Mini "Monets"

Impressionism

Today we made "mini Monets" as we tried our hand at Impressionism. We discussed how Impressionists made small marks of color next to each other and instead of blending colors on the canvas, the viewer's eye blends the colors.

We used chalk pastels on roughly 4" x 5" pieces of shrink film. Students chose a landscape photo that they wanted to reproduce in an impressionist style. They really had to work hard to build up layers of color on the glossy surface. Not only did they have to use multiple colors, but were thinking about contrasting colors and value as well. True impressionists did not use black, but rather contrasting colors to create the impression of darker areas.

They all did a great job at this initial step, but the real fun was just starting! We fired up the toaster oven to around 325 or 350 degrees and placed the art inside on a sheet of tin foil. In moments the shrink film came alive - twisting and bubbling as it got smaller and smaller! It flattened out (sometimes with a bit of help) within a minute or two and was ready to come out and cool off. It never gets old to watch this process and the final art is tiny, hard, and so much more vibrant and beautiful than when it went into the oven. 

This is a video of my shrink film in the oven. I did stop part way and flatten it out a bit as it was curling over onto itself. Supposedly it will straighten out on its own, but I get too worried!

Here are the students' original landscape photos, pastel covered shrink film before, and after baking:

I sent everyone home with a couple of blank sheets to play with. This can be done in your oven on a cookie sheet covered with tin foil. They can draw on it with marker, pastels, whatever! Part of the fun is experimenting. If you want more, you can order Grafix shrink film from dickblick.com in different colors and surfaces (I found this idea for Mini Monets on their website, if you want to check it out). It costs roughly $5 for 6 letter sized sheets.

I was curious how this would work with different mediums, so below you can see my different versions. I think the chalk pastels work best of those I tried. Sharpie was my least favorite.

Indonesian "Batik" - Thanksgiving Table Runners

Indonesian "Batik" Table Runners

Batik originated in Indonesia. It is a beautiful art form, traditionally using hot wax and dyes on fabric. 

For safety reasons, students can't use wax, so this is the closest we can get, with similar results.

We used fall and Thanksgiving as inspiration for our batik table runners. The students spent one class drawing their designs onto the white muslin fabric with a pencil. It was important to note that the more simple the design, the better it ends up. Any large, empty areas were places where the students were encouraged to add even simple, organic lines or patterns.

The next step was to trace over the pencil marks with Elmer's school glue gel.

Because the gel spreads a bit after application, intricate designs don't work as well. Once finished, these were allowed to dry overnight. Don't worry that the gel is blue. Everywhere that the gel goes will end up as white when the project is finished.

During our next class, students painted their fabric with acrylic paint. We stayed with a warm color palette - using fall colors such as brown, red, yellow and orange. Its ok to paint over the dried gel.

 Every bit of the fabric should be painted - and covered completely with paint. Be sure to really saturate the fabric. I was impressed that one of my students tried mixing colors right on the fabric - with beautiful results! The fabric should be allowed to dry completely.

Because this was our last class, we didn't have time to do the final, and most fun step, in class. Once the fabric is completely dry, the last step is to wash the fabric out by hand. Fill a sink with warm water and submerge the fabric completely. Let it sit for 5 minutes or so. This will soften and loosen the dried gel. Use your hands to gently rub the remaining gel off the fabric. In the process, the paint will soften and come off as well. Be sure to work your way across the entire piece of fabric to loosen all gel and paint. Rinse in cold water, and repeat for any areas that may still have bits of gel or paint. And don't worry - you can't mess this up!

Fill sink with warm/hot water, immerse fabric completely and let sit for 5 minutes

Rub fabric and pick any stubborn bits of glue off. Rinse in cold water.

Left - before washing. Right - after washing - the white really pops now!

The final piece of fabric will be soft with bright colors and striking areas of white designs. Perfect for the Thanksgiving table!