Manga Drawing Class-Summer School

The image above is actually from 3 years ago when I taught a cartooning class.  This year I am teaching a 'manga' which for those of you that may not know, is basically Japanese-style cartooning.  It's HUGE at my district, the kiddies are obsessed with it and over the years it has gained more and more popularity here in the U.S. 
Below was one of the first 'projects' we did. Manga 'pop-ups' Students drew a few practice sketches, choose their favorite one, and re-drew it large on either cardboard or foam-core.  I then cut it out with an X-acto knife and they were painted.  Viola! Manga in 3D

 

 

 

Fashion Illustration Summer Class- Project 2

The second project I had the students do was a collage illustration with acetate overlay.  
The students used 9x12 Oaktag as the backing, tissue paper and Elmer's glue for the collage. and clear acetate sheets  with Sharpie for the figures.  Students first drew their figures on white paper and then traced them onto the acetate with some students choosing to repeat their design.  They all came out really cute but I especially like the 'Judy Jetson-esque' one. :)

 

 

 

 

Thinking of buying a dslr camera...advice needed!

 

To all those photogrpahy buffs out there...I was thinking of buying a dslr camera, I'm getting board with my point and shoot. Any recomendations on good entry level brands/models? Is there anything I should be careful of when looking to purchase one? Any ideas/insights are greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

Summer Enrichment Art Classes-Fashion Illustration

 

 

 

So if you follow my blog more or less regularly you know that every summer I teach middle school enrichment art classes.  Most of the time I teach 'creative crafts' which is exactly what it sounds like, crafts using everything from string and magazines, to popsicle sticks and paper mache.   Anyways, this year I wanted to try something different and so I decided to teach a fashion illustration class and a manga (Japanese cartooning) class.  My manga class is still finishing up their first project but my fashion class just finished this one today.  

The project was to create an inspiration board.  Here's how it went down.:

Now keep in mind that I don't teach enrichment classes quite a fervently as I teach my elementary kids throughout the year.  During the summer I keep a very laid back class, allow for a lot of student input, interpretation and freedom.  If they don't want to do the project or a certain part of it, its no problem, I just provide them with some alternate suggestions and let them go about their merry art-making way.  No grades, no muss, and no fuss.  Plus, they're middle school aged so they are a little bit more independent than what I'm used to. (Notice how I said "a little" ;) 

This project took 7 days, each  day being 1 hour. 

 I spent the first 3 days of class with 1/2 hour of instruction on how to draw the fashion figure and 1/2 an hour of student practice.  

I spent the 4th day on faces, although from the looks of it, I'm going to have to re-visit this topic.

The final few days were spent with the students working independently for the whole hour long sessions on their boards. 

 

 

The books below I got from my local library, who knew they had such a good collection of books? 

I particularly like the book on the left which is where the first picture of the figure on this post came from.  It's

'Fashion Illustration: Inspiration and Technique' by  Anna Kiper.  It has FABULOUS illustrations and is, in fact, very inspiring!

This pic below is my example:  When I graduated high school I went to FIT as a fashion design major.  I  used to be REALLY good at drawing the fashion figure but I was terrible at sewing...which is why I I'm an art teacher and not a fashion designer.  Anyways...almost 15 years later..not terrible, but .I have lost some of my touch at it. 

These are my students work: Pretty good eh?

 

 

 

For the next project I'm going to re-teach/review faces, discuss and practice clothing rendering, and then have my kids do a mixed media project.  

Cheap and Easy Summer Craft Projects

 

 What would you do with a ton of children to teach and only a handful of basic supplies to teach them with?
We've all been there, an under-resourced and over-enrolled art camp, summer course, or program where we have too much time and not enough to do!  It's probably one of the worst situations to be in as an art teacher but the only option is to get creative and make the best of it.  Unfortunately, my co-worker is currently stuck in this position at a camp she's working at and she asked me if I had any ideas.  I used Google and came up with a few options.  The catch being the only materials she currently has are tissue paper, glue, markers, sand, and paper.  Here are some things I found:

New Front Door Wreath

 

Here it is, my updated door wreath for the summer. For me the hardest part of making door wreaths is that I have a south facing house and so my door gets his by sun pretty much all day. With my last wreath (old post here) I used string a mostly hot glue to adhere everything together, Unbeknownst to me at the time, that was a big mistake! Fast forward a few months and everything on the wreath looked like it was melting! :(

Anyways this wreath took me about an hour and I didn't use any glue at all, the whole thing was done with a needle and thread, tiny sewing pins and very thin silver floral wire.
All the materials came from Michael's, make sure if you are a teacher you show them your teacher ID and you can get an extra 15% off.. In total the materials cost be about 20 bucks.  Can't beat a custom one-of-a-kind wreath for that price!
Below are the items I used:

Burlap Fabric Trim- I used the 6.99 package I found in the floral decorating aisle instead of the 9.99 package that was in the ribbon aisle.  I think the ribbon aisle package had more burlap but you don't need that much to wrap a wreath.  I still have 1/2 a package left.

Wooden Letters- I like the pre-finished ones, there's no way I could get the paint that smooth if I did it myself. 
Thin Floral Wire- any thin bendable wire, about as thick as a twist tie without the paper coating.  My wire was thin enough to cut easily with a scissor.
Sewing Pins-I used these to anchor things in place. I used short round-head pins like the ones you use for baste stitching thin fabrics, but in hindsight, small sized T-pins may have worked even better, especially if you're using fabrics that have a large weave like burlap.
Scissors
Needle/Thread
Scrap Ribbon 
Flower Embellishments- I found these in the scrapbooking department.  They had tons of different sizes, brands, and colors and they lay nice and flat when you sew them on.