IDEAS: and how they evolve and transform….

Written by YIAStaff on April 15th, 2010

During art integrated classes at Hall Middle School, and during the Twilight AfterSchool sessions, the young artists have been thinking about:

“How do artists get ideas?”

We have talked about the germination of an idea, and how it changes as one goes through the creative process. Students have been learning how to sketch out ideas, research ideas, be accepting when ideas change, and how to talk about ideas.

At Hall the 8th grade science classes created solar system prints. Each student had researched a planet, and they then took the research to a new level by developing a reduction linocut print. Over 4 sessions the artists brainstormed, and carved and printed images that had 3 layers of color.

planet sketch

the science lab became a print studio

example of a three color reduction print

Notice the physical nature of the carving......

In the 6th grade classes at Hall the students have been taking their knowledge of mythological beasts and creatures and developing their own entities. Students have been reading myths from all over the world, and this introduction to mythology inspired the project: create your own mythological creature. The students started off the 6 week residency looking at different depictions of mythological creatures in all art forms. They then began sketching, moving into forming using newspaper, masking tape, tin foil, and cardboard. The skeletal structures were then covered with a “skin” of plaster, and then painted. The students appreciated the transformation of an initial sketch or “idea.”

mythological creature sketch in a sketchbook

the skeletal structure of a creature

the skeletal structure with the plaster "skin"

final creature painted

Students in the Twilight After School program have been thinking about the question of: “What is grey?”

A rhino
The sidewalk
Some buildings
A wolf coat
The sky before the rain

Students explored color mixing using black and white paint. How many shades of grey can you create? Students also thought about how to hold a brush and what can the paint do on the surface of the paper?