Moving Eye Ball Portraits Lesson Plan

Moving Eyeball Portraits--Grades 2 (with help) and up

A variation on the well-worn self-portrait lesson. I developed this after I did a haunted house for my elementary school many years ago in which I made a painting of the principal and had her eyes move to scare the children.

Aims:
•To learn about the self-portrait genre
•To learn how to make a self-portrait
•To teach children that a portrait can be interactive

Materials and Tools:
sheet of oak tag or bristol board
length of oak tag 8” longer than the width of the self-portrait
piece of oak tag about 4” high and same length as width of portrait
pencil, eraser
sharpie marker
watercolor
watercolor brush
water can
masking tape
pointed scissors
Optional: colored pencils and small mirrors
Procedure:
You’ll want to explain the difference between portraits and self-portraits. It would be a good idea to have several examples of each to show your students. Next, explain that they are going to be creating self-portraits that will do something funny, but don’t tell them ahead of time. Let it be a surprise!
First, depending on the age of the student, you’ll want to make sure that the portrait is large enough to have the eyeballs cut out. Next explain the difference between what they might think a head looks like and what it actually looks like. If you have mirrors available, distribute them at this point. The head is not round, it is oval or egg-shaped. Your neck is not a lollipop stick; it is thicker. Eyes do not grow out of the top of one’s head; they’re just a tad above the middle. They are almond-shaped and you usually don’t see the whole of the iris; part of it is normally hidden. Be sure to put in eyelids and eyebrows, too. The nose is not a hook or a pig nose; use the steps I showed in class (parentheses, snake, shade in ends of snake, two light lights to create bridge of nose). When doing the lips, it’s easy to teach kids to draw the line where they meet when closed, which is usually wavy followed by a mountain range on top and a boat underneath. Remember to explain that everyone’s mountains, boats, snakes, etc. are different and it is important to observe what theirs looks like.
Have them add ears, hair and other details. The background can also be personalized with a place they love or something they love doing or friends, pets, etc.
Next they should go over their lines with sharpies. Then they can paint the portrait. Skin colors are mixed on the palette part of the paint box, which is the open lid. First, “wake the colors up” by making a puddle in each paint pad. Then take orange and put it on the palette. Add some clean water. Then add a bit or brown, little by little until the color seems right. For darker skin, keep adding brown. The color will dry lighter on your paper, so plan accordingly. Avoid caterpillar lips and the like by not painting over another color until it is absolutely dry. I demonstrate what not to do and kids get the point quite quickly. Watercolor goes into paper like apple juice into a white shag carpet and if you add grape juice it will all mix around together.
When dry, you can go over with more watercolor or add another media like colored pencils.
Next cut out the almond shape of the eyeballs. Place the 4” piece of oak tag on the back of the picture, just above the empty sockets. Tape on top and bottom to form a pocket. Next, slide in the long piece of oak tag and center it with 4” on each side sticking out. Draw the irises in, not as circles, but as parentheses. Add the pupil. Pull out and finish the circles of the eyes and color in. When dry, slide back in and move back and forth and up and down to create funny looks.


Reflection:
Share the work. Guess who the portraits are of, etc.

Follow-up:
Student could do moving eyeball portraits of animals, family members, school personnel, etc.

Face Books Lesson Plan--Grades 4 and Up

Exquisite Corpse Book--Grades 4 and up

This is a fun book to make, pure and simple! It was inspired by a book my children had many years ago.

Aim:
•To create an interactive, creative book
•To invent unusual characters and details that will “morph” into each other
•To learn how to use a ruler and measure
•To learn about the surrealist game of the Exquisite Corpse

Materials & Tools:
Bristol board or oak tag (several sheets)
pencil, eraser
colored pencils, sharpie markers, crayons, colored markers
scissors
stapler, tape

Procedure:
Establish guidelines for your students or you’ll be driven insane. Have the sizes of the “cuts” established as well as the side margins on each cut.
I’ve always measured the whole page and cut last but after making one, you may choose to cut first.
Plan on dividing the pages into four or five sections. Each section will not be the same size! The top section will probably be bigger than the eye area, etc. One basic 5-section example might be 3” hat/hairline/2” eyes and eyebrows/1 1/2” nose/2 1/2” lips and chin/3” neck to body. Like our exquisite corpse animal, the margins must mesh, so make each piece a set size--say the hat piece 1” on each side and the eye piece 3/4” on each side, etc.
Motivate your students by talking first about Surrealism and then about crazy hairstyles, hats, jewelry, costumes, etc. that they might be able to come up with. You might have some picture library examples which will spark ideas and your discussion.
Next then need to measure out their sheets. This might be boring, but make them learn how to use a ruler!
Have each student do at least four different faces, letting them be a bit silly but not mean. They will then color in their books. Have students cut their pages leaving about 3/4” on left side for strength.
Assemble the books by stapling the left edges together. I like the idea of making a solid cover which could be slightly bigger and glued to the staples “spine.” You may come up with other variations.

Reflection:
Your students will love seeing some of the wacky combinations that will come up.

Variations:
•Have your students make books made up of one page of their own and three from other friends.
•Do the whole figure of various people or creatures.
•My student, Delia, had the great idea of having students do probability
lessons using these books.

Oil Pastel Resist Banners on Pellon

Oil Pastels (Craypas) Resist on Pellon (K- adult)

Aims: •To create individual works to glue onto to a background
•To (possibly) integrate other curriculum into your art lesson such as science, math, social studies, etc.

Materials & Tools:
white pellon (not glue kind)
craypas
watercolors
brushes, water can
scissors
newspaper to protect table

Procedure:
Cut pellon into a banner or pennant shape. Have a theme such as heritage, their name, symbols, etc. for the students to respond to. Draw, using pressure,
your design. Use lines, don’t color in. Paint watercolor over the craypas. (Oil repels water.)

Reflection:
These are beautiful hung in windows or in light.

The Drawing Game Lesson Plan

This is a game I invented many years ago to get my students exited about seeing. It works well with all ages (4th Grade and up) and prizes add to the frenzy. Watch out for cheating, though. Even amongst adults!

Aims: To practice deep looking
To listen to words and put them into visual form
To be about to recall and describe in words what you saw

Motivation: The game itself is all the motivation you will need, although silly prizes
add to the fun.

Vocabulary: parallel, perpendicular, cylinder, sphere, etc.

Procedure: Collect all sorts of odd objects: I use broken kitchen utensils, old parts of hardware, packaging, weirdly-shaped things I find in my travels, perfume bottle caps, old kiln parts, etc.

Divide the class up into teams of four or so. I try to mix students up so there's one star artist per team, but what's interesting is that the star artist may not be good at this game initially. Sometimes the quieter kids are better observers.

Each team sends a member out into the hall. Have them go far enough away so they can't see into the room at all. Bring out an object and have the rest of the students look at it carefully. Make sure no one draws a little sketch of it on the sly. I've had adults use an eraser to draw the outline on the desk!!!

Put the object away, bring the drawers back into the room and give them a set amount of time (5 minutes or so) to work. The drawer will listen to the describers and draw the best he/she can. Describers must use appropriate art words--"not draw a fork," but "draw two parallel lines close to each other, connect the bottom, draw another line at the top, extend it on both sides a bit, now draw four lines perpendicular to the extended line, now make them thicker." Be sure your students don't use had gestures or point on the paper. Some students just have to sit on their hands to resist. Keep the tone light--don't be too mean, but don't allow cheating just the same.

Each turn you decide the winner(s) and then a new person goes out in the hal. Everyone gets a turn. Mention that the objects get harder, so the less-successful kids get to go first.

Follow-up: Your students will beg you to play this game again. They never tire of it and they really do learn a lot about seeing, memory and observation by playing it.
Have the objects get harder as you go. Increase points to keep all teams in the running.

Drawing With Inked Glue

This technique is inspired by an idea in a book called Glorious Glue!. The concept is simple, yet very sophisticated-looking. Children grades 4 and up will have no problem working with this process. Younger students may need some guidance.

Aims: To explore the use of line in a mixed media piece
To use a mixture of glue and india ink to create stained-glass type, raised lines and then color them in

Materials: heavy white paper, elmer's white glue bottle (not school glue), india ink,
pencil, eraser, pastels or watercolors. The india ink is mixed into the glue
50-50. Make sure the nozzles aren't clogged.

Motivation: Depending on whether you are introducing a theme (the city, buildings of
the future, the rainforest, magical flowers, etc.) you may want to begin only
talking about line. What kind of lines are there? (skinny, fat, scalloped,
wiggly,zig-zag, dotted, swirly, etc). If you have a theme or are integrating
another subject you may have photos or posters to stimulate interest and
discussion. Just remember that if you show completed projects or art work, your
students will have trouble being creative. This project works well with words and can be adapted in numerous ways to all subject areas.

Vocabulary: india ink, mixed media, texture

Procedure: After your opening discussion, show your students how to draw lines with a
pencil and then use the bottle to trace over the lines. Start in the center
and work out. Don't encourage small shapes as they will blob. Let the finished
work dry completely.

Next, have students color in with pastels or watercolors. If you use pastels,
instruct your students not to blow away the dust (take it to a deep garbage can
and shake it, instead). If you want to fix the work, you can use hairspray when
students are not around. Fixative can be used outdoors, but never around young
lungs.

Reflections: These will be beautiful and should be talked about and displayed.

Stuffed Sculpture--K--Adult

Stuffed Craypas Resist (K- adult)

Aims: •To create 2D Paper
•To turn that paper into 3D sculptures

Materials & Tools:
white paper--(18 x 24 or 12 x 18 works well)
craypas or crayons
watercolor paint, brushes, water cans
scissors
pencil
stapler, staples
newspaper (for stuffing)
Yarn or string

Procedure:
Have a theme in mind when you begin this project. Some themes I have done in the past have been owls, fish, butterflies, flowers and strange creatures.
The first part is the making of the paper. Show your students how to use craypas-especially the light colors--pressing hard on the paper to make lines. Then the oil resists the watercolor and the lines appear. Have each student make two pieces of paper.
When dry they can begin the project. Have your students draw their shape on the white side of the paper and cut out. I get them to make big shapes by touching both sides of the paper.
Place the next piece under the cut out shape and trace, but be sure to have both painted side together. You have to make opposite shapes or it won’t work. Read the last two sentences again!!!
Staple around the edges, leaving a pocket for stuffing. Crumple up newspaper and stuff. Staple closed and punch a hole for a string or staple over a string and knot.

Optional: Add glitter, googly eyes or feather to jazz up your sculptures.

Note: Skinny shapes won’t stuff well.

Reflection:
Hang up in your room.

Collagraphs

This is a printmaking process in which you make a plate and then rub it or use a brayer to make multiples. While sophisticated artists use this process, it is also adaptable to young children.

Aims: To explore the process of collagraphy
To make multiples of an artwork

Materials & Tools:
Cardboard (chipboard; not corrugated)
Oak tag or Bristol board
Elmer’s Glue
Brayer
Inking Tray
Water-based Printmaking Ink-one color plus white
Paper to print on—especially neon or bright and black
Papers such as fadeless and bond paper work well. Construction paper is okay but due to its “tooth” won’t be as solid an image.
Optional: twine, string, fabric.

Procedure:
First, choose your theme. It could be fantasy animals, abstract shapes, the zoo, the circus, the rainforest, etc. Remind students that this process needs simple shapes without too many small details.
Make the plate:
This is a backwards process. Cut shapes (I prefer it when students don’t draw their shapes first) and glue on using glue brushes. Remember, you only need to glue around the edges.
Any blob of glue will print, so beware. (You can actually make glue drawings on cardboard, let them dry and print them.)
Teach your students to overlap—so to make an eyeball you’d cut an almond shape, an iris and then a pupil and glue one on top of another.
Let dry completely before printing.

Printing:
There are two basic ways to print collagraphs without a press.
Single Drop Printing is printing once. Spread ink on a tray and roll back and forth. Listen for a “kissing” sound. It should not be too thick (like icing on a cake). You will learn what is the right amount. Cover your printing area with newspapers to protect table. Ink the collagraphic plate being sure to cover all four corners.Don’t try to push ink down into areas that seem “bald”—that’s how the image will show up.
Move plate to a clean area to print. Lay your paper on top of the plate and rub with the flat of your hand. Pull up your print from one corner and put on drying rack or clothesline to dry. Don’t change ink colors until the plate is perfectly dry. Use different colored paper to make it more interesting.
Double Drop Printing: You need two brayers and two inking trays. One will have color (like turquoise) and the other will have white. This works best on black or dark colored paper. Make a print in any color except yellow or white. Set aside. Ink the plate right away in white. Lay the plate almost on top of (but not quite) the wet print. Flip over carefully and rub. Remove print. You will have a 3-dimensional looking print.

Reflection:
As always, be sure to share your work.

Variations:
You can make a group quilt or use this process to make a mural. The collagraphic plates could be shaped (not rectangular) if you wish and you could print on mural paper to make a large group project.