have eye hooks and fishing line for you to hang your figures.

Things to consider:

-If you are pairing up with someone, each of you should be contributing one wire figure each.

-Do your figures and your site interact with one another effectively?

-How is the construction of your figure? Is it sturdy and well made? Are you considering proportion?

3D Trash to Treasure (Suitable for University, High School and Middle School) Student Work

2016-03-24T12:10:00.001-07:00

ASSIGNMENT SHEET: Trash to Treasure

PROBLEM: Create a sculpture using only one “everyday” material, aided with only basic joining techniques such as glue or tape.

INSPIRATION: Tara Donovan, Jonathan Brilliant, examples from lecture

OBJECTIVE:

-to place an “everyday” object in a new context which makes it (at first glance) unrecognizable

-to exploit the repetition/alteration/unexpected use or placement of an “everyday” object to create an artwork

-to create a visually appealing/interesting work of art using only one repeated main material

WORKING STRATEGY:

-Choose at least two different materials you can find in abundance and make three thumbnail sketches of three possible pieces for EACH material (6 sketches in all)

-After you’ve drawn out your designs, brainstorm on construction ideas (How will you hold elements together physically?). Make notes or additional drawings about construction possibilities.

THINGS TO CONSIDER

-Use of the following elements and principles: repetition, texture, variety/unity, space, shape

-Did you address all sides of your work equally?

-Do the individual elements you’ve chosen work together to create a whole that is more apparent than its parts—is the piece unified? Do you think the viewer, upon closer inspection, will be surprised by what you used to construct your piece?

-How is your craftsmanship?

EVALUATION CRITERIA:

-Completion of thumbnail designs on time

-Preparation for class (having all materials in class and ready to work)

-Completion of project by the due date

-Craftsmanship- Work should look clean, crisp and professional. Is the piece structurally sound? Will it stand on its own?

-Concept- Did you meet the requirements of the project, and push the idea beyond the bare minimum? Is your work visually interesting/appealing? Did you consider the elements and principles of design as you worked?

-Engagement in the group critique is required and will reflect in your overall grade.

BRAINSTORM! (possible materials, but the possibilities are endless!)

toothpicks rubber bands plastic cups Styrofoam cups pencils paper plates

plastic utensils plastic bags paper clips drink cans drink can tabs buttons

straws pens pins nails paper bottle tops

cans gum wrappers keyboard buttons pages from a book bbs (as for a bb gun) empty film canisters skewers marshmallows* hard candy*

*(if you use food products, you must keep them from degrading)

Negative/Positive Space (Suitable for University, High School and Middle) Student Work

2016-03-24T12:02:00.002-07:00

Shifting the focus from the positive shapes in a composition to the negative can be challenge, so in these images, students were asked to compose negative shape just as consciously as the positive.

Grayscale Collage (Suitable for University and High School) Student Work

2016-03-24T11:53:00.004-07:00

Students create a composition of their choice, and finish using only the values found in a black and white magazine or newspaper.

Elements and Principles Flash Cards (Suitable for University and High School) Student Work

2016-03-24T11:48:00.000-07:00

Students purchased a small pack of blank Strathmore bristol board flash cards, about the size of business cards. Over the course of a semester, students completed an illustration onto each card of each element and principle. This project is self-led and turned in at the end of the semester. Each card includes the
definition on the back.

Richard Notkin Inspired Teapots (Suitable for University, High and Middle School) Student Work

2016-03-24T11:36:00.001-07:00

Students were introduced to Richard Notkin and his teapots which explore social/political concepts, and asked to design their own pots with a concept of their choosing. The pot had to be a working teapot with spout, handle and lid.

Ceramics-- Ancient Pots (Suitable for University, High and Middle School) Student Work

2016-03-24T11:28:00.002-07:00

The ancient pot lesson plan is really a staple of beginning ceramics, as it's a great intro to art history and building methods. This lesson takes it one step further and students are required to design and build a lid to fit their reproduction of an ancient pot. In this lesson, we finished with terra sigilata and students had the option of a smoke fire.

Inflatable 3D Animal (Suitable for University, High School and Middle) Student Work

2016-03-24T09:43:00.004-07:00

A collaborative project, students formed groups, and each group was responsible for bringing a small stuffed animal to class that was carefully deconstructed, traced and measured to make a pattern. All measurements were increased with every inch equaling a foot (this can be increased or decreased depending on space and time).

We used garbage bags, stretched out, cut into sheets and taped together with packing tape. Students traced out the patterns, taped pieces together, again with packing tape. A duct, of sorts, was fashioned and taped to the back of the sculpture, affixed to a box fan and inflated!

Students learned a lot about scale with this work, and there was a fair amount of math involved.

3D Relief (Suitable for University and High School) Student Work

2016-03-23T13:18:00.003-07:00

Students are to deconstruct a found wooden object, or accumulate found wooden elements to create a relief sculpture which illustrates rhythm, along with other formal qualities.

A Formal Look at the Elements and Principles in 3D (Suitable for University, High School, and with some tweaking, Middle School) Student Work

2016-03-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

Using cardboard, cardstock and glue, students must build an in-the-round sculpture which addresses volume/mass, positive/negative space, balance, color and emphasis, planar and organic/geometric form, and stellar craftsmanship.

Triptych (Suitable for University, High School, or Middle School) Student Work

2016-03-23T12:55:00.000-07:00

As a final project in Intro to Drawing, we begin to think conceptually after a semester of learning technique. Students are asked to complete a triptych which illustrates "change." This can be as literal or vague or highly conceptual or technical as they wish. Skies the limit here and I encourage use of collage or other 3D materials, as well. Students can use three separate panels, or with my approval may choose to show change on one plane. I've also had a student make 3 separate books!

Drawing Cross-Contour (Suitable for University, High School and Middle) Student Work

2016-03-23T12:40:00.003-07:00

Students must capture the form of an object with only cross-contour line.

Visual Beat (Suitable for University and High School) Student Work

2016-03-21T14:18:00.002-07:00

Students are expected to utilize repetition, rhythm, scale/crescendo, movement, create space, emphasis and investigate value in a series of two India ink drawings. Shapes are collected as a first step to be used as a vocabulary, of sorts. I have students listen to music while completing a series of gestural planning sketches. After developing and tweaking their favorite sketches, it is enlarged and completed with brush and pen.

Investigating Texture (Suitable for University, High School and Middle School) Student Work

2016-03-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

Students start with an investigation of different textures (and a variety of media) as seen to the right. In the second step of this project, students choose one object to draw at least 5 times. One object must contain its own texture, while the rest, including the background will utilize other textures from the first exercise.

Gesture Drawing (Suitable for University, High School and Middle) Student Work

2016-03-21T13:43:00.001-07:00

Students use India ink and a brush so they are not tempted to erase. We start with a 2 minute timed gesture of a still-life. The entire still-life (the essence of it-- all objects) must be completed during the two minutes, so as to ensure students are staying loose and working quickly. After our 2 minutes are up, they are to finish the gestures by filling the space with expressive mark-making, adding variety through texture (some observed, some created), cross-contour, etc.

Color and Composition (Suitable for University) Student Work

2016-03-21T13:26:00.001-07:00

All lessons are taken from Johannes Itten's The Elements of Color. All lessons require a preliminary exercise of color swatches or tiles, and a finished original composition using the hues, tints and shades found in the prelims. Students are expected to practice craftsmanship, with painting, measuring, cutting and mounting works.

Drawing Convergence (Suitable for University and High School) Student Work

2016-03-21T12:56:00.004-07:00

Using convergence and sighting, students are to accurately draw a stack of boxes. In the second half of this project, students use the 6 categories of light to add value with pencil or charcoal.

Object Perspective (Suitable for University and High School) Student Work

2016-03-21T12:52:00.001-07:00

Students utilize 2-point perspective (or if not that advanced, the concept of convergence), sighting, and the six categories of light to create a realistic charcoal drawing of a chair.

Drawing 2-Point Perspective (Suitable for University, High School, and in a more basic way, Middle) Student Work

2016-03-21T12:49:00.002-07:00

Students begin by utilizing 2-point perspective in drawing a streetscape from their imaginations, careful to include details that also conform (bricks, signs, lines in road, etc). They must draw at least 5 buildings. In the progression, students draw from life, using sighting for accuracy.

Drawing Ambiguous Space (Suitable for University, High School and Middle) Student Work

2016-03-21T12:42:00.001-07:00

Students must use one object, drawn at least 10 times, to create an ambiguous sense of space for the viewer. Students utilize overlapping, size variation, value changes (atmospheric), transparency.

Faux Batik Ocean Banners (Elementary)

2016-01-04T08:24:00.001-08:00

The last part of 2015 was spent with 3rd graders at the Center for Inquiry. The kids recently visited the Charleston aquarium where they took lots of photographs, and have subsequently been discussing the ocean and ocean life in various classes. Art class was no exception and the teacher, Ms. Watkins, wanted to complete a project that highlighted the students' observations.

We decided to make large faux batik banners. No pictures of installation yet, but these will hang vertically from the ceiling in the atrium of the CFI. In the near future, we will hopefully be completing several more banners, showcasing different habitats.

The ocean banners turned out beautifully! I made about 20 or so large posterboard templates of different sea animals that the children traced (this kept animals large, instead of tiny little drawings). We looked at photos of the animals as they added stripes, spots, fins, etc.. I thought squeezing glue bottles for extended periods would be rough on little hands, but we took turns and used the Elmer's Gel Glue as a resist. In this case, we used a translucent silk blend fabric with Dye-Na-Flow fabric paints for some really vibrant colors.

Faux Batik Quilt (Elementary)

2015-12-03T08:28:00.005-08:00

As a part of a multi-disciplinary arts project with AC Moore Elementary School led by Dr. Karen Heid, I worked with 2nd grade students to create three large "quilts" which were on display in the school.

Each student made their own quilt square, using faux batik, fabric paint and pens, and other materials. Students were asked to choose someone (or a pet!) that they loved very much. They wrote poems about their chosen loved one, and made portraits of them on muslin fabric. Each square was made up of each students' faux batik pattern, the portrait and their poem. Dr. Heid and I used fusible fabric to iron the layers together, and we used thin batting so we could sew the squares on sewing machines.

The three quilts were installed in the hallways, pinned together by large safety pins so the students could take their squares with them when the installation came down. The quilts were a hit-- so colorful and expressive! It was great to see parents and other loved ones posing beside their portraits, and they all captured the essence of their chosen person so well!

3D - Face Casting Installation

2015-11-24T14:27:00.000-08:00

In 2012, Richland NE High School had me on as an artist in residence. Ms. Newman, the art teacher, wanted to create a permanent installation that reflected the diversity of the high school, which is known for its diverse student body.

We spent a few weeks casting the art students' faces with alginate and plaster. The students chose a variety of world nation flags, and painted each face with a different flag. I mounted them to wooden plaques and the high school had them mounted in the commons area. An intense project, but we learned a lot about material, technique and each other!