Astro Boy Wall Murals

When considering collaborative projects the Grade 8 students might undertake this year, our attention began to drift toward iconic contemporary images of Japan that may be relevant to our students. Here in Osaka, one of the most iconic artists is Osamu Tezuka who created the animated character of ‘Astro Boy’ during the 1950’s. This popular series introduced Japanese anime to the world and in doing so effectively opened the floodgates to the overwhelming range of manga-style characters that continue to emerge today.

With five class groups undertaking this particular collaborative project, it was decided that each team would work on a different classic Astro Boy pose by following a standard grid system to enlarge the selected illustration to an oversized format. Each student was responsible for two of the enlarged grids and begun by firstly outlining the line work with black paint. For a suitable decorative element, we began to investigate the more recent works of Chuck Close and were inspired to develop interesting coloured patterns that would completely fill the image.

The use of bright pastels allowed for some interesting colour combinations. By using cool colours for the outside and warm for the character itself, the students were able to achieve a striking impact through the use of contrast. As these five pieces were to be placed in the vast area of the largely grey Genkan (the entrance foyer to the school), it would eventually prove to be a wise decision. The completed final pieces were placed on their own separate wall, providing a bold introduction to the school and its visual art program, which effectively demonstrated the collaborative artistic efforts of our talented Grade 8 students with this project.

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.

People Pots

One of the popular units of the Grade 8 course combines both ceramics and drawing as the students look at both functional clay artifacts and the cult of personality as inspiration for their studio work. In particular, students investigate a person who is significant or inspirational to them at that time in their lives. The choice of people is always quite interesting, but generally students will tend to choose high profile personalities from the entertainment world, sports or notable people who have been in the recent press. They are asked to find a quotation from that person and associated imagery that might provide inspiration for a ceramic piece which captures the essence of that person, much like a canopic jar from ancient Egypt, but created within a modern day context. Of course there is plenty of class discussion that allows the students to arrive at their final design. Likewise, other lessons focus on drawing and clay building skills, which are essential in gaining the confidence to achieve their goal. The range and detail of the lidded pots they develop are always fascinating as they grapple with the theme and also the subtleties of ceramic hand building. This year their pottery pieces and the drawing of their chosen person were combined together for a diverse and impressive display of creative forms.

Drawing Ancient Pottery

My grade 8 class were beginning to investigate the area of pottery and ceramics for the first time and as part of that process we collected quite a few photographs of works from ancient cultures. We were looking particular at the various forms and the use of pattern and decoration. This also gave them an opportunity to use this subject matter as a basis for a drawing and to look at rendering three-dimensional forms through the use of ellipses as well as light and shade toning. The students selected a coloured piece of paper and began there drawing by imagining that their piece of pottery was on the verge of being discovered; as if the wind had blown away the desert sands to reveal it. To achieve this impression they folded their paper in half diagonally to provide a centre axis for the pot, and then began by drawing one side then the other. We had previously undertaken some exercises in ellipse drawing, so the students were quite familiar in using this technique to achieve a three dimensional quality. Their drawing was further enhanced by the use of white pencil as a contrast to the graphite pencil to produce a strong result.

Illustrative Drawing

My grade 11 drawing class were very keen to extend their skills with an illustrative style drawing. This would be a detailed and planned illustration based around the theme of ‘fame and celebrety’, which would give them plenty of scope to focus on someone who they particular like as the subject matter. They brainstormed some possible imagery, then followed his up with some visual research. Photoshop is terrific for planning this type of drawing, as it allows the students to experiment with scale and composition. Eventually, they had their reference source and were able to begin their drawing on ‘Cresant’ illustration board. They blocked in the initial outlines then set about adding the detail from observation (no grids were used). Emphasis was placed upon using different grades of graphite pencil to achieve light and shade to create a bold realistic image. Needless to say, several hours were spent in create some highly polished results, but I must say that the enthusiasm of the students never waned.

Drawing Marathon

Our school was fortunate enough to have a visiting artist for a day of life drawing. She had brought with her a colleague who had a terrific collection of vintage clothing from various eras, which she would change into throughout the day in order to provide just a little more contrast in the subject matter. All of the Art classes were invited to attend a session throughout the day, which resulted in some large groups who were of wide variety of ages. The session created great interest within the school community, culminating in a packed final session after school of interesting students and parents attending. The ‘drawing marathon’ resulted in pages and pages of fabulous drawings and a greater appreciation of the observational study from all who attended. Ranging from frantic 30-second poses through to more relaxed 20-minute poses, each drawing provided its own set of unique challenges, yet each was up to the task. The day was tremendous success and will no doubt become regular Visual Arts event.