Mexican Tin Lizards

LEARNING TARGETS:
-Use a design sheet to plan out the project.
-Create a successful work of art using knowledge gain about Mexican Tin Art and Folk Art.

TERMS:

-Mexican Tin Art: A type of art created by artists from Mexico which involves embossing metal to create a work of art. Works are often enhanced with enamel, jewels, mirror or tiles.
-Folk Art: Art that is specific to its culture and is most often used as decoration.

MATERIALS:
Design Sheets
Pencils
Foamcore Board
X-acto Knife (teacher use)
Printmaking Foam
Scissors
Glue
Aluminum Foil
Erasers-either new pencils or cap erasers
Sharpies or other Permanent Markers
Metal Tooling
Stapler/Staples
Masking Tape
Twisteez Wire (optional)

I got the concept for this project from Denise Logan's Dynamic Art Projects for Children. If you haven't checked out this book, I strongly recommend it; the projects are outstanding, as you can tell by this example! We started with a PowerPoint of examples of Mexican Tin Art. They are easy to find through Google. Students talked about the use of color, and aspects that were embossed. Next, I gave them a design sheet of the basic lizard shape and asked them to design how they want their lizard to look. I gave them ideas, such as using symmetry, or shapes down the center of the lizard's back. I stressed keeping it simple. Too often, my students have gotten too complicated with their design stage. I also asked them to color their lizard so they would begin thinking about what they will be doing with color before they get to that step.

With the design sheet completed, students were asked to transfer their design onto the lizard body;which I cut out for them prior to class. They then trace their lines with black Sharpie to make them dark. This allowed them to be able to see their shapes through the printmaking foam. Once their shapes were traced onto the printmaking foam, they were cut out and glued to the lizard body in the correct spots. I showed students that they could put two layers of printmaking foam to create different levels of "embossing" on their lizard. With all the shapes in place, I showed them how to put glue on a piece of alumunium foil, spread it out, and wrap it around their lizard. I encouraged them not to be overly concerned about minor tears as they will be covered with the marker.

The next step was to color the lizard with permanent markers. I reminded them not to forget the sides of the lizard body. We cut feet out of metal tooling and stapled and taped them to the underside of the lizard body. Neither staples or tape are strong enough on their own. NOTE: these could easily be kept as snakes by leaving the legs off. I gave students the option of adding a tongue by attaching a piece of wire the same way as the legs. These are getting rave reviews!