Middle School Art (Grades 7 & 8)

Middle School has been working on a large project this quarter.  It started out with the students working in pairs or groups of three to create plaster casts of their own hands and forearms, using plaster gauze.  We used plastic wrap to prevent the plaster gauze from sticking to the students' arms.  This took five classes to complete and quite honestly by day 5 the students and I were ready to move on to the next part of the assignment.

Tips to take from my mistakes:

• Have the students lay their hands flat on top of the tables.  Plaster the top of the hand and forearm first, wait for the plaster to set and then remove the casts.  Have the students flip their hands over and begin plastering the bottom half of their hands and forearms.  Both halves will be set by the end of the period and on a later date the two halves can be taped together and then plastered over to create a bond between the two halves.  
• Set a timer for 25 minutes.  That is all the students need to completely plaster one half of their arm and to allow 5 to 10 minutes for their casts to set up.    

The students used masking tape to hold the two halves of their plaster arms together.

It took five classes for the students to complete their plaster casts.

In the next part of our assignment we viewed a PowerPoint on Past and Modern Body Art.  The PowerPoint introduced the Body Art of other cultures to the students.  We discussed and explored how Body Art has been used to show social status, good luck, identifications, as well as professions.  For the last part of the PowerPoint we looked at the different ceremonial Henna designs, as well as the modern Body Art designs we see in America.  We talked about how Henna designs had loops, leaf, and paisley patterns that wrapped around the model's fingers and arms, filling the entire arm.  We also discussed how the Body Art we see in America is meant to represent the person.  We also touched on how in the early stages of American Body Art history, the Body Art was meant to show where you have been, a travel mark or stamp.

For this part of this assignment the students had to create their own Body Art designs that reflected themselves and their personalities.

A leaf and vine design.

A tribal design.

They used markers, colored pencils, and crayons to add color to their sketches.

I am waiting to see how he tries to relate this to himself.

I really loved her sun patterns she included in all three sample sketches.

After their sketches were approved the students had to first gesso their plaster casts and then paint the base color of their designs.

First Coats of Base Paint

A few more examples.

Their finished work looks great.

This one did an amazing job adding little details with colored sharpies.

This student put a lot of effort into adding value to his roses, they look beautiful.