October 2011 Archives

I've been hearing a lot of buzz about a website called "Art Babble". I feel like I'm constantly finding websites that could potentially be useful for Art Education, however Art Babble blows competition out of the water. There is so much useful specific information that I could use as an instructor, and a student could investigate. This website is very clear and easy to understand, but an important aspect is navigation. One feature in particular caught my eye, and this was the channels tab. Under channels anyone curious to research can find media relating to Abstract art, European Design, Fashion, Religion and Art, only to name a few. Art Babble is a great tool to keep things contemporary and clear while in class. If I were to use this website in curriculum I would have my students choose a channel and an artist. With one channel and one artist of their choice the student would be asked to compare and contrast two samples from those categories. For students it's important to connect the dots and see how artists and artwork relate to one another, but how they can be vastly different.

http://www.artbabble.org/
Art Babble. Ed. Robert Stein. Indianapolis Museum of Art, n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2011. .

Blog:

10 steps to Paper Animation

Let's make a paper cut out animation! To get started you will need the following supplies:
• Animation stand
• Digital camera
• Paper cut outs (artists choice)
• Plexi glass
• (8) 1" blocks
• Computer with Photoshop capabilities
• Note your lighting conditions when shooting

Step 1:
You'll need a base to set your scene onto. An animation stand is a great tool to use for this project.

Step 2:
For this step you'll need your digital camera. The camera will be attached to the animation stand for stability.

Step 3:
Center the digital camera on the animation stand pointing downward. Make sure that the camera will take pictures in the smallest memory setting. It's also important to view the frame with no zoom to start out with.
Step 4:
Gather paper materials for your project. As the creator you have creative freedom. Your project may have a theme, it could be random, or your could incorporate 3D aspects.

Step 5:
Your animation station will need a platform. You should have (8) 1" blocks. Place two blocks (stacked on top of each other) on each corner of your animation stand. This platform creates a raised surface once the plexi glass is placed on top.

Step 6:
Creating a background is completely up to the artist. It is recommended that your background remains underneath the plexi glass. These pieces will stay in the same place.

Step 7:
Now your video is ready for action! Place your desires characters onto the plexi glass to create a story.

Step 8:
With each frame movement take a picture with your digital camera. Some important tips:
• Be sure to use the digital camera on the manual setting. Flash photography may alter your video quality.
• You're in charge of your characters. This means that you can take a picture with very small movements one character at a time. Otherwise you can have many parts moving at the same time within a frame. Small movements and many pictures create a more interesting video.

Step 9:
Upload all of your photos onto a computer. Photoshop is a helpful tool to organize and create your project.

http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop/?id=vid0023

This week I discovered a great online tool for art education. EBSCO hosts an online data base where students, and teachers can view hundreds of images, concepts, architecture, publications, video clips, etc. I was impressed with the vast amount of information that was available on one site. From the "Colleges and Universities" tab, I was able to narrow down my search to specifically art. Once I got onto the page I could choose from Art & Architecture, Art Abstracts, Art Index, and a special feature involving exhibition colletions. When I looked into the "Art Full Text" tab I was able to narrow down my search even more so. I could research from over 600 periodicals that are dated from 1984 to today, along with peer-reviewed journals.
I was disappointed that I was not able to use their services for free. EBSCO has been a library resource for over 60 years, and they have a great selection of articles. Even if I was only able to use this resource for a free trial, the articles that I could use from this class would be very helpful. This got me thinking about other ways to use an online data base for classes. I recall someone in class mentioning an online resource where students can view museums on web cams. Along with that tool, I would also like to see more artist statements available online. I believe EBSCO would give students a greater understanding about how to talk about their work, and strengthen their ability to hold a conversation in critiques. It still surprises me in upper level art classes that some students can produce great work, yet have little to say constructivley about their own piece or classmates work.

http://www.ebscohost.com/academic/subjects/category/art

Coffee Time from wan-tzu on Vimeo.

I thought this was a pretty creative paper animation.