Traveling Through Time by Bicycle- Early 1900's (Fauvism and the Blau Reiter Group)

Speedily moving through history on the third set of lessons we learned about the Fauv group of French painters and the German group of friends known as the Blau Reiter or Blue Rider group.  These painters, while not necessarily associated with each other, during this style of painting used very vibrant and expressive colors.  The movement didn't last long, but is clearly (in my opinion) the natural transition from traditional painting to abstract.  At the time it was considered horrific- the colors were shocking, and to paint something not it's natural color?; a horrid disrespect to the human body, God, and nature.  For us, it's just fun.  We see colors like this around us all the time now. :-) 
I also had the students look around- what colors do you see in something?  This bush might look green, but what about in the shadow?  Is it a little bit blue or purple? A fauv painter would paint it blue or purple.  The sunny part that looks more yellow green? It would get painted yellow or yellow green.  What turned out to be the perfect example I wasn't planning on was my red van in the driveway.  The sky was reflecting in the hood so it actually looked purple with pink clouds if you looked at it instead of letting your brain tell you it's red.  This is a very abstract concept and very hard for some personalities to see so I didn't push the issue but did want to make sure I pointed it out.  Some kids laughed at me and said it's red.  That's okay.
For our paintings I asked the class to paint a bicycle, or something they might see or scenery they might see while riding a bike.  I also gave them the rule of only using colors- no black or brown.  If they wanted black or brown they'd have to come up with a different color.  I also tried hard to get the kids to fill up the entire page, but that's easier said than done for some kids.

If you like this style here's some artists to look into:  Andre Derain, Henri Matisse, Maurice de Vlaminck, Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, August Macke, Jawlensky, and Gabrielle Munter.

Supplies:
paint brushes
tempera paint (I'm a huge fan of Blick's colors- but they are not all washable from all fabrics)
paper (I used yellow bulletin board type paper so we would start off bright and so I could cut large pieces)
water for rinsing brushes
paper towels for cleaning up spills

Paint away!  Here's some of my favorites:

Traveling Through Time by Bicycle -1400-1800's (Printmaking)

Printmaking!  I love this one. :-)  Okay, I love lots of them.  This one was a big surprise for students though, which makes it really fun- discovering a whole new world they never knew existed.  I did not get a lot of people to sign up for this one the first session, but once they saw what it was they signed up for it the next session.
For younger kids we did stamping with different items dipped in paint, but ages 6+ I let carve a rubber block and print with it.
I had a poster I made again with different printmaking styles and famous print makers:  Rembrandt, Albrecht Durer, Hokusai, Hiroshige, Gustave Dore, and of course Gutenberg and his press that changed the world- with printing more people could learn to read. 

Supplies:

From Blick I purchased:
the large 4 1/2" bamboo baren (but you can also use the back of a spoon)
a 4" hard rubber roller (item #40101-1004
Lino cutter set (item #40216-1001)
Blick water soluble printing ink in black 5oz tube
E-Z-Cut printing blocks, box of 2 4"X6"
 
Paper (I have large pad of smooth watercolor paper that I cut into 4X6" rectangles, but any heavy weight paper should work; try some newsprint too- experiment with different types of paper to see the different results.)
plexi-glass

Directions:
Step 1:  Decide what you want your print to look like.  Make some sketches.
Step 2:  Pencil draw it on your block.  *REMEMBER! IT WILL PRINT OPPOSITE OR BACKWARDS OF WHAT YOU DRAW* (I got really super excited when I got my nice package of supplies and started carving away and when I was finished I remembered I needed to carve it backwards or "mirror image" ;-P -don't make my mistake)
Step 3:  Use the cutting tools to carve your block

Step 4:  Brush off your block so it is clean
Step 5:  Put a dab (like a tablespoon or so) of ink on the plexi-glass
Step 6:  Roll the ink with the roller so it covers the roller fairly evenly

Step 7:  Use the roller to cover your whole block evenly with ink

Step 8:  Place your paper on the block

Step 9:  With even pressure use the baren to rub over your paper

Step 10:  Carefully lift your paper off the block
Step 11:  If you'd like to print a second lighter one repeat steps 8-10.
Step 12:  Rinse off your block, wash your hands, and pat your block dry with a paper towel.

If you'd like to make more repeat steps 7-10 :-)

This is an amazing tactile experience for kids, I just love it.  The carving, the stickiness of the ink, the rolling it- it's a serious but very enjoyable process.
Some things to note:  I got all supplies I used from Dick Blick except the paper and the plexi-glass.  I checked the internet for some local glass and/or plexi-glass suppliers.  I found a local place (A-1 Acrylics incorporated) that sells scraps for $1 a lb. (I bought 3 pieces totalling 3lbs. and $3).
The rubber blocks we used were thick enough to carve both sides and have two printing blocks IF the students were careful not to carve too deep.  Also if carved to deep they break easily.  I let kids use one block we shared to practice on so they knew what it felt like to carve with the tools before starting their own.  It isn't as hard as it looks.
We did this in my garage in the summer and in the first class I noticed as the day wore on the ink would start to melt and thin in the heat and humidity.  The next time I did it I kept the ink in the air conditioned house when not using it and that helped it keep it's tackiness.  You want the ink to have a nice balance between tacky and smooth so the ink rolls onto your block better.  You'll be able to tell a difference and find that balance once you've rolled the ink and made a few prints.  I purchased one 5oz. tube and it lasted for all my classes (about 30 kids) making a handful of prints each and I still have some ink leftover.  The ink I bought is washable and seems to have washed off the supplies well with water and out of the aprons we wore, but I still recommend wearing an apron and not your best outfit.
Also remember to wipe your block clean between inking it- if you let dried ink build up on your block you will have bumps in your print.
I also noticed on Blick's website they have videos about printmaking if you are interested (see the link in supplies).

Traveling Through Time by Bicycle- the beginning up to 1000 AD

For this lesson we focused on pottery and made pinch pots.  I first asked the kids a few questions like:
Why make pottery?
What do you think people living in ancient history would put inside their pots?
What would you keep in a pot?
I let them answer whatever they wanted- the questions are kind of open ended and I use them mostly to get the kids thinking about it more than a factual right or wrong answer.
I had a poster with pictures of pottery from a few different places around the world.  We talked about what they had in common and what was different.  I also wanted to emphasize the decorations on the pots were of things they would see around them- Egypt had hippos for example, and Mycenaean had dolphins and octopus.

Since we are traveling through time by bicycle in this set of lessons and bicycles are something we see today I asked the students to somehow work a bike into their decorations on their pots.  (I also said they could create a bike they thought would be possible in that time period if they wanted- my son talked about making clay wheels and stick frame for a bike, but he didn't do it.)

To make our pots we started with Amaco Mexican Pottery Clay purchased from Dick Blick.  It is a nice red clay that was very good to work with.  One 25lb. box was enough for roughly 40-50 small pots.  I used fishing line tied to a fishing bobber at each end (I found the round shape to be more comfortable than a block of wood, but not like that is a big deal, it's just what I had ready and available) to slice the clay - you wrap the the fishing line around the clay, cross it over and pull, and it gives a nice cut.  I then divided each (roughly 1" or 2) slice into four and gave each student a section.
Next we squished our clay into a ball and made it nice and round.
Then holding the ball in one hand, press the thumb of your other hand into the clay ball.  Now press the sides of the ball between your thumb and fingers as you turn the ball with the hand holding it.  Once you have a basic pot shape you can work it to your desired shape.
If the clay starts to crack a little you will want to get your fingers wet with a little clay and water on them to make a little bit of clay slime called "slip" and use this to smooth the cracks in your pot.
Once we had our pots to our desired shape and smooth we used toothpicks to draw designs or add textures.  I also had black and white paint if anyone wanted to paint on there pot.  We painted on our pots during the same class while the clay was still damp.
Just a note:  Once your pot dries you will want to remember that since it is air dry clay it will not hold liquids.

Travel Through Time by Bicycle- August Show

Travel Through Time By Bicycle Art Show 9-20-12

Here you can see some of our Fauv and Blau Reiter inspired paintings and a peek at the printmaking and artist trading cards.  I hung 3 panels of veneer with nails to the rafters in my garage to get more wall space.

We also covered an old closet door to make the Tardis~ you know, in honor of time travel.

Our "ancient" inspired pottery

More Fauv inspired paintings

Our wall of prints and artist trading cards

Here we have art show guests watching the movies people made to go with the show.  It's a pretty "casual" set up I'll admit, but a small tv in a tent was the best I could do this time around.  I wasn't expecting that everyone would want to watch the movies all at the same time and that since it was a small tv in a tent people would meander in as small groups kind of like in museums, but it didn't really work out that way.  I don't think anyone minded too much.  I thought about doing an outdoor screen, but I don't have a projector and it wouldn't be dark for quite some time since it's summer.  I also thought about renting a room at our community center along with a projector there, but then I'd have to do it a different night from the art show.  This time I decided to just keep them the same night.  The movies turned out to be pretty clever so I plan on doing it again next year.  My sister made a movie with her boys and put it on the internet (because she is more tech savvy than I) so here is a link.
Next posts: the how-to's for each day's activity.

Travel Through Time by Bicycle- July's show

June's set of lessons are over and here's a peek at the results. :-)

 Traveling back in time to prehistoric through middle ages- clay pots

  Traveling back in time to the Renaissance through 1800's- printmaking

   Traveling back in time to the early 1900's- Fauves and Blau Reiters inspired paintings

  Traveling back in time to the 20th century- a focus on simple shapes

 Modern Day- Artist trading cards and Steampunk (some of the cards are illustrations of time machines)

 A few chalk drawings done at the end of art lessons

 

 Some time traveling inspired decor

 Henry's time machine bike

 William's time machine bike

Soon I'll post each individual activity we did and more details. :-)

Summer project idea for 2012

As much as I love that last art project I suppose I can't leave it as my last post forever. ;-)
Once we get going with our art lessons this June I'll start posting pictures of what we've done.
This time I have an idea I want to work on.  I've been throwing it around in my head for a few months trying to get it to work with this summer's art lessons, but I haven't figured out how to make it work as a class (I don't want to be stuck editing 30 movies) or some of the details of how to share the end result. I'm going to throw it out there anyway.  This is what my kids will be doing this summer:
First write a script for a 5 minutes or less (family friendly rating) movie.  It can be animated, slideshow, stop motion photography, music video, movie of a poem or part of another written work (story, play, book).  One rule- somewhere in the movie has to be a bicycle.  A bicycle can be the main theme or just one somewhere in the background, but there has to be a bike at some point in the movie no matter how brief.
Step 2 make the movie using any kind of camera you want, cell phone, video, whatever you've got.
Step 3 edit the movie.
Step 4 share the movie.  This is where I'm having trouble.  I'd love it if everyone who participated sent me a copy of your movie and then I burned them all on a dvd and sent them to everyone.  I don't really want my address on the internet though.  I suppose if everyone had a youtube account or knows someone with one everyone could comment a link to their movie?  Any suggestions?
There's a lot of creative people out there so I think this could be a really fun summer project.  Anyone any age interested?