Unit 1: Identity Popplet
Automatic Drawing Studio
Media: Sharpie and Colored Pencils
Background: The first day of class we were asked to do an automatic drawing. For this procedure we were asked to not think about what we were drawing and just let your pencil go where we felt it needed to. We were creating a piece of art from our subconscious. The picture that came out was unique for everyone in the room and spoke to our subconscious as a person.
Artist Statement: My drawing turned out to be some version of a seal. After I was done I saw a distinct figure with four legs and a tail. I chose to color it in blue and purple because the colors seemed to fit what I had drawn. The images on top looked like seaweed to me, so I chose to color them green. This studio allowed me to see what I was thinking subconsciously and see that I am an artist without even realizing it.
Artist Statement: My drawing turned out to be some version of a seal. After I was done I saw a distinct figure with four legs and a tail. I chose to color it in blue and purple because the colors seemed to fit what I had drawn. The images on top looked like seaweed to me, so I chose to color them green. This studio allowed me to see what I was thinking subconsciously and see that I am an artist without even realizing it.
Artist: Henri Matisse Studio
Mini-Compositions: Collage
Background: The Henri Matisse studio allowed each individual to think of an important time in their life, something that defined them as a person and represent that in our collage.
Artist Statement: I chose to show my feelings toward coming to Mizzou. I chose to depict the columns since they are such an iconic image. I made the columns smaller in the back of the picture and grow larger as they came toward the front to show the progress that I have made while being a student here. This has been a journey for me from the first day and I wished to show that in my picture. Also, the columns coloring although they all stay blue for the most part, grow more detailed as they get bigger. This was to show how my identity has grown and evolved in my time here, and how it will continue to get more complex as I grow older. For the background I chose to use black and gold since those are our school colors.
Artist Statement: I chose to show my feelings toward coming to Mizzou. I chose to depict the columns since they are such an iconic image. I made the columns smaller in the back of the picture and grow larger as they came toward the front to show the progress that I have made while being a student here. This has been a journey for me from the first day and I wished to show that in my picture. Also, the columns coloring although they all stay blue for the most part, grow more detailed as they get bigger. This was to show how my identity has grown and evolved in my time here, and how it will continue to get more complex as I grow older. For the background I chose to use black and gold since those are our school colors.
Artist: Chuck Close Studio
Self-Portraiture: Crayon, Colored Pencils, Watercolors, Sharpie
Background: The Chuck Close Studio allowed me to look at my identity through the characteristics of a Disney Character, Belle. I chose a character that I felt similar to, and then compared my personality traits with theirs. I also compared myself to the antagonist (Gaston), companion character (The Beast) and minor character (Chip Potts) from the same film. This allowed me to see how similar or different I was from each of these characters and explore the many traits, good and bad, that make up my identity. My picture depicts Belle because over all I was most like her, with traits like spirited, stubborn, and caring linking our personalities. However, I also had many qualities from the other characters, such as kind, compassionate, protective, and vain.
Artist Statement:
Artist Statement:
Artist: William Wegman Studio
Artful Personifications: Mixed Media
Background: The William Wegman Studio was a fun way to explore the identity of a character of my choosing from a fairytale or folktale.
Artist Statement: I used personification to represent the character Alice from Alice in Wonderland. I explored what I knew about her and her personality, ideas, thoughts, actions. Then I depicted her the way I see her identity. I chose to represent her as a gosling because babies are seen as innocent, caring, and sweet but also curious and imaginative. Then I depicted her imagining Wonderland, a place that for all intensive purposes is in her head but very, very real to her.
Artist Statement: I used personification to represent the character Alice from Alice in Wonderland. I explored what I knew about her and her personality, ideas, thoughts, actions. Then I depicted her the way I see her identity. I chose to represent her as a gosling because babies are seen as innocent, caring, and sweet but also curious and imaginative. Then I depicted her imagining Wonderland, a place that for all intensive purposes is in her head but very, very real to her.
Unit 1: Identity Reflection
How did the studio lessons relate to the given Big Idea?
The studio lessons for Unit 1 all related back to Identity. Each of these studios was a great lesson on identity of a person and of yourself. With the automatic drawing we had to let our subconscious decide what to put on the paper.
The Matisse studio allowed us as artists to depict an event the was meaningful to us thus far. This helped me to see things that I consider to be important to me, as an individual. I depicted an event that has really changed and formed my identity.
The Close studio had us look at our personality traits and compare them to those of a Disney Character. This let me break down basic traits that make up who I am, both good and bad.
Finally, the Wegman studio combined many of the concepts that we had touched on thus far about identity and connect them together with a new twist. We not only picked out the characteristics that make up a the identity of a character of our choosing, but then we had to compare those traits with the ones we see personified in animals.
When Bang (2000) discusses how changing a shape, color, size, or orientation of an object can affect the way you see that object she is touching on the fact that we are breaking down the identity of that object to the most basic level. When we look at Little Red Riding Hood or the Big Bad wolf as geometric shapes there is a basic simplicity about their identities that we are exploring. What is it that really makes them identifiable? Each of these studios asked us to look at ourselves, or a character and break down them identity in the same way. All of the studios allowed us as students to talk and explore our own identities. They also allowed us as teachers to explore ways to talk about identity with our students.
How might you utilize visual art integration utilizing the studio lessons in your own classroom?
Many of these studios could be used in my own classroom to discuss the Big Idea of Identity. When discussing issues like how different people, countries, religions, etc. are it is important to talk about those identities that make them up. Each of these studios can be connected to learning in other subject areas and across curriculum. Which according to Johnson (2008), is one of the 25 Tips for Teachers to help develop verbal and visual art literacy in your students. These studios can all be easily tied back to literacy, issues of bullying, and self esteem. On a more personal level these would be great activities for me to get to know my future students. These projects reveal more about a persons identity than they may originally realize and would be a great opportunity for me to connect to my students in a non-prying way. Art doesn't need to be over thought and perfect. It should be a representation of who you are at that moment. It should be a way to show how you feel, and what you think. It is an expression of you as a person. Of your identity.
References:
Bang, Molly. Picture This: How Pictures Work. New York: SeaStar Books, 2000.
Johnson, M. H. (2008). Developing verbal and visual literacy through experiences in the visual arts. Young Children, 63 (1), 74-79.
The studio lessons for Unit 1 all related back to Identity. Each of these studios was a great lesson on identity of a person and of yourself. With the automatic drawing we had to let our subconscious decide what to put on the paper.
The Matisse studio allowed us as artists to depict an event the was meaningful to us thus far. This helped me to see things that I consider to be important to me, as an individual. I depicted an event that has really changed and formed my identity.
The Close studio had us look at our personality traits and compare them to those of a Disney Character. This let me break down basic traits that make up who I am, both good and bad.
Finally, the Wegman studio combined many of the concepts that we had touched on thus far about identity and connect them together with a new twist. We not only picked out the characteristics that make up a the identity of a character of our choosing, but then we had to compare those traits with the ones we see personified in animals.
When Bang (2000) discusses how changing a shape, color, size, or orientation of an object can affect the way you see that object she is touching on the fact that we are breaking down the identity of that object to the most basic level. When we look at Little Red Riding Hood or the Big Bad wolf as geometric shapes there is a basic simplicity about their identities that we are exploring. What is it that really makes them identifiable? Each of these studios asked us to look at ourselves, or a character and break down them identity in the same way. All of the studios allowed us as students to talk and explore our own identities. They also allowed us as teachers to explore ways to talk about identity with our students.
How might you utilize visual art integration utilizing the studio lessons in your own classroom?
Many of these studios could be used in my own classroom to discuss the Big Idea of Identity. When discussing issues like how different people, countries, religions, etc. are it is important to talk about those identities that make them up. Each of these studios can be connected to learning in other subject areas and across curriculum. Which according to Johnson (2008), is one of the 25 Tips for Teachers to help develop verbal and visual art literacy in your students. These studios can all be easily tied back to literacy, issues of bullying, and self esteem. On a more personal level these would be great activities for me to get to know my future students. These projects reveal more about a persons identity than they may originally realize and would be a great opportunity for me to connect to my students in a non-prying way. Art doesn't need to be over thought and perfect. It should be a representation of who you are at that moment. It should be a way to show how you feel, and what you think. It is an expression of you as a person. Of your identity.
References:
Bang, Molly. Picture This: How Pictures Work. New York: SeaStar Books, 2000.
Johnson, M. H. (2008). Developing verbal and visual literacy through experiences in the visual arts. Young Children, 63 (1), 74-79.