Some New Bird Collagraphs

Here are a selection of recent year 7s bird collagraphs.  I've included some examples of hand colouring that they did on top of extra prints, which I think are just lovely.  I did this project once before but this time I think the results are much better (see photos here).  I got the students to trace around individual shapes on their drawings and then they pieced the different textures together bit by bit.

The students used drawings of their own to develop into their collagraph.  They used a variety of different textured surfaces to create their collagraph plate including anaglypta wallpaper (brilliant for collagraphs), sandpaper, lentils, pasta, leaves, string, plastic mesh, cling film, tinfoil...anything that we could find that had a texture!  I got the students to bring in textured 'stuff' from home and they brought in all sorts of wierd and wonderful things to use.  Once they had finished their collagraph plates they covered these with shellac and left to dry over night.

I had sourced some old samples of anaglypta wallpaper from local wallpaper shops, who sold me sample books of the stuff for $40 per book.  Apparently anaglypta wallpaper is expensive in Australia, which was a bit of a shock to me as it is really quite cheap back in the UK.  Infact, when I did this project before I got free samples from B Q!  It took me a while to find where I could get the wallpaper and most people didn't have a clue what I was talking about!

Year 9 Cubist Work

The year 9 students completed their final cubist art works this week – with fantastic results.  Students studied Cubism in depth over a 2 month period, looking at the work of an artist, making research drawings and experimented with different materials.  It’s great to see such diversity in the final work – well done year 9s!
Shady's hot & cold musical instruments...

Chanel's piece has lots of different materials collaged-including some metal rings from her dad's work...

Clara's sculpture was a very ambitious piece, and absolutely fantastic in my opinion!...

This is Sondos's who is in Mrs Walsh's class...

Zahrah's shoes....

Harrison's cool sculpture...

Iman's piece...can you see the hidden faces?  She made hers using oil paints - and it still smells lovely!

Duncan's...

Faris's piece.  He really got into the Cubist spirit with this project and spent a lot of time at home coming up with all sorts of ideas - including sculpture and installation ideas.... 

Aseel's beautiful piece, which she spent hours on.... 

here is a detail from Aseel's.  She collaged magazine pages onto the surface, along with other materials.  She has such a lot of patience! 

 Kailey's final work...I love the monocrhome with a splash of bling...

Abrar's piece is busy and colourful... 



Collagraph Bird Prints

During my probationer year in Scotland, I did this collagraph technique with a class of 1^st year students (year 7).  My friend Lisa had given me the idea after seeing some of her students’ work on display at an Art Teacher Fair in Perth.  Lisa graduated in printmaking and is also an art teacher, and I'm always looking to her for ideas!

The department at St Maurice's High School have a brilliant selection of stuffed birds, so I got the students to start off by making drawings of these birds, concentrating on patterns and textures, then as a development  we made these collagraphs. 

I went to B&Q (a hard ware shop in the UK) and helped myself to their free samples of fuzzy wallpaper.  It's the stuff that your granny would have in her house, I can’t remember the name of it, it’s soft and fluffy and comes in loads of different textures and patterns, and you can paint on the top of it.  Students collaged this wallpaper along with string, then rolled ink onto the surface and took a print using the printing press. 

I really like the results, and students loved this technique.

 On display in the classroom...



Big Heads!

My year 8 classes have been working in groups to produce large collage portraits. Each student made a tonal charcoal and chalk drawing of a close up of their own face, using the mirrors.  I assigned them each a different part of the face to draw, working within their table groups.  I didn’t tell them what we were doing at the drawing stage – I told them it was a surprise.  They love a bit of mystery!

We looked at the work of contemporary artist, Yi Chen, who makes collages of faces and paints these.  I am a really big fan of his work.  The students had mixed feelings about Chen’s work – but it opened up lots of discussions in class.  His work questions the role of cosmetic surgery in our society and what true beauty is.  I really enjoy have class discussions with the studets, it's great to hear things from their perspective - often they give very insightful opinions.

I then explained that we would be making a large Yi Chen inspired collage within our groups.  I had taken photocopies of the students’ drawings (I didn’t want to destroy their drawings which were beautiful on their own), and they worked together in their groups to make these collages.  I love these lessons as it allows for some group work, which you don’t often get a chance to do in Art.  The students love making them too as they get a chance to be really messy, work on a large scale and they can make really funny faces.  I think the end results are great!

I’ve been working with the technician, Adam, to get the heads standing up and dotted around school.  This is our trial attempts and I think they look pretty good.  We have an Arts Festival coming up next month, and I’m hoping that all 12 of the heads will be on display.

I did this project a few years ago when I was on my probationer year in Cumbernauld, Scotland.  These heads were made using the students real drawings, rather than photocopies.  I displayed them on the walls at the entrance of my classroom and I think they looked great.