A Cubist Approach to Watercolour Painting

One of the aspects of painting that my students generally enjoy is experimenting with media and in particular, watercolour. Most have used watercolours before, but have long since moved on to acrylics. However, with their drawing and painting skills now reaching a more sophisticated level, it was nice to return to watercolours to compare the differences in technique. My students recently spent some time investigating watercolours and the variety of approaches that are possible.

They initially began by working quite traditionally by painting a series of close-up still life pieces and flower studies inspired by the works of Georgia O’Keefe. However, for their major piece we looked at other approaches to seeing the world around them by investigating the analytical approach to painting that was adopted by the Cubists. By using multiple photographic views of a selected scene, the students began to cut up their printouts and recompose them on A4 paper. The finished product was then enlarged by photocopier and traced through with pencil onto watercolour paper. Emphasis was placed upon clearly delineating the various facets of the composition. As they painted, the students were encouraged to combine various watercolour techniques (i.e. wet on dry, wet on wet and the use of salt) and not to feel bound by realistic colours schemes.

The end results were both bold and vibrant. By adopting this approach, many reflected that their final piece was in most cases completely different than what they had imagined and allowed them to see their subject matter through fresh eyes.

Tessellated Sculptures

At some stage throughout their school experience students encounter the wonderful world of tessellations. These are mathematically constructed interlocking shapes that can create a myriad of interesting patterns. In Visual Art the introduction to tessellation designs usually comes through the works of famed Dutch artist M.C.Escher who was the master of these form of works. This was certainly the case with my grade 10/11 Sculpture class who were investigating tessellations as the inspiration for abstract sculptural forms.

The process of design began with two-dimensional paper cut outs that allowed students to experiment with the possibility of positive and negative shape. At times students focused on a single shape, while others chose two shapes that would form the basis for their design. Once the design ‘units’ were decided upon, the student then enlarged the scale and began to ‘extrude’ each shape individually into a three dimensional form taking inspiration from the works of the American artist Robert Indiana. The final construction was done with a combination of cardboard and tissue paper.

Each student constructed 8 units with which they could experiment further to achieve the final composition. A colour scheme was considered (one colour for front and back and another for the sides) which would enable the sculpture to be viewed alternatively from both front and back. Once these were painted, the final construction was assembled using hot glue.

The final compositions were all very considered with the end results being not only colourful, but also reflecting a certain sense of order, which is the hallmark of tessellation design.

Fish Sculptures in Metal

It is always interesting for students to explore the use of texture in art. Both in our Mixed Media and Printmaking courses this is a significant area for experimentation for creating visually interesting works. Likewise, the students undertaking the Sculpture course are also exposed to a range of textural possibilities when creating three-dimensional forms. Recently my Grade 9 class applied their investigation of texture into a sculptural piece based upon fish.

Following a number of research tasks and media experimentation exercises, each student began to develop an idea based upon a series of line drawings. These were then adapted to the use of wire to create a central outline, which was then given width by adding loops of wire around the body of the fish. In this process students were taught basic techniques in wire cutting and soldering. In the end this provided the skeleton for the fish, which could then be clad with a range of metal textures and surfaces (ie copper, brass and aluminum). For the most part these materials were simply bent around the wire frame with pliers resulting in only minimal glueing.

The eyes were added using metal washers and the final sculpture was attached to a single metal rod, which was then set into a wooden base for stability. The students seemed to like the way that the original skeletal structure wasn’t always totally obscured by the added surface materials. Most of the works were confidently executed, with the bold scale of the works resulting for some impressive finished pieces.

Drawing a Neo-plastic building in perspective

When tackling any type of design project that is rectangular in nature, I find looking at Neo-plasticism is often a very good place for students to start. These principals which were the hallmark of the De Stijl art and design movement provide not only a good starting point for discussion, but also a framework from which students can gain confidence in creating their own designs. Such was the case when my Grade 10 Environmental Design students began to investigate our modern cities and the influence that De Stijl continues to have upon them.

They were given the task of designing and drawing a city building that followed Neo-plastic principles (the use of vertical and horizontal line and a limited colour scheme of primary colours plus black, white and grey) and presenting their idea as a two point perspective drawing. This provided them with an opportunity to not only explore their own building ideas within a defined set of perametres, but also demonstrate their ability to use perspective on a large scale.

With the initial line work completed in black pen on paper, the student then set about the task of using a knife to cut out the various coloured panels. Each colour was tackled one at a time in order to avoid confusion. When the various holes were cut, the drawing sheet was then turned over and coloured paper was taped or glued onto the back. The end result was very clean and consistent and the students certainly liked the overall scale of their presentation.

Positive and Negative Tower

Quite often when teaching sculpture to my grade 9 class we talk about the use of positive and negative spaces and the need to be conscious of not only the shapes we create, but also the spaces around that shape. A good little task to emphasise the point in three dimensions involved the students creating a small freestanding tower in black cardboard.

This is a quick exercise in which the students create an abstract design within a rectangular template. This is then traced and flipped to create a symmetrical version of their design. The students need to quickly identify what are the positive areas (the black card) and what would be cut away to create the negative spaces. Once this is done they are then able to cut out the negative areas with a small scalpel knife. The process is repeated with a second piece of card and slots are added to enable the two pieces of card to stand without using glue.

While each sculpture in this exercise stands around 20cm it would be interesting to build larger scale versions, as in the end they are quite interesting forms. The use of symmetry and repetition combined with positive and negative shape are certainly effective. Something that is recognized by quite a few contemporary artists and now also by my young group of grade 9 sculptors.

Lamp Design

This year my senior Product Designers undertook the ambitious task of designing a commercial prototype for a lamp. This would take them through the full design process and would enable them to learn much about design by simply doing it!

We began initially discussing and investigating various forms of lamp designs on the market, but we were particularly keen to investigate designs that went beyond pure functionality and incorporated creative qualities that also made them aesthetically pleasing. For their particular lamp concept, I provided them with one significant guideline and that was their final design should be inspired in some way by their home country of Japan.

They began by researching appropriate images and developing a concept. This was converted into a small prototype model from which final refinements were made. A plug and globe socket was purchased from the hardware store from which measurements could be taken. Once the design was finalised, construction began using readily available materials (ie wire, wood, plastic forms) that were carefully crafted to form the proposed concept. To finalise the piece, spray packs were used to achieve the desired colour scheme. It all sounds very simple and straight forward, I can assure you that many hours were spent developing the design from idea to the final switching on of the lamp itself.

  

Positive, Negative and Neutral Spaces

A focus of recent discussions in my Grade 9 Sculpture class was about how artists explore the use of space in their works. We initially experimented with 2D shape before moving to 3D exercises and at the same time looked at contemporary artists such as Australian sculptor Simeon Nelson. As composition is often a challenging aspect of sculpture for students at this level, I decided to set them some perimeters from which they could develop their own abstract sculpture to be based upon the use of positive negative and neutral spaces. It became like a game in which the rules should be strictly followed.

So here were the guidelines…

• Each student would use 10cm square panels. Solid squares (made of coreflute card) would represent the positive areas. The empty spaces in and around the sculpture would be the negative spaces and perforated squares (plastic weed matting from the hardware store) would be the neutral spaces.
• For visual interest, three coloured panels of primary colours were also to be added somewhere in the sculpture.
• Reinforcing sticks would be used to support the panels and may be incorporated as part of the design.
• No more than two panels of the same type could be placed along side each other (that included internal negative square spaces too).
• The sculpture had to stand at least 3 panels high, but should have a base no larger than three square panels.
• The panels and stick frame would be held together with a combination of PVA glue and hot glue.

The exercise not only tested the student’s compositional skills, but also their measuring and construction capabilities as well. While several students went beyond the 3 panel high limit, they quickly realized that the higher they went, small errors at the base became more and more exaggerated. In the end the better designs were lower in format and remained relatively simple, with the overall effect of looking like they had come straight from the Bauhaus workshop. The students certainly enjoyed the challenge that this project provided and the game format made the notion of developing abstract composition far more interesting.

Collaborative Sand Sculptures

Continuing the over-arching theme of collaboration through Visual Art, my Grade 8 class tackled a smaller sculptural project based upon the theme of ‘cultural structures’. They investigated architecture and building structures that are identified with various cultures. With a range of collected visuals in hand, each student set about creating a simplified shape that could be repeated and adapted into an interesting sculptural form. As a class group we began to study the early ‘pigment works’ of Anish Kapoor and used these particular floor sculptures as inspiration for the pieces we would eventually create.

The first task was for each student to further develop their initial idea into a small ‘mock-up’ style sculptural model built from coloured cardboard and composed with each shaped piece rotating around a centre axis. The class was then divided into groups of four, with each student bringing their mock up idea to the table and discussing collectively the merits of each design in order to determine which one could be developed further into a larger scale presentation. Once a final decision was made, the group set about creating a template of their chosen shape and each member took responsibility for building one quarter of the final piece.

The groups used ‘foam core’ boards to cut their shapes. This is quite a rigid material that would allow the piece to stand reasonably tall but was also easy to cut with a knife. Once the shapes were cut, coloured sand was applied with PVA glue. While this technique wouldn’t totally replicate the finish of Anish Kapoors works, it would provide a distinctive presentation and identify each group by its own specific colour. The students enjoyed the process of construction and worked well in delegating tasks to each other.

We initially displayed the mock up models of the design, which were quite effective in themselves. However the final sand sculptures were much more successful in capturing the scale, goals and inspiration behind the work. The end result looked equality strong individually and as a collective whole. Once again the learning in this particular piece was not only from the research and idea development, but also from what was gained through working in a collaborative way to produce a creative artwork.

The Big Bottle Project

One of the important components of my Grade 8 Visual Arts course is the ‘Collaborative Art Unit’. This unit of work focuses upon the role of communities or groups of artists who decide to join forces to create large-scale works of art. We investigate the practicalities of planning and production, as well as the significance of teamwork when undertaking such projects. Each year my colleague and I look for exciting and interesting collaborative challenges for our students to undertake and so this year we decided to embark upon a project that incorporated the large cement columns that are in the front foyer of the school.

With the help of the school community, we set about collecting thousands of plastic drink bottles that would become the basis for a colourful structure that would surround each column. Each class group where given a theme that represented an element of nature (wind, fire, earth and water), which would become the basis for an individually painted design that would be repeated on a multiple series of bottles. A common colour scheme was chosen based upon shades of purple (our school colour), which would ultimately provide a highly colourful collective design.

After much bottle painting in our four Grade 8 classes, the final mounting of the piece would finally be the culmination of many hours of work. With approximately 100 students involved, this collaborative effort was always going to provide an impressive large-scale piece, but even we were surprised by the impact it would eventually have on the space.