Friday 30 November 2012

Art Fun For Fridays - Art Detective


If you like art history and noir detective stories then you'll enjoy today's online game:
A. Pintura: Art Detective.  Click here to play.



Wednesday 28 November 2012

Printmaking With Play Dough - Step Two: Printing With Paper Cut Outs


Now that our homemade play dough has been made its printmaking time!


Items You Will Need:
Homemade Play Dough
A rolling pin or other object to flatten the dough
Aluminum Foil
Scraps of paper
Scissors
Paper to print on
Acrylic paint
Water
Sponge brush



I found that 1 batch of play dough created 3 decent sized printing plates.  After dividing the dough I rolled each piece into a flattened rectangle.  I rolled the dough on aluminium foil to keep it from sticking.


Art Intertwine-Printmaking with Play Dough
 The play dough can be rolled fairly thinly.


I decided to try several different approaches to this activity.  The first approach was to re-create what I had done with my homemade gelatin plates by using scraps of paper to create simple shaped cut outs.  I used a sponge brush to cover the plate in a layer of watered down acrylic paint before laying the paper cut outs on top.


Printmaking with Play Dough-Paper Cut Outs


Here is one of the resulting prints


Printing With Paper Cut Outs



Stay tuned for the next printmaking post where I'll be creating prints by making impressions into the play dough, as well as sharing a few other experiments.


Wednesday 21 November 2012

Printmaking With Play Dough - Step One: Making Homemade Play dough


I have been trying out different printmaking ideas to do with my younger students.  In a previous post I experimented with making and then printing on gelatin printing plates.  I wasn't completely satisfied with the results and decided to try using play dough.

First, here's the recipe for making homemade play dough.  I found it in a kid's cookbook that my aunt had bought my mother years ago as a joke.  Regardless of this fact I still managed to almost mess up the recipe.

You Need:

1 cup white flour
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup water
2 teaspoons food colouring (optional)

Mix the flour, salt, and cream of tartar in a medium sized pot.  Add the water, oil, and food colouring.  Stir everything over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes.  When the mixture forms a ball in the centre of the pot, turn off the stove and let it cool.  Then take it out of the pot and put it on a floured surface and knead it until it gets a silky texture.  When your done put the play dough in a plastic bag or airtight container and store it in the fridge.


The first time I made my play dough I forgot to add the oil, and had to knead it in at the end (the dough still turned out fine).  Since I inadvertently changed the recipe on my first attempt, I made a second batch.  This time I added some gel food colouring in with the water.  I decided on purple but it ended up looking more of an unappealing grayish colour (eerily similar to what I imagine when hearing the words 'gelatinous goo')



***On a side note I have repeatedly read that adding sugar free kool aid to the recipe creates fantastic colours.


As of now, my play dough has been sitting in my fridge for almost two weeks and is still good.  Okay, now take a walk outside and gather leaves, find some random object to make interesting impressions, and grab some paint (acrylic/tempera) because in the next post we'll be creating our prints!



Wednesday 14 November 2012

Art News - Canadian Paintings Up For Auction

I just read this interesting story from the CBC where they asked three Canadian auction houses to choose a handful of artworks from this Fall's auction season and explain why each of the 16 pieces should be worthy of attention.  The resulting paintings are not only symbols of great Canadian art but also act as visual records of Canadian history.

Click here for the full story and list of artworks.



One of the 16 artworks chosen: Paul-Émile Borduas, Chatterie, 1957


Monday 12 November 2012

Printable Colour Wheel - Primary and Secondary Colours


Last summer I created this basic colour wheel for my art camp.  I wanted my younger students to try their hand at mixing colours, rather than using a colour straight from the tube.  To emphasise mixing primary colours to create secondary ones, I found a simple colour wheel and instead of labelling a secondary colour 'green' I wrote 'blue+yellow'.  

I also used this colour wheel as an introduction to complimentary colours and Pointillism, where artists mix colours with their eyes.

Feel free to use this colour wheel with your own students, but please link back if you share it.




Art Intertwine-Printable Color Wheel




Friday 9 November 2012

Art Fun For Fridays - Create a Picasso Inspired Artwork


Check out this online art tool called Picassohead that lets you create your own digital drawing using facial features from Picasso's artworks.


Pablo Picasso, Girl Before a Mirror (detail), 1932

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Super Mario Bros and Surrealist Art



If you grew up playing Super Mario Bros like I did you'll love this awesome video from Idea Channel, a PBS show that looks at the connections between pop culture, technology and art.






Monday 5 November 2012

Turner Storm Paintings

Here are a few of the J.M.W. Turner inspired storm paintings that my students created.  You can't really tell from the photos but each painting contains drawings of hidden objects.


Art Intertwine-Watercolour Storm Paintings

Art Intertwine-Watercolour Storm Paintings

Art Intertwine-Watercolour Storm Paintings

Art Intertwine-Watercolour Storm Paintings

Art Intertwine-Watercolour Storm Paintings

Art Intertwine-Watercolour Storm Paintings



Art Intertwine-Watercolour Storm Paintings

Art Intertwine-Watercolour Storm Paintings

Art Intertwine-Watercolour Storm Paintings

Art Intertwine-Watercolour Storm Paintings




Saturday 3 November 2012

Christian Marclay's The Clock



For daylight savings time I thought this video discussing Christian Marclay's The Clock  would be appropriate.  The Clock is made up of thousands of fragments from a variety of different films to create a single 24 hour video.

The film is currently on display in Canada at Toronto's Power Plant until Nov. 25.  Enjoy the video and don't forget to 'fall back' this Sunday.





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