Milton Glaser/Bob Dylan Inspired Self-Portraits

Back in college, I took a entire semester of "The History of Graphic Design." One of the designers and illustrators we learned about was Milton Glaser. He is probably best known as the creator of the iconic "I (Heart) NY" logo.

Another design of his that has always stayed with me is the illustration he did for Columbia Records showing a silhouette of Bob Dylan with his hair drawn in colorful strands. The color and movement in this piece is just so great. It says "creativity" to me and it really does look like Dylan!

Milton Glaser/Bob Dylan-Inspired Self Portraits

Supplies Needed: 

• A printout of the profile of the student (fill the entire 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper)
• Black piece of construction paper
• Stapler
• Pencil
• Scissors
• One 9" x 12" sheet of white construction paper
• Glue stick
• Black permanent marker (we used Sharpies)
• Various colored markers
• Scraps of colored paper for name, optional

Directions:

1. On the printout of the photo, use your pencil to draw a line outlining the body and the skin of the student (not the hair)--no inner details. Staple the printout to a sheet of black construction paper. Cut through both layers of paper along the pencil line (careful to not cut into the hair portion--you'll need that later).

2. Glue the black cutout of the head/body to the white piece of construction paper.

3. Cut out the hair from the printout. Discard the background. Place the hair onto the background and trace around it with the pencil. 

4. Use your pencil to divide the hair into locks. Refer to the printout of your hair to see the direction of how the hair flows. Once all of the hair area is divided up into "tubes" use a Sharpie to trace your pencil lines.

5. Add color to your hair using the markers.

6. Write your name on scrap bits of construction paper, cut out and glue to the bottom edge of the silhouette. 

Look at that funky, creative self-portrait!

Fall-Inspired Matisse Cut Paper Project

This project was inspired by Matisse's La Polynésie. I saw a similar project on the blog Ms. Sortino's Elementary Art Lesson Plan Page (it seems this blog is now defunct).

We talked about different fall icons: pumpkins, apples, gourds, leaves, acorns and what colors remind us of fall: orange, brown, yellow, gold, red (and some said black).

We then created artwork combining those shapes and colors made entirely with cut paper and scissors (no drawing first). I told the children they could either place one object in each section of the background or make the shapes floating all over, like Matisse did. BUT, they needed to create at least 8 shapes and they needed to be different sizes: some small, some medium and some large.

This would also be a cute Halloween project, and could be done on a smaller scale (on a 9" x 12" piece of paper instead of a 12" x 18").

Fall-Inspired Matisse Cut Paper Project

Supplies Needed:

• One 12" x 18" piece of construction paper for background
• One 9" x 12" piece of construction paper for background
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• One 12" x 18" piece of construction paper for border and shapes

Directions:

1. Fold the 9" x 12" piece of construction in half lengthwise and then again widthwise and cut on folds to create four equal rectangles. Glue to 12" x 18" background paper to create a checkerboard pattern.

2. Fold the other 12" x 18" piece of construction paper in half widthwise and, starting at the fold, cut about 1" away from the edge all the way around to create a border for the piece.

3. Glue the border to the background using a glue stick.

4. Use the construction paper left over from making the border to create the eight fall-inspired shapes for the piece. Attach them with glue stick to the center of the piece either one per box or floating all over the background.