Charcoal

My 12 7 13 year-olds worked on process drawings this afternoon. First they worked on a mark-making exercise to explore the qualities of charcoal, then watched the William Kentridge and Blu videos (see previous post), then created 9 drawings under the theme of "change".I was pleased with the level of concentration and engagement the kids had. I think the videos really helped- it certainly captured some of the boys' imaginations. It also helped that I allowed it to be a more free drawing/imaginative project rather than a look/draw project. I've been trying to apply some of the ideas I've been learning in my art ed program, seeing what works..I've got an incredible bunch of kids right now. Not that they're art stars- they're just good listeners, receptive to ideas, and willing to try things. Some of them I've known for a few months now, but most are new.Here are their progressions so far. They'll have a chance to refine them next week and then we'll bind them accordion-style into a book. If I can manage it I'm going to try to scan all their images and load them into a video program stop-animation-style. It'll be a challenge for me- I've never done it before but have really been wanting to try. I wonder if there's a good slide transition I could use since there are only 9 frames to work with.

I'm feeling very good about this class. Experience builds confidence. In the students and in me!