Notan Studies

I have been doing a Light and Shadow unit with Grade 3-4.  They are currently studying this in science and I am reinforcing it with their art studies.


We started off doing these Notan studies.  So simple yet so effective.















MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- heavy drawing paper
- mat or rectangle for tracing around
- pencil
- white and black disk tempera
- reference photos
- black sharpie
- paper for mounting if wanted

PROCEDURE:

I gave the kids a little talk about light and shadow.  I then talked about tonal value, what it is and how it can help you make amazing art.


For this project we discussed 3 values, lightest lights, darkest darks, and a mid tone.


I gave each student a piece of paper and a mat.  I asked them to trace around it  3 times with a pencil.

I passed out a bunch of reference photos, landscapes, simple still lives, all had high contrast and all in black and white.


They used the white of the paper for the light value (no paint).  Black tempera for the dark and mixed a grey for the mid tone.  At school I had them in separate containers.


We went straight in with paint, no pencil sketching.  As they finished one study, they found another photo they liked and did the second, and then a third.

I asked them to focus on shape and value,  not to worry about detail.

When they were done I asked them to retrace the rectangles with black sharpie.



Finally you can cut them out leaving a white border and mount on coloured paper.

Here is some student work but it hasn't been trimmed and mounted yet.

Great work Grade 3-4!

Using the Grid

So now that you have given color cells a try the next step is to create a painting using the cell/grid method.  Kids are always amazed at the results they can achieve using the grid.  For this exercise we will be using a black and white photo.



Here is one I did today and if you look closely (click on photo to see larger) you can see my grid lines.

Using Color Cells - In the style of Chuck Close

I was thinking about creating some good projects to teach VALUE....Value is the lightness or darkness of a color.

For most paintings it is usually the one element that can make or break a composition....shadows and highlights are on this value scale.

If you have a painting that just isn't working you might want to test for value...you can do this by making a Value finder as I describe here or taking a black and white photo of your painting to show your values.

In the art world Chuck Close is an contemporary American painter famous for his large black and white paintings of faces....he often uses a color cell technique or color grid.  I find his more abstract work extremely compelling......and this is a good place to start with young kids.(grades 1-3)

For older students you can use the color grid technique and produce more recognizable portraits.



In this project we are limiting our palette and just focusing on value.  You can focus on a single color or just a warm or cool color combination.

How to Make a Tonal Value Finder

Yesterday I talked about making your own tonal value finder or tool to help you when painting. Today I thought I would walk you thru it.





First you need the following:





cardboard


red transparency film or acetate (check in scrapbooking supplies or even a clear red plastic doutang will work)
tape


scissors


duct tape


exacto knife











Cut your red film to the size desired. Cut out 2 pieces of cardboard about 1 inch larger than red film on all sides.

Using your exacto knife cut out windows in your cardboard about 1/2 inch smaller than your red film piece.







Tape your red film in between your two cardboard pieces. Then tape the two cardboard pieces together around the edges.







Because I will be using mine in my field kit I taped all around the edges with duct tape so it will hold up to daily use.












To show you how this works here is the wc sketch of St. Paul's both before and after changes. The red mutes the colors to get you to focus on the value instead. This is a good tool to have when you don't have access to a computer, photocopier,etc. to view your painting in black and white.


Hope this helps.

later
gail

St. Paul's #2

Ok, so I wake up this morning and take a second look at my St. Paul's and go YUK!
Not what I was going after at all, I study the photo again to get a feel of what drew me to it in the first place.

Here they are, I couldn't get them to show side by side no matter how much I edited. I changed the sky trying to capture the sunlight coming in from the left. Increase the drama on the bottom of the cathedral because it's the contrast I liked.

I also added the tree branches for good or bad....but I think it adds to the composition. Now at least I can live with it.




Here are the same two wc sketches in black and white. I do this a lot to check my tonal values.

I been meaning to make a tonal value tool for my field kit. You just secure a piece of red transparency paper in a small mat. When you look thru it you can see your tonal values quite clearly. I'll try to make one today and post it tomorrow in case anyone is reading this.

well later
gail