Matisse Meets Picasso Jazz Guitars

I wanted to use recycled materials and I was in a bit pressed for time so I thought to myself, "what are some things I can get quick and easy for 100 students?". My answer was CD's, random magazine, phone book and newspapers, bottle caps, and string. I used all those materials and....viola!








The lesson took about 4 sessions:
Day 1: We looked at images of Matisse's cut paper collages and Picasso's use of the guitar in his art. The students spent the rest of the period collaging their papers which were 14x22". In retrospect, the papers could have even been longer to accommodate the length of the guitars.
Day 2: Students drew their guitars and outlined them with a Sharpie, making 6 'slices' anywhere on the paper they wanted as long as it went from one side of the page to the other. They then used a small brush to paint over all the Sharpie lines with black paint to make them bolder. In one class, I had the students add the black painted lines last to help try and keep the work neat, which also worked.
Day 3: Students chose no more than 4 colors and painted in the shapes, choosing which spaces to paint and which to leave unpainted.
Day 4: As a finishing touch students chose up to 3 strings to add to their neck and head and added bottle caps to the head to represent the string winders. They also used markers to touch-up any spots that were messy or unfinished.

At first students had a hard time opening up to the idea that their guitars didn't have to look real but representational, but once they got into it, they really dived right in and had a great time!