Stylisation of our School Birds

As part of our magazine we are creating a 3-part lino cut merging out bird with the art movement Orphism which translates to circular movement and interlocking shapes. 

Stylisation

- Break your object down into basic shapes - what can you see?

With a lino cut we need to think of our object in terms of a stamp or stencil so do not be afraid to separate your shapes from each other to create positive and negative space. 

I have broken down my plan into 3 thumbnails to make sure that my layers interact well with each other as I am using my Orphist shapes to create leading lines towards my bird.

I have chosen the Pipiwharauroa as my bird. You can see the shapes I have chosen to use in my stylisation. 

Proportion Drawing

Getting things into proportion is sometimes hard. If you start with drawing in one place without having mapped out where the bulk of what you are drawing is going to go, you often end up with things in the wrong place and of the wrong size.

We call that out of proportion. We want IN proportion.

Guidelines help you! Map it out lightly so you know where you are going to draw then fill in the mass. 

'Mass' means the space it takes up

'Subject' is what you are drawing.

Tonal Drawings - Light Source and depth

We have been working at getting our shading correct so our objects look realistic and occupy space - adding depth. 

TONE: 
The point is, you need to make sure you are creating a depth of tone (black where it needs to be, white paper where it needs to be).

Things you can practice are:
1) creating a gradient on paper with your pencil.
2. Pick your light source and make sure you are consistent to where your shadows and highlights would be. 
3. Shade from dark to light - avoid adding an outline to your image as this will flatten it. 
4. Implied lines are a wonderful thing - once you get to your lightest part just let the eye do the rest of the work. 

Painting Skills - Tonal Range, Mixing and Blending colours. Week 6, Term 1, 2019

After selecting our final design for our paintings, we have been learning some new painting skills before we start to paint our final work.

We have been choosing 4 colours and mixing a tonal range from light to dark. Start with adding a small amount of your colour to white to make the lightest tone you can. Keep adding more colour to make darker shades. When adding black, only dd the smallest amount as this will quickly make your colour 'dirty' if you add too much.

Then try blending colours seamlessly in a gradient - first in one colour then in a harmonious palette (warm or cold colours are a good start)

Culture Clash - Concept Sketches Week 3, Term 1, 2019

We have been researching the visual style and patterns of both Manga and Pasifika and doing some sketches to understand how these styles work.

The next step we have ben working on is to merge the 2 styles together, using the compositional principles of:
- focal point
- open or closed composition
- arrangement/grouping of objects
This makes it more interesting for out viewer.

The process of art making, with any medium, follows the steps of
1. Concepts - your first ideas
2. Developments - what is working well and how can I make changes to make it better?
3. Final design

Year 10 Drawing and Composition Skills

This term in year 10 we are working towards creating a class magazine focussed around our Turangawaewae - our community or the place we belong.

I have been so excited to see the year 10 students improving their drawing skills with the use of tone and perspective and to see them working on understanding the arrangement of a good composition. We have had a go at drawing the 5 birds that our learning spaces are named after as well as still life objects like vases and figure models.

We have learnt from the artist Michael Mew who does mixed media artworks. He has taught us about compositional principles to use to draw your eye to a focal point. These can include colour, leading lines, balance of objects and the use of mixed media.

So far, my class have just started to use cut out figures, patterns, colours and text from magazines to demonstrate their understanding of composition and I am excited to see their creativity when we come to making our own.

Wearable Arts Passion Project

For the second half of Term 4, we are working in groups to do Passion Projects. Since my passion is art and everything creative, I have joined the wearable arts group.

We started off our project by getting into groups and making newspaper outfits which was a great creative exercise.

On Thursday we visited creative junk and each student got a bag to fill for their projects. All of them had completed a draft template for what they think they might create.

I am loving seeing all the different ideas - we have a group re-making Alice and Wonderland characters, a group looking at a contemporary way to create a Korowai Maori cloak, a group doing fortnite characters, a group looking at past, present and future with steampunk inspiration and more.

There are so many creative problem solving happening. A personal favourite are Selena and Emily who have used a golf club as the support for a flamingo croquet mallet (Queen of Hearts)