Papel Picado Critique

Getting ready for today's critique of the Papel Picado inspired assignment in my Design Crafts class.

10-9-12 Daily Sketch

Today daily sketch and Crafts was to copy a picture of a patriot lamp. We discussed the difference between fine and applied arts, then they were to design their own lamp.

In Calligraphy, their prompt was "broken letters."

Design Crafts: Papel Picado

After spending some time talking about the Elements of Art and Principles of Design, our first project of the year is always papercutting, or Papel Picado (I always say that with a deep voice and a thick Mexican accent.  I can't help it.)

I start the lesson pointing out the examples of Papel Picado I have hanging from my classroom ceiling.  See them up there?


Then, like every lesson (I like routine), I start with a Power-Point lecture that goes over the history of the technique, different cultures that practice the craft and what their assignment will be.
POWER POINT FOR PAPEL PICADO LECTURE

I also make an accompanying "study sheet" with key terms in the lecture so they know what and when to write down.  I even go so far as to put the key terms in RED in the Power Point so they know when it's a key term and on the study sheet.  Isn't that nice of me?
PAPEL PICADO STUDY SHEET

In addition, I make an "Assignment Sheet" that has the project title, objectives, materials, instructions, rubric and critique form all-in-one.  The assignment sheet is great to give to students who need clarification on instructions, students who were absent and missed the demonstration, but definitely NOT for the student that was spacing out during my engaging presentation.  Because that never happens. 
PAPEL PICADO ASSIGNMENT SHEET

Their fist step is to think of a loved one that has died and that they would like to honor.  Then, they search the internet for silhouette pictures that support their memory of that person and what they were like in life.  I have them get 1 large, 2 medium and 2 small shapes, paste them in a Word document and print.  Like so: EXAMPLE OF IMAGES.

If I have time during this project, I like to show this video, from Crizmac:

With a corresponding worksheet I made that follows right along with the video.  Wouldn't want the little buggers to take a nap during this intriguing 20 minute film!

Gotta run... I'll add more to this ASAP!

Design Crafts... What's that?

I've been teaching Design Crafts for... I think five years now. It's the offspring of a since retired colleague of mine and while it gave me anxiety to have a new prep (what doesn't give me anxiety?), I absolutely love teaching the class.

What is it?  Good question!  Most of our projects revolve around folk artsy things. I try to pick projects that have some good history, cultural references, aren't too expensive to make and are 3-dimensional.  Not all projects fit this category, but most.

Like every class I teach, I've got the Course Description, the warm-up drawings, the homework, the class projects and the final.  Once I lay the groundwork here, I'll post often so you will get the gist. 

For those of you interested, here's the Course Description for Design Crafts. 

Here are the lists for homework assignments. I give one a week, every week. 10 points each.
First Semester List
Second Semester List

Here are the lists for the warm-up or "Daily Sketches." They do a sketch every day of class and after 15 minutes I give them a stamp, if merited.  Each stamp is worth 5 points and I collect the stamp sheets at the end of each quarter.  There are some extra blank lines for them to do extra credit sketches as well. 
First Quarter List
Second Quarter List
Third Quarter List
Fourth Quarter List

For "stamping" their Daily Sketchbook Logs, I use these Rose Art Stamp and Color Washable Markers:

Hand Out days I give them, well, a hand-out to copy. I rip these off from all over the place: books I have, the internet and teachers more clever than me.  I never imagined I would be sharing them so I can't remember where most of them came from, but I promise that from here on out I'll make sure to site my sources.

I will start updating every week what our sketches are with examples so anyone interested can see the kind of work I get from my students with both the hand-out days and the "prompt" days.