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Blacklight Unit Materials: Fluorescent fixtures ($10 at Wal-Mart suggest getting 2) Blacklight bulbs (4ft ones at WM cost $12 each. For two fixtures, need 4 bulbs) Highlighters White colored Pencils Reams of colored office paper (they end up nonreactive to UV light) Ream of yellow/goldenrod office paper Reams of regular office paper (they are reactive) Fluorescent paints (can now get from many art suppliers like Blick) Pens Day one. Review classroom expectations. Turn on backlights and let the students explore and look at their belongings. Talk about blacklight properties, wavelengths, (science component) etc. Studio- Invisible Drawing Pass out drawing paper that is reactive to the light. Pass out white colored pencils and students draw on the glowing paper. The white colored pencils show up dark on the glowing paper. Turn off the blacklight and on the regular lights. The drawing disappears! Highlighter drawings Have any students who have highlighters bring them out. Trade out the paper for one that does not glow in blacklight…. Draw with highlighters to get a neon sign effect… students really like this one. Before and after drawings Have students brainstorm over different situations that would best be described with two pictures, such as Bruce Wayne turning into Batman, or leaves on then falling off a tree, day vs. night, etc. They should pick one scenario, and on goldenrod office paper, draw the first scene in pen in regular light. Then, when all are finished, turn the black light on, and the second drawing is made directly on top of the first using yellow highlighter. In the regular light the yellow highlighter is hard to see, and in the blacklight, the pen is hard to see. Talk about filling up all the space with loose crosshatching or objects. This masks the highlighter drawing better. Do not completely darken any areas, since the highlighter will not work on that. When all are finished, turn on the lights and pass the paper to a neighbor. Turn on the blacklight and the image will change! Turn on the regular lights again and the blacklight off, and pass papers again... Repeat until everyone has seen everyone else’s drawing. Day four, five Prep day for glow in the dark radial designs. Hand out non-reactive paper and have students create a simple radial design using pencil. By folding the paper it is easy to recreate exact copies by rubbing the back and transferring the image across. When all are done, pass out the fluorescent paint and paint in the designs. Hang in the room for display. Radial design using French Curves: Get a square paper and fold from corners and sides to find center. Use ruler to go over the fold lines. Use a compass to draw a large circle. The grid formed will aid in repeatedly tracing using the French curves. Pick a French curve and a location. Draw the center x or the circle x on the tool. You also need at least one line as reference. Copy section. Move the tool to the next position and realign the marks to the next location. Copy section. If there is overlap or missing section, adjust. Continue until it is repeated 8 times. Repeat the process with different French curves until paper has a completed radial design. Paint. Before and after Project 1. Brainstorm over different situations that would best be described with two pictures, such as Bruce Wayne turning into Batman, or leaves on then falling off a tree, day vs. night, etc. 2. Pick one scenario, and on goldenrod office paper, draw the first scene in pen in regular light. 3. Then, when all are finished, turn the black light on, and the second drawing is made directly on top of the first using yellow highlighter. In the regular light the yellow highlighter is hard to see, and in the blacklight, the pen is hard to see. Fill up all the space with loose crosshatching or objects. This masks the highlighter drawing better. Do not completely darken any areas, since the highlighter will not work on that. 4. When all are finished, turn on the lights and pass the paper to a neighbor. Turn on the blacklight and the image will change! Turn on the regular lights again and the blacklight off, and pass papers again... Repeat until everyone has seen everyone else’s drawing. BEFORE AND AFTER EXAMPLE LIST Riding bike or skateboard/ crash Spiderman swinging/ landing on a building Clark Kent/ superman Bruce Wayne/ Batman Bruce Banner/ Hulk Man turning into Wolfman Dracula turn into bat Cake, cake gone Apple, apple core Woman pregnant/ thinner holding a baby Pizza / bite gone Weakling with dumbbells/ muscular after Calm to angry Happy to sad Peaceful to angry Day to night Summer to fall Fall to winter Winter to spring Snowman/ melted Sitting in a chair/ it breaks and crash Animal crossing road/ road-kill Caterpillar/ butterfly Tadpole/ frog A tree / losing its leaves Blowing bubble with gum/ it pops on face

“To see we must forget the name of the thing we are looking at.” Claude Monet February Challenge: Contour Drawing by: Cynthia (Cindy) Powell ©2014 Whether you work with positive or negative shapes, the size and shape of the subject being painted, is established at its edges, by the application of a line or the absence of one. (Lost & Found) “The quality of line is more important to the painting than mathematical precision” (Grant Fuller) I’m not sure I agree with that statement but it certainly qualifies for “food for thought”. What do you think? Is perspective more important than shape or size? Can a painting be a painting without one or the other? Would it be considered an “Abstract” if it had no perspective? Why explore the concept of line drawing? Art is line and without line we have no shape to objects, no vision-or comprehension of what we are seeing, no movement. Lines are just one of the key elements to design and line defines the shape of all objects. These lines can be thick or thin, visible or partially removed. (Our brain fills in the blanks.) Lines can also define the curve of an object or the 3-D plane along with light & shadows, which can also be defined by lines. The lightness or darkness of a drawn line can determine where the shadows are on a subject. These lines are called: “Cross contour lines”. These cross contour lines create the depth of vision or depth of field in a painting. They can be free form or be created using a straightedge depending on the object being sketched. They can be quickly drawn or detailed with perfect accuracy, but it all takes practice. (Photo courtesy of Annie Wu) The image I used, with permission from Annie, http://www.flickr.com/photos/anniew/ clearly shows depth of a person standing in a circle which could be a pool of water or simply a background to give added dimension. Without these cross contour lines, we would have a very flat 2-dimensional outline only, which is what we usual use when painting images like landscapes. What about urban landscapes? Or flowers? Would this technique of cross contour lines be beneficial? Topography (map making) utilizes this method of drawing, but would it be useful as a tool in your art? If so, then you may find these links useful: They are links to tutorials for contour, blind contour and cross contour drawing. http://thevirtualinstructor.com/line-quality-cross-contour.html http://www.studentartguide.com/articles/line-drawings A few other contour images to explore: Blue stripped shells: (In Nature) http://allthingsstylish.tumblr.com/post/19184764554 Wavy Lines: http://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/2010/10/cut-at-evergreene/img_2864/ and: If you google: “contour drawing images”, you will discover a wealth of images to inspire your practice. Grab your art journal and have fun! This image is from my art journal and the drawing is of glazed ceramic bottles that I used as a practice reference because I loved their shapes. I first drew the shapes (outline only) in pencil, then painted the contour lines (+shapes) and finally, erased any pencil lines. To get crisp edges, you can use a piece of paper or other mask, like tape, then paint the lines and remove the mask.

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Amanda Cobbett suspends a singular moment in the fleeting lives of fungi by stitching their likeness in thread. The textile artist photographs and gathers specimens that she brings back to her Surrey Hills-based studio, where she finds fibers to match pale green lichens and golden chanterelles. Using a free-motion embroidery technique on a sewing machine, she then stitches multiple layers onto a piece of dissolvable fabric that, once the organism is complete, is washed away to leave just the mushroom or mossy bark intact. More

Blacklight Unit Materials: Fluorescent fixtures ($10 at Wal-Mart suggest getting 2) Blacklight bulbs (4ft ones at WM cost $12 each. For two fixtures, need 4 bulbs) Highlighters White colored Pencils Reams of colored office paper (they end up nonreactive to UV light) Ream of yellow/goldenrod office paper Reams of regular office paper (they are reactive) Fluorescent paints (can now get from many art suppliers like Blick) Pens Day one. Review classroom expectations. Turn on backlights and let the students explore and look at their belongings. Talk about blacklight properties, wavelengths, (science component) etc. Studio- Invisible Drawing Pass out drawing paper that is reactive to the light. Pass out white colored pencils and students draw on the glowing paper. The white colored pencils show up dark on the glowing paper. Turn off the blacklight and on the regular lights. The drawing disappears! Highlighter drawings Have any students who have highlighters bring them out. Trade out the paper for one that does not glow in blacklight…. Draw with highlighters to get a neon sign effect… students really like this one. Before and after drawings Have students brainstorm over different situations that would best be described with two pictures, such as Bruce Wayne turning into Batman, or leaves on then falling off a tree, day vs. night, etc. They should pick one scenario, and on goldenrod office paper, draw the first scene in pen in regular light. Then, when all are finished, turn the black light on, and the second drawing is made directly on top of the first using yellow highlighter. In the regular light the yellow highlighter is hard to see, and in the blacklight, the pen is hard to see. Talk about filling up all the space with loose crosshatching or objects. This masks the highlighter drawing better. Do not completely darken any areas, since the highlighter will not work on that. When all are finished, turn on the lights and pass the paper to a neighbor. Turn on the blacklight and the image will change! Turn on the regular lights again and the blacklight off, and pass papers again... Repeat until everyone has seen everyone else’s drawing. Day four, five Prep day for glow in the dark radial designs. Hand out non-reactive paper and have students create a simple radial design using pencil. By folding the paper it is easy to recreate exact copies by rubbing the back and transferring the image across. When all are done, pass out the fluorescent paint and paint in the designs. Hang in the room for display. Radial design using French Curves: Get a square paper and fold from corners and sides to find center. Use ruler to go over the fold lines. Use a compass to draw a large circle. The grid formed will aid in repeatedly tracing using the French curves. Pick a French curve and a location. Draw the center x or the circle x on the tool. You also need at least one line as reference. Copy section. Move the tool to the next position and realign the marks to the next location. Copy section. If there is overlap or missing section, adjust. Continue until it is repeated 8 times. Repeat the process with different French curves until paper has a completed radial design. Paint. Before and after Project 1. Brainstorm over different situations that would best be described with two pictures, such as Bruce Wayne turning into Batman, or leaves on then falling off a tree, day vs. night, etc. 2. Pick one scenario, and on goldenrod office paper, draw the first scene in pen in regular light. 3. Then, when all are finished, turn the black light on, and the second drawing is made directly on top of the first using yellow highlighter. In the regular light the yellow highlighter is hard to see, and in the blacklight, the pen is hard to see. Fill up all the space with loose crosshatching or objects. This masks the highlighter drawing better. Do not completely darken any areas, since the highlighter will not work on that. 4. When all are finished, turn on the lights and pass the paper to a neighbor. Turn on the blacklight and the image will change! Turn on the regular lights again and the blacklight off, and pass papers again... Repeat until everyone has seen everyone else’s drawing. BEFORE AND AFTER EXAMPLE LIST Riding bike or skateboard/ crash Spiderman swinging/ landing on a building Clark Kent/ superman Bruce Wayne/ Batman Bruce Banner/ Hulk Man turning into Wolfman Dracula turn into bat Cake, cake gone Apple, apple core Woman pregnant/ thinner holding a baby Pizza / bite gone Weakling with dumbbells/ muscular after Calm to angry Happy to sad Peaceful to angry Day to night Summer to fall Fall to winter Winter to spring Snowman/ melted Sitting in a chair/ it breaks and crash Animal crossing road/ road-kill Caterpillar/ butterfly Tadpole/ frog A tree / losing its leaves Blowing bubble with gum/ it pops on face

Now is the time to start planning for Valentine’s Day art projects. I am going to share with you a few heart art projects I have taught in my school. First is the Map of My Heart. It is one …

So far you have completed and handed in the following stages: Conceptual development: Illustrated Mindmap about your thoughts on the theme Personal Geographies Illustrated storyboard (thumbnails) of where you planned to take photos Experiments At least 5 of your own Photos Written Reflections and diagrams showing the compositional techniques you used in your work Notes and Diagrams on the illusions of space illustrated in your photos and drawings. Drawings Illustrations throughout your sourcebook especially in your mindmap and storyboard. Any experimental drawings you may have tried over the past few weeks. A competent drawing of one of your photos (this should be at least an A4 size). Section 2: Final Intention figure drawing blog You have been creating various figures drawings that will fit into your landscape. You will now be experimenting with various compositional sketches of how you will layer your final product. Scan in your drawing and play with 6 different effects for example see how you could add collage/ ink wash layers to the drawing. If scan your drawing at a low res, you can add the filters on pixlr.com You can also create these effects using the filters on the 2010 version of Powerpoint. For you final intention, you will hand in your six "postcards" and your figure drawings and photographs.

MCA project -Kindergarten in Guastalla- won the Architectural Competition held in February 2014 for the design and build of the new School in Guastalla Distri

I turned the kids into Pharaohs! Took photos of them and printed them out. Cut and pasted onto brown paper. Then, I had the kids use markers to draw clothing and color with oil pastels. We talked about geometric shapes like pyramids and triangles. And we talked about patterns like stripes that are found in textiles. We also talked about Egyptian paintings on papyrus. Aren't they great?