Mural Practice

One of the things that I believe is very important in education is integration.  I would like to think that art can be incorporated into any subject to help enhance it!  This year at The Graham School I have had the opportunity to teach foundations (freshman) in our experiential program.  With the help of another art teacher, Jodi Kushins, we were able to get the students involved in some public art: The Mural Project.  You can see our progress on our student-created blog site!

These pictures show the students working together to create a practice mural.  This practice was integral to their education about learning how to work together as a group and also to practice painting.  We did many studies like this before we were ready to work on the real thing. 

Hand Study

One of the resources I have found for teaching students how to draw is Betty Edward's Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.  Edward's writes about how people would be more comfortable with drawing and making artwork if we as educators spent as much time nurturing the right side of the brain (spatial, emotional, visual knowledge) as we do the left side of the brain (verbal, logical knowledge).

This exercise  begins with students using a piece of plexiglass to trace all the contours of their hand.  Then they transfer these contours to an 18" x 24" sheet of white drawing paper.  Students then fill in all the value they can find in their hand.  Every hand drawing is as unique as the students are!

The Wexner Center

I believe that it is so important to take students on field trips so that can see the actual artwork.  This is an image of some of my students on our trip to visit the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Wexner Center.  Even the building is a work of art!

Value Collage Ink Drawings

This a lesson for students to practice depicting value.  They begin by creating a collage and then recreate their image by using india ink.