January 2024

 

TK/K: The Skin You Live In: Self Portrait 

How Many Colors Are There in the Human Rainbow?

Visual arts are a wonderful, organic way to engage our students in conversation about skin colors, self love, respect for others, race and diversity. Students engaged in a self-study about their skin color and the skin of their peers, family and community. The culminating end product was a self-portrait featuring student’s personal skin colors. 

 

The book "The Skin You Live In" written by Michael Tyler, illustrated by David Lee Csicsko was a great introduction for students to share observations about their skin. After the read- aloud, students painted with watercolors creating color recipe charts to mix their own skin tones and used creative words to name and describe their skin colors. Students painted one entire page with their skin tone and wrote their creative names of their skin color on the page.

 

Students continued the study of their skin by contemplating the question: “How many colors are there in the human rainbow?”  By artist  Angélica Dass’ count, at least 4,000. Since 2012, the Brazilian artist has been photographing people of every color and matching each subject’s skin tone to hues from the Pantone printing color chart to codify a unique chromatic inventory.

Dass’s project, titled “Humanæ,” has traveled the world and is featured in National Geographic. The project focuses on the idea of race as a social construct, rather than a biological one. 

 

Inspired by Dass’ work students drew and layered their self-portraits on top of their skin color paper. Students studied basic facial proportions and facial features leaving room for personal expression and details. Students used art media of their choice such as watercolor, marker, color pencil and crayons to paint hair, eye and lip colors.

1st GRADE: Nōtan Black and White Compositions

Nōtan (pronounced no-tan) is a Japanese term that means 'light and dark harmony/balance.' It's a design concept that looks at how light and dark elements of a composition interact only using black and white.

First grade students were introduced to the achromatic shades and tints; black and white. Practicing scissor cutting skills students enjoyed the process of placing light and dark elements next to the other creating stunning imagery and compositions. 

2nd GRADE: Family Portrait inspired by Todd Parr 

Students were introduced to the local author and illustrator Todd Parr. He is the author and illustrator of more than 60 books for children, including the New York Times bestselling The I Love You Book, The Earth Book, and The Thankful Book. He has inspired, empowered, and entertained millions of children around the world with his bold images, unique sense of humor, and inclusive storytelling.

Second grade students read The Family Book and shared their connections with the book. Some families look alike, some families like to eat different things, some families like to hug each other, some families have two moms or two dads, some families are noisy, some are quiet. 

Students portrait their family in a simple cartoon style like Todd Parr. Students added clues and selected colors to personalize each of their family members. 

3rd GRADE: Constellation Illustrations

The constellation of the Little Bear also known by its Latin name Ursa Minor contains an easily recognizable group of seven stars in the USA called the Little Dipper. 

Students were introduced to the basic artistic background of how astronomers  and artists have illustrated constellations in the past and in the present and how artists from different countries and cultures have associated the grouping of stars with a variety of images and creatures. 

Using white sketch pencils on a black paper students carefully mapped out the stars of the Ursa Minor constellation and sketched the mythological figure and/or creature around them. To color students practice the cross-hatching technique with colored pencils For finishing touches students placed gold star stickers in place of the constellation. 

4th GRADE: Realistic Marble Painting

This introduction to realistic rendering in watercolor and soft pastels absorbed 4th grade students in wonder and excitement. Students were introduced to Glennray Tutor, an American Photorealist painter. Tutor was born in Kennett, Missouri in 1950. He has been painting Photorealist paintings since 1983. His most famous works depict marbles on comic book pages. His work is shown and collected throughout the world. 

There are a few techniques that are key to creating realistic work. Color values are the most important when it comes to creating realistic paintings. Value in painting is how light or dark a color is, and it is extensively considered to be one of the central elements of a painting. Students practiced painting values, to achieve a quality of realism while paying attention to edges, shapes, lines and other elements.