SchoolArts - May/June 2008

Football is my sport
Runs a lot
Also plays baseball
Not good at school
Kills in football
Into rap
Eats a lot

sible hobbies and interests. The main question they are to answer is: “How can you visually represent what you want the viewer to know about you?”

Creating the Print Styrofoam board has proven to be a wonderful material for students to use to explore printmaking. It is easy to work with and produces successful prints. Once students’ final sketches are chosen, they are taped to the Styrofoam board and

I am friendly
I am athletic
I am smart
I am artistic
I am unique
I am a skater
I am awesome
I like fruit tarts
I am normal
I am impartial

Was there a variety of details and

textures?

Was imagination and creativity

shown throughout the image?

Self-portrait printmaking is a wonderful project that incorporates drawing skills, printmaking techniques, and writing. Reflection

through art
Reflection through art and and writing is
writing is one way young artists ^one ^way ^youngartists can
can express their talents and _express _theirvisually represent who they are. _talents _andvisually repre-
sent their perceptions of who they
are and how they see themselves.
This project is very exciting for stu-
dents, as well as the teacher, who
enjoys hearing the many “oohs” and
“ahhs” as prints are pulled through-
out the process.

the contour lines are traced with a pencil. The drawings are removed and students deepen and define their contour lines and add details and textures directly into the foam board.

Students learn to use the ink brayer to roll out ink in different colors, at times mixing colors.

They produce three to five prints of their designs, handing in one for grading. The other prints are taken home or used in their sketchbooks.

Reflection

Students are asked to write a poem to accompany their image. I present two poem styles to choose from and students are responsible for their own writing. One choice is an acrostic poem of their name and the other is a poem repeating the phrase, “I am…” A variety of approaches for reflective writing could be explored through collaboration with English teachers.

For final evaluation, we refer to the classroom list of “What Makes a Complete Drawing?” This list is displayed in the art studio and includes the following:

Did the image fill the space of the page?

Were there clear and controlled lines?

Gina Dianis is an art teacher at Cornwall Middle School in Cornwall, New York. gdianis@earthlink.net

NATIONAL STANDARD

Students intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of their experiences and ideas.