This blog is a resource for educators and parents who wish to explore the world of art with the children in their lives. Have fun, create and learn something new--together!
My Modern Art Class created some lovely faux stained glass windows based on the work of American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. I've done this project with students before, and the process can be seen in this post.
This time, I tweaked my presentation a bit. I showed a large poster of Fallingwater, one of Wright's most famous houses. I talked about what an architect does, and about Wright's design philosophy. We made some observations about the building and I pointed out the horizontal, vertical & diagonal lines of the building (later on, I showed how these same lines appear in his stained glass windows).
Then we discussed how Wright was, um, a bit of a control freak when it came to his interior designs. He designed every little pillow, lamp, rug and even the dishes that would go into the house. We looked at some of his stained glass window designs. I was fortunate to have a great article that I have had FOREVER, well, since 1995 anyway, that appeared in American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine about a quilter named Jackie Robinson, who recreates Wright's stained glass windows in fabric. This is an awesome article because it shows how she constructs the quilts and really helps the children see the windows broken down into sections; leading vs. glass, and shapes such as squares, rectangles, rhombi, and triangles. I think this article really helped me simplify his work for the children.
I tried to access the article through the American Patchwork & Quilting's official site, but they didn't have it available. However, Jackie Robinson has her own site called Animas Quilts Publishing. Robinson had published an entire book of quilt designs based on Wright's stained glass windows titled, "Quilts In The Tradition of Frank Lloyd Wright." It is currrently out of print, but there are a few copies still floating around out there. There is a Frank Lloyd Wright section of her site showing examples of Wright-inspired quilts made from her book.
So, here are the beautiful results of my Frank Lloyd Wright lesson! Enjoy!
This is a great project that uses only a couple of supplies (and a bit of patience) to create a piece that transforms from "ho-hum" into "WOW!" This is a great way to illustrate how various lines can show movement.
Horizontal lines are sleepy and calm. Vertical lines are strong and stand still, but diagonal lines seem to slide and move, bringing our eye from one side of the page to the other and then "whoosh!" off the page! We start off this exercise by using the ruler to create a series of diagonal lines and color them in with markers. Then, we cut the piece up and fan the strips out and create another type of line...a swirly, curving line that also shows movement! This is also a nice op-art activity. You can use complementary colors for your diagonal lines or a full rainbow of color. Experiment and enjoy the process!
Movement With Lines
Supplies Needed:
One sheet of white construction paper, 9"x12"
One sheet of black construction paper, 12"x18"
Ruler
Pencil and eraser
Markers, assorted colors
Glue sticks
Directions:
1. Draw a series of diagonal lines on the white construction paper. You can draw three smaller lines going across the page or fill the space with lines. Both look great, in my opinion.
2. Color in the diagonal lines using markers.
This is the "Before" Photo
3. Flip the page over and divide the page into twenty-four 1/2" wide strips. Use your ruler for this and try to be as precise as possible. BEFORE you cut the strips apart, number them on the back from 1-24 at one end (the same end of the strips for all numbers).
This photo is kind of hard to see, but it shows all of the strips
numbered on the back at the same end.
Now, this is where it gets a little bit tricky. I'm sure you can do this many ways, but I made three of these and I finally landed on this way of doing it.
4. Cut out the strip marked #12. Put glue on the back and glue it on your black construction paper background in the middle, like this:
Strip # 12 glued on in the center
of the black paper (hold the black
construction paper vertically)
5. Now you can cut strip #11 out and put glue on the back of it. Overlap the left edge of the strip over the left edge of the previous strip (in this case, strip #12), fanning the right edge out slightly (about 1/2"). Repeat with strips 10-1 (working away from you) until you get through strip #1, forming a nice curve with the strips. Use the photo as a guide.
7. Once you have finished gluing down strip #1. Place glue on the back of strip #13 and overlap the right edge of the strip over the right edge of strip #12, fanning the left edge down slightly (about 1/2").
8. Repeat with strips 14-24 until you get through all the strips, forming a nice curve in the opposite direction with the strips. Use the picture as a guide.
It is OK if the ends of the strips continue off the edge of the page. You can leave them that way or trim them to the edge of the black construction paper.
This project is good for the older child since they may be more tolerant of cuting up their artwork and transforming it into something else. Also, they are more capable of handling the precise measuring and cutting this project needs in order to be successful. It took me three times to get all the strips to fit on the black construction paper properly. But I really liked all of the other attempts I made too. It's an experiment, so don't get too stressed!
The focus of this year with my home school art class is art from the 1500's-1700's. One of the things I really wanted to teach them about was perspective, but I felt like a couldn't quite find a project that would work for 2nd-5th graders that wouldn't turn into a circus! So I put it off and put it off, but then I saw Natalie's project on one point perspective at the blog, "SmArt Class," and I thought, "This just might work...."
This student has lots of lovely details in her picture!
Well, I'm happy to say, it did! The first week, I showed the students some examples of paintings with and without perspective in them. Then, I walked the students through a guided drawing exercise using Natalie's step-by-step instructions so I didn't miss anything.
The second week, the children finished their pencil drawings (most of them were still drawing windows on buildings) and added details for interest. Then they used Sharpies to ink their drawings. When done, they used erasers to remove their guide lines. I gave a demo on using watercolors properly. Rules I shared were:
proper brush technique
no splashing the water
dabbing brushes dry on paper towels
no scrubbing the brush
how to create areas of color by using gradual washes of color, etc...
Most of the students were able to start their painting on week two.
The third week, students continued to add color to their pictures with watercolors. Everyone finished up by the end of this class.
The students were very proud of their pieces--they kept saying things such as, "It really looks like you can go down the road!" I was very happy I tried this project with my students!
Love the bridge and the car in this one!
Even the youngest students in my classes really got into this project!
