Tag Archives: design

ART PROJECT FOR KIDS: Sgrafitto

ART PROJECT FOR KIDS: Sgrafitto

 

Sgrafitto

Sgrafitto

Sgrafitto is an etching technique that uses a pointed tool to scratch through a covered surface to show the art work beneath it.

Materials:

Wax crayons (Do not use black)

India ink or back poster paint

Pointed tool for etching such as a knitting needle or a toothpick

Cardboard or mat board

Brush

    1. Draw and color various abstract shapes on the cardboard or mat board. Make sure to use a heavy hand and leave a thick layer of wax crayon.
    2. Paint the cardboard or mat board with India ink or black poster paint. Allow the surface to dry completely. If the wax crayons show through, you need a second coat of paint or ink. Allow this coat to dry.
    3. Select the pointed tool you will use. You can experiment with different tools on a scrap of cardboard and then decide which one is best for your work of art.
    4. Have an image or design in mind or draw one on sketch paper first. Etch the design directly on the painted cardboard or mat board using various strokes: long, short, or circular going in various directions: horizontal, vertical or diagonal. Etch deeply enough to penetrate the first layer of ink or poster paint.
    5. Frame the sgrafitto and don’t forget to etch your name in the lower right-hand corner.

    Inspired by: All-Around-the-House Art and Craft Book by Patricia Z, Wirtenberg

    Art Work by Jeffrey J. Bennett

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How to Make Paper Molas

How to Make Paper Molas

 

Materials:

Pencil with eraser

Scissors (embroidery scissors work best for cutting out small pieces of paper)

Three pieces of different colored construction paper, memory album paper or craft foam

Glue stick

White glue

Project:

  1. Draw a design on one of the pieces of paper with a pencil. Cut the design out.
  2. Place a second piece of paper under the first. Line up the edges.
  3. Draw smaller design shapes on the second piece of paper.
  4. Pull out the second piece of paper and cut out these smaller shapes.
  5. Place the first piece of paper over the second one and glue them together.
  6. Place these two pieces on top of the third piece of paper and line up the edges.
  7. Glue the third piece into place.
  8. Frame and hang the molas.
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Summer Camp: One Way to Make an Abstract Design

Summer Camp: One Way to Make an Abstract Design

 

Abstract Design

Abstract Design

MATERIALS:

Markers

Pencils

Crayons

Construction or bond paper

PROJECT:

  1. Find interesting objects in your home and trace them.
  2. Arrange them on construction or bond paper creating an abstract design.
  3. Trace the objects with markers or pencils or crayons. Trace one object at a time, adding objects as you go or lay them all down and trace them.
  4. Remove the objects from the paper. Choose three colors or two colors plus black. Now add patterns to the traced objects: dots, stripes, zigzags, checks or color some of the areas in the design.
  5. Mat the abstract design and display it or use it as a cover for a favorite book.

 

VARIATION:

Trace one object, turning the paper as you trace. Or overlap the object by placing it vertically, horizontally, upside down, etc.

 

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Henri Matisse and the Paper Cut-outs

Henri Matisse and the Paper Cut-outs

 “I have attained a form, filtered to the essentials.” Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was one of the foremost artists of the twentieth century and along with Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp, shaped the modern art movement. His method of painting, Fauvism, is “… a movement in painting typified by the work of Matisse and characterized by vivid colors, free treatment of form, and a resulting vibrant and decorative effect.” (Merriam- Webster Dictionary) He was primarily a painter and a sculptor but by the last decade of his life, paper cut-outs became the medium he used more than any other.

Art Nouveau and Symbolist Art influenced Matisse’s art. Like Art Nouveau and Symbolist Art,  image (which included the human figure) and decoration were central components to his painting and later, his paper cut-outs.

The paper cut-out technique was originally used to design commissions for the Ballet Russe, the Barnes Foundation and other patrons during the 1930s. Instead of sketching his ideas, he cut shapes out of paper.

After a serious operation left him bedridden in 1941, Matisse began to further develop the cut-out technique. Confined to a wheelchair during the last decade of his life, he unable to paint or sculpt and the cut-outs became the only medium for his art.

An assistant painted paper with gouache paints. Matisse would have an image in his mind reducing that image to its basic shape. He would cut that image put using quick motions with the scissors. Matisse called the technique “drawing with scissors” on colored paper instead of using pastels, pencils or charcoal on blank paper. The shapes were laid on geometric shapes (squares, rectangles) of another color or on a white background. The cut-outs looked like Matisse’s Fauvist paintings only the approach to the subject and the materials and tools were different.

Today, Matisse’s paper cut-outs are as highly regarded as his paintings and sculptures.

 

To read more about Matisse’s paper cut-outs:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/10/arts/design/henri-matisse-the-cut-outs-a-victory-lap

http://wwww.latimes.com/entertainment/arts//a-etc-cm-knight-matisse-review-20141023

Elderfield, John. The Cut-outs of Henri Matisse. NY: George Braziller, Inc, 1978.

 

To make paper cut-outs like Matisse, try the following tutorial:

Paper Cut-outs

Materials:

White paper or white poster board

Colored papers

Embroidery scissors

Glue stick

  1. Think of a theme, i.e., My Garden, The Four Seasons, a folk tale like The Tortoise and the Hare, etc. Or use geometric or abstract organic shapes to create a composition. Matisse often created patterns with the cut-outs. What are the main shapes that come to mind for the theme? What are the colors of those shapes? How many shapes will you sue for the composition? Matisse used animal shapes, forms from nature and the human form as well as more abstract shapes.
  2. Do not draw them on the paper. Cut the shapes freehand using quick motions with the scissors like Matisse. Cut them in different sizes and in a variety of colored papers. Experiment.
  3. Arrange them in a composition or throw them up in the air and see how they land on the paper or poster board. If you are gluing some of the shapes on several pieces of paper, throw those up in the air and see where they land.
  4. Glue some of the shapes on pieces of contrasting colored paper and some on the white poster board or glue all the shapes on the white board.
  5. What will you do with your composition? Matisse used some of his cut-out compositions to decorate the walls of his home.
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