Lava Lamp

                                     

Fall 2025 Advanced Art Students at Mineola High School 

4 THINGS TO NOTICE:

-Form of lamp is symmetrical

-The cap and base are shiny/metal:

showing highlights with value in correct direction.

-Blobs are 3D-ROUND with lighter area at bottom and darker area on top.

-Sometimes, Glass has a white highlight

Watch it in Action

How does this happen?

It's Science...

GROOVY SCIENCE 

Convection and convection currents describe the process where heated, less dense fluids (like air or water, rise, while cooler, denser fluids sink.creating a continuous cycle of circulation that transfers heat. This natural phenomenon drives significant Earth processes, such as weather patterns like wind and storms, ocean circulation, and the movement of tectonic plates through mantle convection.

How Convection Currents Work

1. Heating and Expansion: When a part of a fluid is heated, its particles move faster and spread apart, becoming less dense.
2. Rising: This warmer, less dense fluid rises to the surface.
3. Cooling and Sinking: As the fluid rises, it cools, becoming denser again.
4. Cycle: The cooler, denser fluid then sinks, creating a continuous cycle of rising and falling fluid known as a convection current.

Various Forms of Lamp

Create a shape for your lamp. 

It should be symmetrical, have a top cap, bottom base, and glass bottle middle. 

What color combo do you want to use? 

The light comes from the bottom of the lamp base, so consider this when color blending and using value. 

UNIQUE DESIGN IDEAS

Challenge your creativity by transforming your wax blobs into shapes, objects, or letters. 

Each student must creatively problem solve by choosing

the paper and medium they want to make their idea come to life. 

CRITERIA:

-LAMP FORM (25 points)

Symmetrical and filling up space

Show entire lamp (not cut off).

*hint- you can make a stencil from other paper, 

folding in the middle to make it symmetrical. 

-VALUE ON CAP/BASE (25 points)

Make metal top and bottom appear shiny with contour line. 

D, M, and L areas.

3D MELTED WAX BLOBS (25 points)

-Round, color blended, same light source on all (bottom of lamp).

At least 3. 

CREATIVE BACKGROUND (25 points)

-Ideas- color blending, radiating lines, blobs in background, 

outer space, still life.

*the more space you fill with lamp, the less BG you will have to do. 

YOUR CHOICE OF MEDIUMS-

marker, colored pencil, crayon, watercolor, oil pastel. 

Colored or white paper.

-SHINE ON GLASS (optional)

-Glass has a white highlight from surrounding lights, 

unless the lights around lamp are off. 

Vinyl Record Scratchboard

Eduardo 10th grade.                       Jasmin D. 10th grade

HISTORY-

The record player was invented in 1877 by Thomas Edison n the form of his phonograph. The phonograph was the first device to both record and play back sound, 

initially on a tin foil wrapped cylinder. This groundbreaking invention laid the foundation for the modern record player, though the technology evolved significantly over the following decades with devices like Emile Berliner's gramophone and the introduction of flat vinyl records. 

SCIENCE- 

Wax and Oil do not mix with water based liquids (like tempera paint). 

Applying wax crayon or oil pastels beneath the tempera paint 

will allow the dry paint to flake off. 

VOCABULARY

RADIAL-  describes things arranged like rays or spokes from a central point. 

CONCENTRIC- having a common center, or, in a related sense, a common axis.

These 2 words are imortant for keeping the record looking like record. 

 

How to do it…

Flatten Plate as best you can with your hand. 

It will help to put under a heavy book or bard overnight. 

Use the back part of the plate to begin your design. 

Find center/axis of plate. Make a fat dot where the record hole would be. 

Gather your oil pastels, crayons, and have tempera, 

and liquid soap on hand for later. 

Choose Oil Pastel or Crayon (non-washable/Crayola)

Push hard covering area around center label going in a 

concentric radial direction. 

Choose lighter brighter colors. 

Paint layer of black tempera and liquid soap mixture. Over crayon & oil pastel. 

Let dry…

Note: If layer was too thin, paint another when dry. 

GETTING GROOVY

This is the HARDEST part. First carve out about 4-6 concentric circles around the scratch area. 

Think of a ripple created from a pebble dripped in water. 

These grooves are where the songs change. 

Then, using a radial guideline that goes from the middle axis, create an area with more lines that represent the highlighted shine in the record. 

Typically they repeat on the other side just the same, making a symmetrical design. 

Vinyl Record Visual Reference

Study the way the images show the VALUE changes on the groovy radial surface. 

                                      Are you interested in diving deeper into vinyl record knowledge?

                                              

Listen...