AP / STUDIO ART

LESSON FOUR
SOAPSTONE CARVING / SCULPTURE

AP / STUDIO ART

Focus on Composition / Simple Form and Unified Design

Soapstone has been used for a variety of reasons for 1000's of years in cultures all over the world. This soft stone is actually a form of impure talc and has been used for cookware, jewelry, sinks and sculpture. It comes in a variety of colors and takes a beautiful polish.

Vocabulary and Concepts:

• subtractive sculpture method
• maquette, model, mock up
• bas-relief or low relief
• composition
• stylized or abstracted shape or form
• positive and negative space and how they work together

Steps in the process:

1. Read through the Scholastic Art Magazine on Sculptor Elizabeth Catlett. More here.
2. Read this short history of soapstone.
3. This is the web site of two Canadian Artists. They have a great page on soapstone sculpture with a complete explanation and drawings of tools, process and steps. Look through this.
4. Watch both soapstone carving videos here.
5. Look at my online bulletin board about Soapstone on Pinterest.
6. Watch Mrs. Connor do a carving intro and demo.
7. Do some image research and develop a simple line drawing. Google: image search abstract animal sculpture – will get you lots of samples
8. Answer the questions at the bottom of this paper.
9. Conference with me prior to carving.

HOW YOU WILL BE GRADED

Bas-relief practice piece

Simple, bold, stylized forms (ARTISTS: Elizabeth Catlett, Henry Moore, Inuit Artists)

Animal or Human Forms ONLY

Elegant Composition: FOCUS!!!!!

Flowing Line

Expressive Posture or Pose

AP ART:

Do the Bas-relief practice piece. AP 2/D design: find OR take a photograph that follows the guidelines of the assignment. You can use this photo to transfer onto the actual stone. If you are an AP Drawing student you will be using your sculptural design idea to complete an acrylic painting in one abstracted style.

Studio Art: Make sculpture drawing ideas with at least two points of view of your subject. You WILL ALSO be doing a 3/D carving that is at least 3x3 inches or bigger.

1. Write a SHORT definition of each vocabulary word.

subtractive sculpture method

maquette, model, mock up

bas-relief or low relief

composition

stylized or abstracted shape or form

positive and negative space and how they work together

1. Jot down one interesting fact that you found when you read this brief history of soapstone.

2. Jot down one interesting fact about soapstone that you found when you read this artists web page.

3. Tell me something specific that you learned in one of the required videos.

4. Describe what style Elizabeth Cartlett's sculptures are.

5. Describe OR sketch out what your intended subject matter will be for this assignment.

LESSON THREE

AP / STUDIO ART Joseph Cornell Boxes

New Media / Techniques: IMAGE TRANSFER SYSTEMS / ASSEMBLAGE COLLAGE

• acrylic skins and digital grounds
• Lazertran water slide for inkjet printers
• Lazertran for laser and color photocopier printers
• Lazertran transfer paper for white or light fabrics using inkjet printer
• Fredrix print canvas
• Avery transfer sheets for fabric
• home made pre-soak for printing on fabrics with an ink jet printer

Lesson Subject Matter Choices:

• Zoom In or Zoom Out Box
• Analogy
• Metaphor
• Satire
• Emphasize the DESIGN PRINCIPLE of your choice

YOU WILL BE GRADED ON:

• practice, plan sheet, models, mock ups, journal pages, visual graphic organizers...BE SURE TO CREATE THESE AND HAVE THEM UP IN YOUR WORK SPACE
• investment in the process, research, play, inventive investigation
• craftsmanship, attention to detail, personal touches, solid elements, strong assemblage techniques, inventive connection methods
• creativity, unique approach, personal elements that you have gathered and constructed / use of any image transfer system/s to personalize your message...image transfer will be a major element in this assignment
• composition, how well the parts engage the viewer and express your message
• use of art elements to express your idea, create interest & communicate your message
• creative use of three dimensional elements to express your concept/s

PROCESS:

1. Read the entire scholastic art magazine about Joseph Cornell.
   
   
2. Start scrounging around for possible frames or
   boxes to start with and bring it in as soon as possible.

3. Explore this entire Cornell interactive web exhibition. Don't skip any of the slots because they all offer a delightful peek into the artists mind. The designer of this site did a fabulous job in creating a cyberspace dream that Cornell would have adored! You will likely get some ideas for your final too because there are embedded video that show how his boxes were interactive!

http://www.pem.org/sites/cornell/#

3. Watch this video. This artist has a very effective way to construct a Cornell like box. There are other video's in the folder that would be worthwhile to take a look at. Some of these are not boxes BUT they have some very unique construction ideas. The two with plexi - glass are pretty cool!
   
   
4. This is the folderWatch at least one of them prior to filling out your lesson exploration form. You will use these tutorials to do your image transfers.
   
   
5. Complete a “Lesson and Exploration Plan” form
   Include direct references to your preliminary reading, video views and web site exploration on this sheet.
   – I NEED TO READ THIS PRIOR TO STARTING
   
   

LESSON TWO

AP /Studio Art

INTERIOR SELF PORTRAIT

Lesson:
Create a self portrait that explores and expresses your inner self or interior landscape. The final image needs to illustrate a minimum of 5 personal traits, individual qualities or learning styles that you have. This image will communicate things about who you are inside instead of what you look like on the outside.

Requirements:

no smaller than 9x12

MEDIUM
STUDIO ART - oil pastels 
(we will focus on mixing, blending and sgraffito on a variety of supports)
AP ART - your choice but you must at least listen to what is offered to studio art

FOCUS ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES: how you will be graded
- composition..specifically how negative space leads the viewer through the imagery
- color scheme...how color communicates ideas and emotion
- shape and form...how shape and form express your ideas
- harmony or unity...your final must employ one of these design principles, choose the one  
  that  best helps illustrate your message best

STYLE
any style will work but Surrealism, Abstraction and Expressionism come to mind

Resources:
watch the principles of design video as a class, we WILL discuss the content
watch this short video about surrealism
take a close look at this image about right / left brain thinking (we NEED both by the way)
google image search on artists “Dali”, “Magritte”, “Vladimir Kush” and, “Kahlo”

Things to consider:
symbols can be powerfully expressive imagery
color is directly connected to emotion
composition will determine how a viewer “reads” your work
nothing has to be recognizable although it certainly can
text is permissible

LESSON ONE 

AP / STUDIO ART - PARALELL LESSONS

This class will produce a wide range of products. In reality, you are all doing a guided independent study. It is of the utmost importance that you take responsibility for the direction of your learning. You will not be able to succeed in here if you don't take charge of the planning and execution of your ideas. My job is to inspire you and provide you with multiple opportunities to explore, create and grow. Your responsibility is to take advantage of the room and the expertise provided to you here. Work hard, help and inspire each other. My vision is for this class to raise the aspirations of ALL students at WHS

What are parallel lessons?

• lessons that focus on strategies and sequences for developing themes and topics for exploration in both 2/D and 3/D forms
• presentations that guide you toward original vision and help you to make connections between similar topics of study
• assignments that encourage original solutions to similar ideas
• lessons that allow students to decide to use a particular medium and methods of problem solving to create original art and represent the best means to visually communicate ideas or themes
• lessons that help students understand how different solutions relate to each other even though the products are different
• lessons that encourage group support, interaction and collaboration

Students will create a series / modular design that focuses on texture, composition and contrast. You must consider direction and intensity of light to enhance texture and express form. The subject will be found natural objects. The unit of products should relate to each other but parts should be able to stand alone. There must be no less than 3 products in the series but 4 or 5 might work better. Quality of work and planning evidence will be a big portion of the grade. Practice work will be used to progress and asses both this product and future ones. It is strongly suggested that you work small this time – 4x4 or so.

INTRODUCTION:

I will provide some visual examples of how artists use natural objects in the creation of their art. You will have one class period and one homework assignment to collect a minimum of 5 natural objects that have some possibilities. I will provide SOME things.

ARTISTS TO STUDY:

(Andy Goldsworthy, Georgia O'Keeffe, Alan MaGee)

( http://www.flickr.com/photos/carlyayres/, this is the photostream of a current RISD student)

STUDENT OUTSOMES:

• plan imagery using sketches, notations and collecting multiple ideas
  for various arrangements
• fill out the lesson exploration planning form prior to teacher conference
• conference with the teacher to confirm idea and direction
• select the best material and method to execute your design idea OVER----->
• critique of the final module / series by the whole class

OFFERED STUDIO DEMONSTRATIONS:

• soft pastels demo & small works practice
• water soluble graphite demo & small works practice
• altered photographs & collage assemblage
  (youtube, altered photos1, part 2, photo collage)

EVALUATION:
Students critique your own series and those of peers. Through these open discussions, students should see that multiple solutions to a similar theme can be achieved and spark creative, original thought that translates into a unique means of communication through art making.
Rubrics that focus on texture, form and, composition.
Objects do NOT have to be representational.



SUGGESTIONS:

• collect natural objects such as bones, shells, insects, drift wood, vegetation, pine cones, seeds, pods, stones, dried flowers, eggs, fruits, vegetation, feathers, nests, berries, fossils.......
• do a google search of “fine art pears” images....3 million results that get you thinking
• consider deliberate arrangement such as big to small, dark to light or orange between red and yellow …. “Andy Goldsworthy”
• understand that objects hold meaning both personal and multicultural
• consider altering the objects prior to creating your design such as painted twigs
• consider unusual pairs of objects such as stones with something you can eat
• consider placing the objects in unusual environments such as white shells in a container of colored water or red berries nestled inside the cavity of a white bone
• consider zoning in very very close on very small objects such as individual indian corn kernels or tiny moths........ “Georgia O'Keeffe”
• take reference photographs
• consider placing the objects in a natural yet aesthetically pleasing arrangement that is striking and encourages the viewer to see connections between the objects or arrange them in a very systematic way that they would never be found naturally.... “Alan Magee and Andy Goldsworthy”

The finals will be due Thursday, Sept. 15th for critique. If you are not complete for group crit or you miss it for any reason, the highest grade you can earn will be an 85 for the final work.