Art Lessons As Adventures in Problem Solving
We often think about an art project as a time to “get things to look RIGHT:” making a horse look like a horse, and a face look like a face. But if that’s our primary concern, we quickly begin to bow to the deadly demands of perfectionism.
Trying to get it “right” leads to anxiety, worries that our art doesn’t look as good as it should, and the result is work that is stiff and unimaginative.
So I would like to propose that we think of art projects, not as something to get right but as adventures that we set up for ourselves.
The set-up for the art lesson adventure
The art-as-adventure begins by setting limitations. We might think of them as the adventure's game rules.
-
Our drawing paper is only so big.
-
We decide to limit ourselves to certain colors.
-
We choose a medium, a style, and a subject.
And then we set out to see what we can to make within these boundaries.
I was working on some tessellations recently and rediscovered what an exciting ADVENTURE an art project can be.
Tessellations can, of course, be found all around us. Brick walls are made up of tessellation patterns, plants and fences can be, and the list could go on.
But the ADVENTURE of tessellations begins when we take a simple form:
-
a square,
-
a triangle, or
-
a hexagon,
And ALTER the shape into something as yet unknown.
A common way to do that with a square is to alter the line at the top of the square and then to make exactly the same alteration on the bottom. (There are easy ways to do that, but I won’t get into it here.)
Similarly we can alter the sides: whatever change we make to one side, we also make to the other.
And that’s where the adventure of the art lesson/project begins!
The new shape begs the question, “What IS this thing we’ve created?”
-
It might be a house.
-
It might be a face.
-
It might be - who knows? - it might simply be a pretty pattern.
Once we decide, and the tessellation is created, we have immediately set up a new puzzle for ourselves. How will we color this repeated shape? Will every tessellation be colored the same? And what will be the end result?
We can’t know the answer until we try out our decisions! We may like the end result. We may not. But it’s a great adventure finding out!
I remember going to Rome some years ago, and my wife insisted we see the Trevi Fountain.
“It will knock your socks off!” she said.
Well, we walked our socks off searching for the fountain - and had lots of adventures along the way!
-
We discovered a fabulous gelato shop that topped servings with real whipped cream,
-
Found a garbage hauler singing operatic arias,
-
Walked into gorgeous churches, and
-
Bought mouth-watering pizza.
But the fountain itself was a surprising disappointment - it had become a heavily populated pigeon roost, and was surrounded with trash from too many other tourists who had visited that day. The place was too crowded to get good pictures, so this wiki photo will have to do!
|
|
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevi_Fountain
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Art adventures end in surprises too - sometimes wonderful, sometimes less so. But getting to the end should always be viewed as an adventure, as play and experimentation. Here’s how one of my tessellations turned out.
And HERE is the art lesson I created during my adventure.
We often think about an art project as a time to “get things to look RIGHT:” making a horse look like a horse, and a face look like a face. But if that’s our primary concern, we quickly begin to bow to the deadly demands of perfectionism.
Trying to get it “right” leads to anxiety, worries that our art doesn’t look as good as it should, and the result is work that is stiff and unimaginative.
So I would like to propose that we think of art projects, not as something to get right but as adventures that we set up for ourselves.
The set-up for the art lesson adventure
The art-as-adventure begins by setting limitations. We might think of them as the adventure's game rules.
-
Our drawing paper is only so big.
-
We decide to limit ourselves to certain colors.
-
We choose a medium, a style, and a subject.
And then we set out to see what we can to make within these boundaries.
I was working on some tessellations recently and rediscovered what an exciting ADVENTURE an art project can be.
Tessellations can, of course, be found all around us. Brick walls are made up of tessellation patterns, plants and fences can be, and the list could go on.
But the ADVENTURE of tessellations begins when we take a simple form:
-
a square,
-
a triangle, or
-
a hexagon,
And ALTER the shape into something as yet unknown.
A common way to do that with a square is to alter the line at the top of the square and then to make exactly the same alteration on the bottom. (There are easy ways to do that, but I won’t get into it here.)
Similarly we can alter the sides: whatever change we make to one side, we also make to the other.
And that’s where the adventure of the art lesson/project begins!
The new shape begs the question, “What IS this thing we’ve created?”
-
It might be a house.
-
It might be a face.
-
It might be - who knows? - it might simply be a pretty pattern.
Once we decide, and the tessellation is created, we have immediately set up a new puzzle for ourselves. How will we color this repeated shape? Will every tessellation be colored the same? And what will be the end result?
We can’t know the answer until we try out our decisions! We may like the end result. We may not. But it’s a great adventure finding out!
I remember going to Rome some years ago, and my wife insisted we see the Trevi Fountain.
“It will knock your socks off!” she said.
Well, we walked our socks off searching for the fountain - and had lots of adventures along the way!
-
We discovered a fabulous gelato shop that topped servings with real whipped cream,
-
Found a garbage hauler singing operatic arias,
-
Walked into gorgeous churches, and
-
Bought mouth-watering pizza.
But the fountain itself was a surprising disappointment - it had become a heavily populated pigeon roost, and was surrounded with trash from too many other tourists who had visited that day. The place was too crowded to get good pictures, so this wiki photo will have to do!
|
|
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevi_Fountain
|
Art adventures end in surprises too - sometimes wonderful, sometimes less so. But getting to the end should always be viewed as an adventure, as play and experimentation. Here’s how one of my tessellations turned out.
And HERE is the art lesson I created during my adventure.
We often think about an art project as a time to “get things to look RIGHT:” making a horse look like a horse, and a face look like a face. But if that’s our primary concern, we quickly begin to bow to the deadly demands of perfectionism.
Trying to get it “right” leads to anxiety, worries that our art doesn’t look as good as it should, and the result is work that is stiff and unimaginative.
So I would like to propose that we think of art projects, not as something to get right but as adventures that we set up for ourselves.
The set-up for the art lesson adventure
The art-as-adventure begins by setting limitations. We might think of them as the adventure's game rules.
-
Our drawing paper is only so big.
-
We decide to limit ourselves to certain colors.
-
We choose a medium, a style, and a subject.
And then we set out to see what we can to make within these boundaries.
I was working on some tessellations recently and rediscovered what an exciting ADVENTURE an art project can be.
Tessellations can, of course, be found all around us. Brick walls are made up of tessellation patterns, plants and fences can be, and the list could go on.
But the ADVENTURE of tessellations begins when we take a simple form:
-
a square,
-
a triangle, or
-
a hexagon,
And ALTER the shape into something as yet unknown.
A common way to do that with a square is to alter the line at the top of the square and then to make exactly the same alteration on the bottom. (There are easy ways to do that, but I won’t get into it here.)
Similarly we can alter the sides: whatever change we make to one side, we also make to the other.
And that’s where the adventure of the art lesson/project begins!
The new shape begs the question, “What IS this thing we’ve created?”
-
It might be a house.
-
It might be a face.
-
It might be - who knows? - it might simply be a pretty pattern.
Once we decide, and the tessellation is created, we have immediately set up a new puzzle for ourselves. How will we color this repeated shape? Will every tessellation be colored the same? And what will be the end result?
We can’t know the answer until we try out our decisions! We may like the end result. We may not. But it’s a great adventure finding out!
I remember going to Rome some years ago, and my wife insisted we see the Trevi Fountain.
“It will knock your socks off!” she said.
Well, we walked our socks off searching for the fountain - and had lots of adventures along the way!
-
We discovered a fabulous gelato shop that topped servings with real whipped cream,
-
Found a garbage hauler singing operatic arias,
-
Walked into gorgeous churches, and
-
Bought mouth-watering pizza.
But the fountain itself was a surprising disappointment - it had become a heavily populated pigeon roost, and was surrounded with trash from too many other tourists who had visited that day. The place was too crowded to get good pictures, so this wiki photo will have to do!
|
|
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevi_Fountain
|
Art adventures end in surprises too - sometimes wonderful, sometimes less so. But getting to the end should always be viewed as an adventure, as play and experimentation. Here’s how one of my tessellations turned out.
And HERE is the art lesson I created during my adventure.
