Students learned about the creative career of illustrator Maurice Sendak and created their own Sendak-inspired Wild Things.
In our first class, we discussed how are artists like inventors. Students analyzed the illustrations in Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. They noticed how artists are invent by discovering familiar things, such as animals from the zoo, noticing their details, such as claws or noses, and combining these details in a new way. Students then made studies for their own wild things. We began by brainstorming lists of animals and animal body parts, selecting different details for their creature.
The next class, artists learned how printmaking worked. They made a small collagraph plate that focused on a detail in their work. They experimented with different shapes and then practiced printing their plate.
For the next two classes, artists made their final plate. During the first class, artists cutting out the big shapes of their creatures' bodies. The next class they layered details and textures on top of the big shapes.
The final class, we discussed what we learned from our initial printing of the smaller collagraphs. We spoke about what we are looking for when we analyze print quality what techniques we can use in order to ensure that our prints have great print quality. We then worked in pairs in order to print their finished collagraph.
Students were assessed on their knowledge of relevant vocabulary and their ability to describe and defend their choices regarding the details they included in their print. Students were also assessed regarding their technical printing proficiency.
