Card series

secondary: 30 students of secondary 2 between 13 and 15 years old | John F Kennedy High School (Montreal) | January to April 2011

PROJECT: STENCIL PAINTING

DURATION: 6 classes

TEAMS: individual work

KEY CONCEPTS:

you can search the definition on dictionary.reference.com, artlex.com, Google.com, or in a regular dictionary.

´        stencil,

´        positive space,

´        negative space,

´        juxtaposition,

´        opacity,

´        repetition

´        series

MATERIALS:

´        thick paper such as Bristol board ( about 5 sheets of 8.5x11)

´        pencil

´        sharpener for your pencil

´        found objects

´        pastels (optional)

´        paint

´        paintbrushes

´        scissors

´        x-acto knives

OBJECTIVES:

´        explore positive and negative space using stencils

´        learn stencilling techniques

´        discover other artists who have used stencils in their art

´        explain the advantage of a stencil

´        create a series of 3 cards using the stencilling techniques

FEATURED ARTISTS:

´        Jean Paul Riopelle

o       Hommage à Rosa Luxemburg (1992), 

´        Andy Warhol

o       Soup Cans (1962) 

o       Mick Jagger series (1975)

´        Banksy

o       Stop and Search (2007)

´        Roadsworth, 

o       Screwed (2001)

STEPS

1. CLASS #1: Exploration

Remember the steps to drawing (contour, line work, shading)? To make a stencil, focus on contour. Take an object and draw the contour on a piece of paper. Cut it out. The shape you cut out is called the positive space, and the shape around it is the negative space. To create a stencil painting, you can place either the negative shape or the positive shape on another piece of paper, then paint over it and peel off the paper on top to reveal the paper underneath. You can also use the same technique with pastels: all you have to do is draw on the piece of paper that’s on top, then smudge the pastel all over the paper, peel, and reveal!

You'll need to create 2 artworks for the first class. The first artwork will be focusing on positive space and the second will be focusing on negative space. Have fun with it: try different materials or stencilling techniques, use different colors and overlap different stencils to make more than one layer. Here, the goal is to explore and experiment to get ready for your final work, which you'll be starting next class.

                        Start to think about a subject. You need to pick a type of card: playing cards, greeting cards, postcards, tarot cards, pokemon cards, hockey cards, etc. The important part is to have a total of 3 pieces to make your series. For example, if you decide to make pokemon cards, you’ll have 3 cards that are from the same pack (or same series) but that feature 3 different pokemon.

                        Your homework is to find which type of card you want to make and find 3 reference pictures that will help you make them. If you have your own cards, you can bring them in as your references. You can also print your 3 reference pictures, but if you don’t have access to a printer, sketch out your references quickly on a piece of paper and write down the website address where you found the images.

NOTE: Make sure you have images to create both sides of your card (front and back).

2. CLASS#2 & 3: prep work

                        Once you have your 3 reference images, sketch out what you will do for all 5 of your cards. Keep in mind a sketch is a quick drawing, like a blueprint- it doesn’t have to be perfect, but it should help you figure out what goes where and which color it will be.

                       

                        Choose at least 3 parts of your artworks that you’ll be making with stencils (if you want to make your cards entirely out of stencils, that’s up to you: just keep in mind it might be more time-consuming). For example: if one of my pokemon cards is going to be a Pikachu, I could use a stencil to create the shape of Pikachu’s body, and another stencil for his name, but maybe I’d like to color in the background behind Pikachu by hand. Keep in mind that you can make a stencil of a pattern- something that comes back in each of your 3 cards: this could be a frame, a logo, a specific word, etc.

                        The next step is to actually make these stencils. You need to draw them on a thick piece of paper, then cut them out using scissors or an e-xacto. Try and keep your stencils in one piece by closing off all shapes you want to cut out, and leaving all the shapes you want to keep connected to each other. If you make a mistake, all you have to do is to tape back up the pieces you want to keep together. It shouldn’t make a big difference on your final piece. Remember you can use the positive or the negative shape of your stencil.

3. CLASS#4 & 5: final touches

                        At this point, you should have: 3 references images, 3 sketches and 3 stencils. The next step is to actually create your cards. You should start by tracing the shape of your cards on a thicker paper. You can cut them out or leave them all on one paper. Fill in your cards bit by bit using a pencil to sketch out the main lines. Then, you can start adding your colors using your stencils, and filling out the spaces with any material you’d like to use. If you would like to start with every other part of your card and finish with the stencil, that’s no problem: just remember to block out the shape so you don’t color in the space you’ll be using your stencil on. Also, if you’re thinking of overlapping different stencils, make sure you use the larger one before the smaller, more detailed one: for example, if I want to stencil Pikachu, I’d have to start with the shape of his yellow body, wait until it’s dry, then add the brown details, wait until that dries too, then add the two pink cheeks and the eyes (that would make a total of 4 stencils).

           

RUBRIC

ARTWORKS:
Creation of 1 study of positive space and 1 of negative space	/10
3 reference images	/15
3 sketches	/25
Creation of a final work: 3 cards (2 sides worked on) 3 stencils used Obvious effort (clean colors, solid contour lines, interesting composition)	/25 /15 /10

JUSTIFICATION (class #6):

This will be done as a 1 1/2 page written assignment or sketchbook page. You can write it by hand as long as I can read it properly, otherwise, I suggest typing it. Note that you will get more points if you answer the question and explain WHY. The following questions will have to be answered:

• explain what positive space and negative space are. 
• name what went right, what went wrong, and how you could improve.
• name one thing that impressed you about the works in the Featured Artists section, and explain how it inspired your own work.
• describe what you think makes stencils so important.

RUBRIC

JUSTIFICATION:
Explanation of positive and negative space	/20
Review of art-making (what went wrong, what went right, how you could improve)	/30
Impression regarding the works researched and why	/20
Description of why stencils are important	/30

Don’t forget you can check all this out at jfkartclassdatabase.blogspot.com

CHECKLIST:

´        1 exploration of positive space

o       Trace found object over paper 1

o       Cut out shapes: keep the shapes themselves

o       Place them on paper 2

o       Paint over or smudge pastel over the entire surface

o       Peel off the paper on top, and reveal your artwork underneath

´        1 exploration of negative space

o       Trace found object over paper 1

o       Cut out shapes: keep the paper around the shapes

o       Place it on paper 2

o       Paint over or smudge pastel over the entire surface

o       Peel off the paper on top, and reveal your shapes underneath

´        3 reference images (or sketches of reference images)

´        3 plans/sketches- 1 for each card (written and/or drawn: explains what will go where and what colors you will use)

´        3 stencils (can be positive or negative space, the same can be re-used in all 3 cards)

o       Draw your shapes

o       Close off your lines so your stencil stays in one shape

o       Cut up your stencil

´        3 cards

o       Trace the outline of your cards

o       Sketch basic shapes

o       Fill in with color using your stencils

o       Fill in the other areas using the material of your choice

o       use both sides of each card

TIPS:

If you’re not good at cutting precisely, make move varied shapes and place them together to make a more complex stencil.

Try and keep your stencils in one piece by closing off all shapes you want to cut out, and leaving all the shapes you want to keep connected to each other.

If you make a mistake while cutting, all you have to do is to tape back up the pieces you want to keep together. It shouldn’t make a big difference on your final piece.

A positive space stencil will create a negative space artwork (by blocking the positive space on the paper underneath, you are filling out the negative space with color). The same is true for the opposite.

For overlapping different stencils, make sure you use the larger one before the smaller, more detailed one: for example, if I want to stencil Pikachu, I’d have to start with the shape of his yellow body, wait until it’s dry, then add the brown details, wait until that dries too, then add the two pink cheeks and the eyes (that would make a total of 4 stencils).