Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Mega Butterflies























For my last project of the summer, my "Creatures" groups created these over-sized butterflies in chalk pastel (with black oil pastel outlines). These were done on 18" X 24" black construction paper. Yup - really big! So in order for the kids to use the entire space, I told them to imagine these as monster butterflies. This was a good attention grabber and they all did a great job of filling the page. Back in art school, I had an illustration teacher who used to say, "When in doubt, blow it up and crop it." It is the easiest way to create an interesting composition when you feel stuck. And of course I had to throw in some comparisons to Georgia O'Keefe's flowers to which I was pleased to see many children nod their heads in agreement or understanding. The tables were filled with piles of chalk dust and of course the children's hands (and some faces) were stained and smudged as well. What a great note to end on ....I always tell the kids, it's not art class if you're not getting a little dirty. :)

9 comments:

  1. Beautiful Mary. I love chalk pastel on black paper. Very striking.

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  2. just great ! Also the fact that the butterflies are in profile! What books /photos did you use?
    Best Regards
    Neomi

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  3. Hi Mary,
    I loved the reference to O'Keeffe! What was really impressive is that they were all so different and unique!

    :)Pat

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  4. What s great project to end summer lessons. These are all very frameable.Doogal

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  5. Thanks all! I told the kids that instead of the typical symmetrical butterfly, we would be drawing them in profile. We looked at some photos on Pinterest to inspire them. They had the option of making a "realistic" or "fantasy" butterfly.

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  6. I absolutely love these butterflies!!!

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  7. oops, I wrote the wrong URL: www.childasartist.blogspot.com. It's been a while since I've been in the online art teaching community loop, but I'm back with a new blog!

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