Don't be a tool. Unless you're metal tooling.

The 6th graders at Berry Intermediate have been working on a metal foil tooling project.  We started out the year with learning about the elements of art by making a paper cube. Each side of the cube represented an element of art.  The cube, itself, represented form.  The cube project idea was given to me by a good friend, Carol Carver, an art teacher in the Princeton school district.  The cubes were a good way to introduce the elements of art, an appropriate prerequisite for the foil tooling project.   

 Materials: thick aluminum foil, drawing paper, pencils, India ink, black construction paper, wooden stylus tools and oil pastels.

The students were required to demonstrate use of line, shape, space, texture and color in this project.

Below are some photos of the process and finished product.

 

Mas Oaxacan Animal Designs and a Sneak Peak at some Goodman Glass!

I already posted some finished Oaxacan animal designs in my last post, but I couldn't help showing more because they are so great!  Enjoy these dynamic animal compositions!

Darren Goodman, the glass artist that we are working with, has made some glass tears that are modeled after some of our 6th graders' art work.  So far he has made 6 glass tears.  More pictures to come with photos of the students' paper versions and then Darren's glass versions.  Monday we will be having an after school painting session.  Darren will be bringing some clear glass tears and the students will paint their designs on them.  Oh, and of course there will be pizza!

Completed Oaxacan Animal Designs

As you may recall from last week's post, the 5th graders are currently working on a Sharpie marker/oil pastel design influenced by the wood carvings of Oaxaca, Mexico.  You can read more about the process of this project here. This armadillo and frog are the two resident Oaxacan wood carvings that I introduce to my 5th graders every year.

Below are some completed designs along with some others in varying stages of completion.