Overlapping Rainbow Leaves

 

Mariana 8th grade

8th period art

Tania & Briana

Breanna, Marco, Chevelle & Preciosa

9th Period Art 2019

Lyndie, Luke & Gage

1st Period Art 2019

Ambria, Katie & Yuka

2nd period Art 2019

Chris, Francie, Addyson, 

Moses & Lucy

3rd period Art 2019

Kaylee, Brooklyn, 

Anonymous & Danielle

4th period Art 2019

Athena, Maddy, 

Alisa & Bethany 

We start by going outside to collect our leaves. 

Hunt for leaves that are bigger than your palm, whole and untorn & unique in shape. 

Bring them back to the classroom, dust them off and trace them on paper. 

Fit as many as you can, then begin putting some underneath the others and overlapping them in your drawing. When something overlaps, remember that the leaf underneath is hidden in part. So, do not trace the entire leaf if it is supposed to look like it is underneath. 

from

https://www.imom.com/printable/leaf-identification-game/#.XbnP0-tKii4

Start with a pencil when tracing. Draw the veins of the leaf. 

Then trace with a permanent marker when done. 

You don't have to trace...

This girl above is doing free handed leaves using her computer as a reference. 

You can too!

Overlapping is the hard part. 

After you make an entire top layer of leaves, outline them. 

Then put new leaves under them , only tracing or drawing the area that would be showing. 

You should not see through a leaf into another one. 

Once entire page is filled with leaves, outline with permanent marker and paint... 

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Before we did this project, we did a sample project for watercolor.. 

See here... 

https://tabithaannthelostsock.blogspot.com/search?q=watercolor+blobs

These three techniques below are from the previous project here. 

Three Techniques for Leaves

1. Wet on Wet watercolor

or watercolor wash

 2. Watercolor Pencil

 3. Marker Bleed

More detail on Watercolor Pencils. 

I teach this project to teach kids how to overlap to create depth, to blend common colors on the wheel, how to use watercolor pencils, and the anatomy of a leaf.

 

I have a collection of card stock leaf stencils that I made from real leafs for the students to trace onto the paper. We use 12 by 18 inch paper that is medium to heavy weight to allow for water. Students trace leaves with pencil, draw in the veins of the leaf, then outline with permanent black marker. 

 

I then take all students to the back when they are ready for coloring to demonstrate the proper use of watercolor pencils. I use the color wheel to show them what kind of colors should be blended as well as what kind of colors should be next to each other (opposites or complements) to avoid visual flatness.  They use the pencils lightly on each leaf. Each leaf should contain at least 2 colors (to show blending of color knowledge). These pencils are NOT colored pencils (only look similar), so they do not need to be used as such.

 

After all leaves are colored,  students use a medium to small size brush to blend the two colors on each leaf together. Each leaf should be blended individually. Do not use water and brush in one continual sweep over paper. Blending all colors on the page together at one time will result in a muddy color (neutral) appearance.

 

After water is used to blend each leaf, 

I have the students do the last part. 

EMPHASIS!

They can use colored pencils or markers to pop out the outside line and veins visually. This seems like an unnecessary step, but you would be surprised at how they come to life after this.

STUDENT EXAMPLES...

 

Emily

 

Celeste

 

Jeremiah

Graffiti Tag Name

I love to look at graffiti style lettering .

I like to study the art on the train cars when they go by. 

I like how they SHAPE letters are turned into FORMS.

I like how each letter has special STYLE. 

I love the OVERLAPPING of letters and how each word has DEPTH. 

Here is some big stuff I have done in the past. 

Mural created by Tabitha "Seaton" Morgan and Shannon Seaton 

at the Mineola FUMC 2010

Mural created in my nephew's room by his artsy Aunt Tabby 2014

I get ideas from all around me. 

Train Cars from KY vacation, 2022

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Find 5 Graffiti Images of words online. 

Save them and write why each one inspires you. 

These 5 inspire me because :

1. I like the overlapping of letters, the "kick" at tend ends of each letter

2. I link the way the first and last letter curls out on ends giving in balance. I lie the fade of 3 colors in each letter from top to bottom. I like the green-yellow bubbles floating around. 

3. I love the color combinations and how the outline is with blue instead of traditional black. I like the overlapping of letters and overlapping within each letter. 

4. I like the shape of the letters. It's like they have a fat belly and are lumpy in the middle. I like the color combination as well. 

5. On the last image, I like the cast shadows on the left, the block yet bubbly shapes. I like the little shapes within the letters floating around. 

.

Click image above to go to a Graffiti Generator

When I observe, it makes me want to Cre8.

Experiment with ONE WORD in different STYLES. 

Use ideas from images you have found. 

 Ok, do I'm not a "real spray paint graffiti artist". I have an affection for the style of lettering, colors, techniques and boldness of the art form. Yeah, that's right. It IS an art form. Graffiti started off with a bad name because people were doing it illegally or just making it an ugly nuisance. As a matter of fact, it became "in the 1980s that galleries began to showcase graffiti as artwork."

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/the-history-of-american-graffiti-from-subway-car-to-gallery

Artists, like Keith Haring, 

http://www.haring.com/!/archives/murals-map

 have to opportunity to use this graffiti style and get paid to do so. 

Stores, restaurants, malls and walls across the nation prove it. 

Study up on Style

Use the "Trace and Erase"method to get started... 

Make your letters 3-D by emphasizing one side of them. 

Instead of staring out with basic style line letters, 

make your letters fancy, sassy or fan out on the ends. 

Try something new like Chisel, Drip or Over Lapped lettering. 

For amazing resources, go to 

Graffiti Diplomacy

(click to enlarge)

2022

Our Portfolio Designs Fall 2021

On the Wall 2021

Krissie planning on paper first...

Adrian, Bella, and Krissie Moving to the wall to transfer plan...

Bella and Krissie successfully finished their tag name!

more to come.

Cole and Juan work on their brick. 

Juan is almost done! Looking good. 

On the Ceiling...

http://www.graffiticreator.net/

I took my Advanced Art 8th graders to the computer lab to do graffiti style research and practice professional styles with their own names. This is a great website for allowing them to preview their names in different styles, shapes, fades, etc. before actually creating their own art on paper. 

Click picture above to see more..