3 Drawings
The first class was spent doing three drawings: a self-portrait using a mirror, a drawing of a hand (from life), and a drawing of a person from memory or imagination. Participants are asked to pay attention to line, shape, and texture.
Angles
Bring in a bag of random stuff. Allow participants to freely pick and choose what items they would like to photograph and discuss the ways in which the same items can be captured differently depending on the angle from which a photo is taken. Try some shots from different angles.
Box Graphs
Box graphs help participants really look at art in terms of line, shape, and texture. Black and white photocopies of Picasso, Matisse, and Chagall paintings are handed out. Participants draw graphs over the photocopies, and then draw bigger graphs, in double or triple dimension on blank paper. The exercise then becomes a math lesson as well as a way to look at three famous artists. Instead of trying to copy the painting on its entirety, participants go box-by-box on the graph, copying line and shape instead of pictures. The results are spectacular.
Painting Box Graph Follow-Up
Paints, markers, and colored pencils are dispensed, and the participants paint their graph drawings, paying attention to the emotion or color-symbolism they want to create. (A "greedy man" becomes green, a mother and child may be painted in shades of blue and violet.) It would be interesting to work towards more group-oriented projects in a visual arts class, because all participants become involved and there seems to be less fear of creating pieces that are better or worse than anyone else's.
Collage
Each person receives a piece of construction paper. The group decides on a word with the same number of letters as there are people in the group. Each person gets a letter in that word and cuts it out. The monitor then collects each letter and instructs the group to use their scraps of paper to form an image or picture on a white piece of paper. The person thus examines the different shapes he or she is left with and uses them to construct an image.
Color Wheel
Begin with a group discussion about how colors make us feel. Invite the participants interested in graffiti to talk about what colors they see on wall "tags." Other participants associate color with clothing, or how they feel when they get dressed. Instead of teaching color using paint or construction paper, I bring in copies of paintings: An example of blue, a basic primary color, may be a painting of Barcelona at night by Picasso.
Talk about how the paintings make us react -- would Barcelona be the same sort of city in yellow or red? Participants pick out their favorite paintings and put them up on the board in their "color-wheel" order. We then create our own color-wheel using magazine and newspaper scraps. Participants enjoy finding objects they can relate to, or like from magazines. Group efforts can be created to find all of the colors for the wheels together.
Drawing to Express Frustration
Allow the participants to draw how they feel when they are having difficulties focusing in class.
Getting Unstuck
Take different texts and outline the objects as a foundation and then allow them to draw whatever they want so they understand that there aren't any rules or judgments being made when it comes to their artistic expression.
Group Sculpture
This exercise works best on the floor in a circle. Each participant receives a piece of construction paper and is instructed to make a shape using tape, glue, staples, etc. The shapes can be as basic as a cylinder (i.e., rolling the paper into a tube and securing) or more complex. The paper can be ripped and folded but the shapes should not be too small. Then, each member of the circle has to make a sculpture or picture using all the shapes. The sculptures or settings (i.e., a forest) can be leaned or stacked and the pictures generally used the floor as a picture plane. The group then discusses what they see.
The level of discussion will obviously vary depending on the age group. With older groups the why of what the group sees should also be discussed (i.e., I see sun because it is a yellow sphere, it is about the other objects, etc.). Then the people who made the sculptures share what they were thinking when they created it. This exercise can be performed with objects like pencils, cans, bananas, or whatever.
I Feel Safe
Ask participants to find a pose or position for a photo which expresses for them the concept of safety. To supplement the photo, ask participants to make an “I Feel Safe…” list — a list of situations or surroundings in which they feel safe. This project can be done with other themes, too.
Masks
Cut plaster of Paris into strips. Fill Styrofoam cups with water. Kids need partners (facilitators should demonstrate, and have one completed mask to show). Cover partner’s face with Vaseline, not rubbed in, kind of gloppy. Give kids the option to cover eyes and mouth (it is uncomfortable). Partner has to communicate throughout if their partner can't talk. Don't put a single strip on until you tell your partner where you are putting it. Keep it AWAY from hairline. You can cover eyebrows, lashes, etc, if effectively covered with Vaseline. Check each face with baseline first, and watch as each one starts with the plaster to make sure they are okay. Dip strip in water, put it on face, repeat in same place, double layered. Rub the strip in to get rid of air holes. Lay it right on the skin. Be especially careful when applying the strip on the bridge of the nose; it has to be very thin so the participant can continue breathing through nostrils. Sit in front of a fan for about 3 minutes. It will basically pop off; if not, kind of wiggle scissors in. Let the mask dry overnight. Paint as you wish. Use hot glue gun to apply any decorations you please. Outside the mask: Depict three qualities / strengths that you think other people see in you. Step outside yourself, and look at your identity through the eyes of another person. Inside the mask: Think of three things that represent who you believe you truly are, who you are at your core, qualities, talents, interests, who
you see. While the plaster is drying, put the 3 inside and outside qualities on paper. Map out your plan and why those things are important. Go up one at a time; have leaders go first, explain each thing and why, in a 2 minute presentation. Help prompt questions and answers addressing how they chose those things and why.
Mirror Image Sketching
Take a mirror and ask each participant what he or she sees. Have them sketch the image that appears in the mirror using pencils, markers, crayons, and the like. If participants feel self conscious about their drawing, allow them to work on sketch at home. Have them bring the sketch back so that it can be displayed with other participants' work.
Papermaking
Put a small amount of water in the blender, tear up small pieces of the paper, add a little bit of glue, and blend. Then dump it all in the pan. Once you've done this a few times and have a significant amount of gunk in the pan, lay the wooden shape flat down. The mesh-covered side should be on the bottom so that the paper gunk can fill a little on the inside of the shape. Then, push with your hand on the gunk through the mesh so the water squeezes out. Then, turn the shape upside down on a piece of newspaper and pat it gently until the whole shape separates from the mesh. Take a sponge and push down on the shape so as to flatten it out more and get the water out. Decorate (sparkles, etc) then let dry overnight. The next day it will be easy to peel off as long as they weren't too thick to begin with. They should be dry and easy to make into cards or anything else.
Teacher gathers as much junk (cardboard, string, light bulbs, egg/milk cartons, soup cans, toilet paper rolls, etc.) and sets the junk on a table as well as any handy construction paper, paints, glue, etc. The children get in pairs and are given one poem to read. After reading the poem, participants brainstorm ideas of how they could make a sculpture that represents the poem and what is happening in it. They have a cardboard base to work off of, and all the rest is creative.
Photograph a Dream
Ask participants to remember a dream which they have had. See if they can take a photo which captures the essence and spirit of the dream, if not the actual content. They can compose the image using class members if they’d like.
Photographic Adaptation of Boal's Image Theatre
One participant is DP (Director of Photography). Ask another participant to arrange his/her peers around him/herself in a way that expresses a form of oppression by which he/she feels affected. Ask the DP to photograph that image from different angles, heights, distances, etc. Discuss the ways in which the image used the spirit of the oppression and the ways in which differing the camera’s POV affected the mood of the photo. Explore using Boal’s “dynamizations” with the participants and photographing each of those. (See “Image Theater” in Movement section).
Place Exercise
The structure of this exercise depends on resources. (If 35 mm cameras are not available, drawing might work, etc.) As homework, have everyone take a photograph (or draw a picture as the case may be) of a place which symbolizes the person taking the picture. In the next meeting have the group pair off or break into groups around the places they selected and share their pictures. Then come back to the large group and have everyone explain someone else's image.
Self-Portrait Without a Face
Ask participants to find a pose or position for a photo which expresses their personality and individuality without exposing their face. Work in pairs, taking photos of each other as each chooses.
Sketching Game
Each person receives a piece of paper and something to write with. The goal is to fill as much of the page as possible in the amount of time given. The sketches can be from the imagination, although it is generally better if it is a still-life or some other sort of life drawing so that the sketches don't end up as scribbles. Each person is then instructed to begin sketching. The monitor can establish a set amount of time for each sketch (around 10 to 15 seconds, but no longer than 30) and count or just select a time and call stop. After the monitor calls stop each person should pass his or her sketch to the person on his or her right and the process begins again. The exercise can end when the page is jammed full of stuff.
