Thursday, November 19, 2015

Greek Masks- Finished!

Yes, we have reached the finish line! Today the students put their finishing touches on their Greek theatre inspired masks. A few peeks:


There was a lot of gluing and braiding going on today.





Just a few of the marvelous masks produced by the students!






Friday, November 13, 2015

Art Journal Challenge #5

Today's challenge involves paint, which is always fun! I used watercolors, but tempera, acrylic, or even liquid inks will work. You can make your own watercolors from water and a few drops of food coloring, or try your hand at making natural paints like these.

Okay, let's get started! First, drop a few colors of paint onto a page in your sketchbook or on a piece of paper. Close your sketchbook or fold the paper.


I added a few more drops of paint on top to fill in some blank areas.

Now take a look at your blotches. What do they remind you of? Can you see people or animals? What about trees or flowers? Fill in what you see by drawing in details with a pen or colored pencils.


The blotches reminded me of birds, so I used a combination of both ink and colored pencils to bring them to life. You can add a favorite quote or your feelings about what you saw in the paint spots to your page.

Here are a few quotes for inspiration:
Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.

If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.


Greek Theatre Masks Part 2

Things are progressing around here. Today the masks transformed from newspaper to person (or creature, as the case may be) with just a little paint. Okay, maybe lots of paint. (Another good reason to send students in play clothes. Accidents do happen in the art room!)





Next week we will be putting on the finishing touches - hair, hats and/or accessories, since the Greek theatre masks had to completely cover the head of the actor. I am going to try to persuade the students to leave them at school for the spring art show. It may be a tough sell.

We will have one more class in November, then two more in December before break starts on December 14 (yes, a week earlier than the school originally had posted). For this short time we will have a mini-unit inspired by trees and the holiday season. 


Thursday, November 5, 2015

Greek Theatre Masks, Stage One

It all began with a very non-messy powerpoint lesson about Greek theatre and masks. The students learned that all of the parts in the plays were performed by only three male actors, and that the chorus played many functions - narrators, singers, dancers, and even provided commentary. Of course, all players wore masks made of linen or a mixture of fibers and pulp.

The next part wasn't too bad either - building up noses, eyebrows and more with newspaper and tape:


Then came the paper mache, and the sticky hands. And sticky pencils. And sticky scissors. And sticky tables. But out of all of this stickiness, came these:
Just wait until they paint them next week!