This project was our magna opus or “big work” in ACE this semester. We used plaster gauze and plaster of paris to create these 3-D portraits.
We discussed the beauty of the human face. There is not only one kind of beautiful. Even though there are many different colors, and sizes of facial features, and hairstyles, they are all wonderfully made.
Some of these artworks are self-portraits, while others are in honor of people we admire.
We used repetition and patterns to make the hair interesting.
We also learned about warm, cool and neutral colors.
Did you know that if you cut the color wheel in half, one side will have all the warm colors and the other will be cool?
Here is a cool video featuring a musical arrangement from Raymond Scott, a famous composer of electronic video game and 'cartoon' music. Notice the patterns in the music, as well as the patterns in the artwork on the video.
We learned about the artist George Seurat and how he used many little dots of paint in a style called Pointillism.
We also learned that there is a mathematical way that everything lines up on our faces; this is called facial proportion.
We only used the three primary colors for our portraits. If you stand back and look at our portraits from a distance, the little dots will blend together to create the secondary colors.
Here is a very interesting video about some professional artists who were inspired by George Seurat and Pointillism. Like the 4th graders, they also only use yellow, red, and blue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxCeJUOfKmM
