Friday, February 24, 2017

Blacklight painting

Blacklight Unit

Materials:
Fluorescent fixtures ($10 at Wal-Mart suggest getting 2)
Blacklight bulbs (4ft ones at WM cost $12 each. For two fixtures, need 4 bulbs)
Highlighters
White colored Pencils
Reams of colored office paper (they end up nonreactive to UV light)
Ream of yellow/goldenrod office paper
Reams of regular office paper (they are reactive)
Fluorescent paints (can now get from many art suppliers like Blick)
Pens
 Day one. 
Review classroom expectations.
Turn on backlights and let the students explore and look at their belongings.
Talk about blacklight properties, wavelengths, (science component) etc.

Studio- Invisible Drawing
Pass out drawing paper that is reactive to the light.  Pass out white colored pencils and students draw on the glowing paper.  The white colored pencils show up dark on the glowing paper.  Turn off the blacklight and on the regular lights.  The drawing disappears! 

Highlighter drawings
Have any students who have highlighters bring them out.  Trade out the paper for one that does not glow in blacklight…. Draw with highlighters to get a neon sign effect… students really like this one.    



Before and after drawings 
Have students brainstorm over different situations that would best be described with two pictures, such as Bruce Wayne turning into Batman, or leaves on then falling off a tree, day vs. night, etc.  They should pick one scenario, and on goldenrod office paper, draw the first scene in pen in regular light.  Then, when all are finished, turn the black light on, and the second drawing is made directly on top of the first using yellow highlighter.  In the regular light the yellow highlighter is hard to see, and in the blacklight, the pen is hard to see.  Talk about filling up all the space with loose crosshatching or objects. This masks the highlighter drawing better.  Do not completely darken any areas, since the highlighter will not work on that.  When all are finished, turn on the lights and pass the paper to a neighbor.  Turn on the blacklight and the image will change!  Turn on the regular lights again and the blacklight off, and pass papers again... Repeat until everyone has seen everyone else’s drawing.

Day four, five
            Prep day for glow in the dark radial designs.  Hand out non-reactive paper and have students create a simple radial design using pencil.  By folding the paper it is easy to recreate exact copies by rubbing the back and transferring the image across.  When all are done, pass out the fluorescent paint and paint in the designs.  Hang in the room for display. 

Radial design using French Curves:

Get a square paper and fold from corners and sides to find center.

Use ruler to go over the fold lines.

Use a compass to draw a large circle.

The grid formed will aid in repeatedly tracing using the French curves.


Pick  a French curve and a location. 

Draw the center x or the circle x on the tool.  You also need at least one line as reference. 

Copy section.

Move the tool to the next position and realign the marks to the next location. 

Copy section.  If there is overlap or missing section, adjust.

Continue until it is repeated 8 times. 

Repeat the process with different French curves until paper has a completed radial design.

Paint.



Before and after Project                 

1. Brainstorm over different situations that would best be described with two pictures, such as Bruce Wayne turning into Batman, or leaves on then falling off a tree, day vs. night, etc. 

2. Pick one scenario, and on goldenrod office paper, draw the first scene in pen in regular light. 

3. Then, when all are finished, turn the black light on, and the second drawing is made directly on top of the first using yellow highlighter.

 In the regular light the yellow highlighter is hard to see, and in the blacklight, the pen is hard to see.  Fill up all the space with loose crosshatching or objects. This masks the highlighter drawing better.  Do not completely darken any areas, since the highlighter will not work on that. 

4. When all are finished, turn on the lights and pass the paper to a neighbor.  Turn on the blacklight and the image will change!  Turn on the regular lights again and the blacklight off, and pass papers again... Repeat until everyone has seen everyone else’s drawing.


BEFORE AND AFTER  EXAMPLE LIST

Riding bike or skateboard/ crash
Spiderman swinging/ landing on a building
Clark Kent/ superman
Bruce Wayne/ Batman
Bruce Banner/ Hulk
Man turning into Wolfman
Dracula turn into bat
Cake, cake gone
Apple, apple core
Woman pregnant/ thinner holding a baby
Pizza / bite gone
Weakling with dumbbells/ muscular after
Calm to angry
Happy to sad
Peaceful to angry
Day to night
Summer to fall
Fall to winter
Winter to spring
Snowman/ melted
Sitting in a chair/ it breaks and crash
Animal crossing road/ road-kill
Caterpillar/ butterfly
Tadpole/ frog
A tree / losing its leaves
Blowing bubble with gum/ it pops on face


Crystal bridges trip

These are photographs from our Fall trip to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.  
We took 55 students and several parents as chaperones to see this amazing museum!  It started out with a guided tour by a professional staff member.   One of the artworks on the docket was 'Rosie the Riveter" by Norman Rockwell, a recent acquisition for Crystal Bridges.  They fed us a nutritious lunch, we explored the trails and Frank Lloyd Wright Building and when the museum opened officially at 11 we went in to the galleries, visited the shop, went to the activity center and enjoyed the day!  Back on the bus around 1 and back to school!  Students did great representing Carthage Junior High, and the Museum opened up worlds of art to my students!




Learning about papercraft...

Tabs, glue, Deadpool, scissors, who could as for more.  We are introducing it with 5 point stars. 

Slab rolling and hand buildimg

Line, Pattern and Value Project

Students are starting the next project by exploring the element of LINE.  We are looking at pattern, then trying to create a handful that we can use through out the semester and on the current project.  After that, we are looking on how to create value using line.  After practicing with both these things, students are applying these concepts to an artwork.

Here are the handouts I used to get them started.