Collage
Collage is the French word that means "to glue" or "stick together". It is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. A collage may sometimes include magazine or newspaper clippings, ribbons, paint, bits of colored or handmade papers, portions of other artwork or texts, photographs and other found objects, glued to a piece of paper or canvas. The origins of collage can be traced back hundreds of years, but this technique made a dramatic reappearance in the early 20th century as an art form of novelty.
HOt Chocolate Collages
The class began this project by discussing what makes a collage. Then, the students analyzed several famous examples. The class also looked at examples of lines and patterns. The second graders first cut out the cup, saucer, handles, and the table using templates. Then they decorated each piece with lines and patterns using oil pastels. Lastly, they glued down the pieces to build a composition.
Resource:
Cassie Stephens: In the Art Room: 5 Quick Winter Projects
Resource:
Cassie Stephens: In the Art Room: 5 Quick Winter Projects
pet and ice cream sundae collages
The second and third grade classes collaged a likeness of their favorite pet or an ice cream sundae on top. In each work, the pieces came together to create a unique composition.
The materials used were: paint mixed paper, scissors, glue, newspaper, magazines, and old books.
Instructions for the project:
1) Paint the background of the canvas.
2) Glue shapes down on a background.
3) Cut out the shapes of your pet.
4) Glue shapes of pets or ice cream sundae down on a background.
5) Make sure you add paper details such as whiskers, collar, etc...
The more details you add, the more personality you give to your
pet.
This lesson was inspired by Denise Fiedler’s collage work of dogs and cats. Her work brings a new take on the art of collage with her use of vintage, hand-painted book pages and other documents in her representational compositions. More examples can be found here. I adapted it so that students who didn't have pets could still make a collage of an ice cream sundae.
The materials used were: paint mixed paper, scissors, glue, newspaper, magazines, and old books.
Instructions for the project:
1) Paint the background of the canvas.
2) Glue shapes down on a background.
3) Cut out the shapes of your pet.
4) Glue shapes of pets or ice cream sundae down on a background.
5) Make sure you add paper details such as whiskers, collar, etc...
The more details you add, the more personality you give to your
pet.
This lesson was inspired by Denise Fiedler’s collage work of dogs and cats. Her work brings a new take on the art of collage with her use of vintage, hand-painted book pages and other documents in her representational compositions. More examples can be found here. I adapted it so that students who didn't have pets could still make a collage of an ice cream sundae.
All about me Collage
This art project came from a photo post off Pinterest. I adapted it to make it work for my students. It was successful and each work depicted the personality of the artist. Many parents and other students thought the collages were individualized and interesting to view when they were showcased at the entrance of our school.
First, I had each student dictate ten sentences. Each sentence described themselves in some way
(ie. My favorite flavor of ice cream is chocolate.)
(ie. My favorite flavor of ice cream is chocolate.)
Next, the students rewrote each sentence in their best cursive handwriting on paper strips or bubbles.
Then, the students decorated their backgrounds with tempera paint or watercolors while added interesting details such as dots or swirls. Afterwards, they glued down the sentences strips or quote bubbles and a photograph of their face at the bottom.
Action Collages
Capturing the spirit of Mariam Schapiro's Femmage!
I began this project by showing my fourth grade students a short bio presentation on Mariam Schapiro's life and her work. Afterwards, we looked at a few examples and analyzed the components of movement and what defines a collage.
Next, I took action shots of all the students and printed nice photo copies on card stock. The students incorporated their own images into their work and collaged the background as well as their clothes. They had to make a template of their action shots on another sheet of card stock to use for cutting out clothes from other paper sources like the magazines. This was the most difficult step, but once they did this assembling the parts was easy.
They learned that the French word collage means to glue, and they primarily used glue stick. When adhering the fabric, they had to use Elmer's liquid glue. They used scraps of old paper, magazines, newspapers, sequins, stencils, and glitter glue to build the collages. It was interesting to see that each student's work revealed or matched their personalities. I love this project and recommend it as a beginning of the year activity to get students excited about art. Several pictures of the process:
The student's work was shown at our local airport as a way to showcase local art and talent. It was featured on a Never Stop Learning segment on WLOS. These were some of the shots that were taken by the studio's camera person.
Collage Using Tissue Paper |
Mariam Schapiro's Master of Ceremonies 1985
I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can 1984
In this picture, you can see the card stock template that one of the students used to make and collage her green skirt.
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This collage project was an experiment. I gave each student old matte board, tissue paper, chalk pastels, glue stick, scissors, and texturizing tools. I asked the students to first place textures on the tissue paper using the texture tools. Then, they were allowed to have creative license to build a composition using their materials.
Leaf Collages
This collage project was done in the fall to celebrate the leaf change. I had a table set up with sponges cut into different shapes of leaves and tempera paint. The student chose their color of background paper and rotated around the paint table to stamp the sponge leaves with paint. Then, they added pine needles using the edges of painted cardboard. Some students also added splatter paint with their paintbrushes. This was a good project for learning how to build a working composition.