5th Grade Chuck Close Portraits
5th Grade students used an app on the iPads called Sketch Master to turn their photos into drawings. We discussed artworks by Chuck Close and learned about his pixelated portraits.
Students made a grid on top of their filtered photographs and used his style along with color schemes to complete their drawings. I explained how to tackle it square by square in either shading, color families, or patterns in order to make a "blurry but realistic image". Students learned about how some artists such as Chuck Close, use technology to their advantage when creating artworks. The kids are always asking me, "Ms. Lowe, why do we only learn about artists who died a long time ago? Do artists still exist?" and that is when I realized I need to incorporate some contemporary art history.
There are so many things I love about Chuck Close and his style of Art. First, he takes his disabilities and uses them as inspiration for his art. For example, he suffers from face blindness which led to his blurry/pixelated style portraits. This style he created inspired the invention of the ink jet printer. Second, he was paralyzed from a spinal artery collapse and was bound to a wheel chair for the rest of his life but that did not stop him from painting. The third reason is that he is now 75 and is still making art and even dislaying it! In his latest art, he has used technology to his advantage and paints his portraits on the computer taking it pixel at a time to match his earlier painting style.
Later this semester we will be discussing more about the connection of art and technology through the works of Iris Van Herpen, a famous Dutch fashion designer. Luckily she currently has 30 dresses on display at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.They offer free field trips to Title 1 schools which made it easy for me to book a field trip for the 5th Grade. We will be going to the museum in March to observe her collection and will be attending a STEAM workshop. I can't wait to introduce the students to 3D printing and how it not only connects to Art but many other career fields. I will give more details about the field trip as it gets closer, but for now I will show you their finished Chuck Close masterpieces.
