Pop Art Cupcakes, Maclay Lower School Art with Mrs. Hicks

These were created in Maclay Lower School Art Class with Cathy Hicks. Love the way they turned out. Have you ever wondered just exactly what Pop Art is? This link is a good one:

http://www.theartstory.org/movement-pop-art.htm

Pop art started with the New York artists Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist, and Claes Oldenburg, all of whom drew on popular imagery and were actually part of an international phenomenon. Following the popularity of the Abstract Expressionists, Pop's reintroduction of identifiable imagery (drawn from mass media and popular culture) was a major shift for the direction of modernism. The subject matter became far from traditional "high art" themes of morality, mythology, and classic history; rather, Pop artists celebrated commonplace objects and people of everyday life, in this way seeking to elevate popular culture to the level of fine art. Perhaps owing to the incorporation of commercial images, Pop art has become one of the most recognizable styles of modern art.

"Pop is everything art hasn't been for the last two decades. It's basically a U-turn back to a representational visual communication, moving at a break-away speed...Pop is a re-enlistment in the world...It is the American Dream, optimistic, generous and naïve."

Never heard of the Cupcake song...take a listen...

Circles and Lines = Relaxing

Need a great sub teacher lesson?  This is IT!

Directions:

The kids draw circles. 

Circles need to overlap.

Teach and show some zentangle action.

The kids draw lines and color in.

The End!

L👀K!

I love this relaxing art activity.  I love Courtney Barnett.  Here is Courtney Barnett singing a new ditty.

1965

Paper Notan Japanese Balance Of Dark And Light

Notan is a Japanese word meaning the balance between dark and light. It is also an art form involving paper cutting and positive and negative shapes. The Japanese artists begin with black and white paper and cut out shapes and lines to create a unique design.

Cathy Hicks made these with our lower school art classes. I think they turned out really nice!

Other places to learn about Notans:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Fun-with-Notan/
https://artforkidsandrobots.com/easy-notan-paper-project/
https://snapguide.com/guides/create-a-notan-1/

https://study.com/academy/lesson/japanese-notan-artists-history-designs.html

How do artists decide where to place elements in an artwork. How do they use light and dark tones for effect? In this lesson, explore a Japanese art concept called notan and learn how artists use it in their works.

What Is Notan?

Artists use many ideas in their work. When they create images, they often think about composition, or where to place elements on their canvas. Some artists might be inspired by an idea from Japanese art focused on elements of light and dark. It's a concept called notan.

Notan is a term that refers to the Japanese idea of balanced light and dark areas in a composition. One of the most familiar symbols illustrating this concept is the circular yin and yang form from Eastern philosophy. Perhaps you've seen it before, the round image with interconnected teardrop-like shapes, one white and one black.

Notan is the idea that the elements of dark and light are equally important and need each other to exist. You can't have negative space without positive space, and vice versa.

History and Examples of Notan

Notan is an idea that's been integral to Japanese art for centuries. You can find examples of pleasing compositions using the idea of notan in the works of many famous Japanese artists. This includes painters like Kano Sansetsu, who created an image across several large screens, called Old Plum, completed in 1646. Look carefully at the dark shapes of land and wizened tree, and you'll see how they balance with the negative space (or the light areas) around them. Sansetsu placed dark and light elements to create a pleasing harmonious composition.

http://jyuluck-do.com/profile_kano_sansetsu.html

Classic Clay Animals

6th Graders love ❤ making these clay animals!  After they had completed the project, the 8th graders saw them and begged to make clay animals 🐕🐶🐈😻🐢🐷🐖🐽🐘.  Go figure.

Directions:

I reviewed the basics of clay and set basic guidelines.

They made their animals accordingly.

I fired.

They glazed.

I fired.

L👀K!

 

Classic Clay Animals and Classic R.E.M.

1965

Famous Artists Jingo, great Lesson for the last week of school!

Have you ever played this game? What does it teach? See link for more details: https://www.dickblick.com/products/jingo-art-game/ Introduce children to artist’s tools, techniques, and terminology with this fun game that is played like Bingo. Each game includes 30 player cards that teach and reinforce basic facts and knowledge about art or famous artists.

Use them in the classroom to encourage group interaction and cooperative learning. They’re also great for large or small groups of different ages and abilities.

You can also order it from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Jingo-GG237-Famous-Artists/dp/B002L3K4EQ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

It can be found here too:

https://www.excellenceineducation.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=EIE&Product_Code=J-FA&Category_Code=R2

A good time was had by all. Kids learned so much by this game. If you don't have it, I would buy it for next year or for summer camp!

Have you tried it? If not, give it a go! 1969