The Dusty Art Room

Project: Chihuly Inspired Sculptures Students loved this project! After enjoying the amazing work of Dale Chihuly, students set out to make their own version.   Steps: Color 2 sheets of shrink film using permanent markers Cut into a variety of shape/size pieces Use the heat gun to shrink pieces Glue pieces together in a unique way Paint a base Affix sculpture to the base

Project: Graffiti Name Wall I posted the earlier stages of our graffiti walls earlier, but here's some pictures from the progression.  What a great project!    Steps:  Students taped "mortar" lines with masking tape Painted brick texture Pulled off tape Splattered, speckled, and weathered the walls Created Graffiti style letters (option to transfer or create- this time most students chose to transfer, will work on inspiring original writing next trimester)  Outline letters in permanent marker Shade using colored pencils Cut out and glue letters to the wall Add other symbols as desired to complete the composition

Project: Mixed Media Self-Portraits You may be wondering how these beautiful watercolor paintings will evolve into a mixed media self-portrait... The purpose of a self-portrait is to capture part of your identity.  Instead of capturing what we look like, we will layer text on top of these paintings with paper, colored pencil, oil pastel & markers.  The words we choose will be strong adjectives and phrases that describe who we are, what we believe in & other important aspects of our identity.   Students were captivated by the effect of wet-into-wet watercolor painting.  When the paper is wet first color quickly diffuses into beautiful clouds of color!  Students also experimented with dabbing the paint into the water, creating fireworks of color!  Many were also quite busy experimenting with mixing different colors and seeing what new colors they could create- enthusiasm quickly spread throughout the classroom as students exchanged 'recipes' for their...