Sophie Baugas

I discovered Sophie Baugas' Kissing Cows through a teacher on Artsonia a few years ago. Periodically I'll go online and search Baugas, but this is always the only image that I can find. I am very curious about her-mostly from the lack of information available to me. The teacher on Artsonia did a chalk drawing of this image, showing the kids just one shape at a time until they discovered they were cows at the end. I decided to try this technique with my third graders. I put her image on my SmartBoard before the kids came in, and put the "spotlight" feature on the left cow's nose. I demonstrated how big to draw each shape on the whiteboard, and instructed the kids to follow along so their final image wasn't too small or too big for the paper. They had a very hard time with this, but we stuck it out. At the end, I revealed the image and got a lot of "Oooooh, it's cows. Can I start over?" I did allow them to start over, and they were much happier with their artwork. I think I'll skip the mystery with the next class. They are coloring them with oil pastels, and have been instructed to color all the white first, then the red, and the black last. They are cute so far, and I'll be sure to post the results.

Sophie Baugas' Kissing Cows

My sample of the project-students get to pick from pink, chartreuse, turquoise, or purple paper for the background.

Amedeo Modigliani Self Portraits

As you can probably tell by how many images I have above, I think this project turned out very well. We started by looking at portraits by Amedeo Modigliani and noticed his elongated necks, vacant expressions, and use of color. Next, students began sketching their self portrait in pencil. I used a guided drawing technique by demonstrating on the board, and asking them to repeat the technique. I like this way of teaching at times, because despite showing them how I would draw the shape I am able to encourage their creativity and remind them that my way is only one of many possibilities. I showed them how to use guidelines to correctly draw their facial features, and we made sure to connect their eyebrows and noses like Modigliani often did.

Next, the students began the color. We used oil pastels for their vibrant colors and easy blending ability. I showed them how to cover their skin with a flesh tone similar to the shade of their skin and then add a slightly darker shade in the places "where most people sunburn." I say most people so I don't hear a round of "but I don't sunburn!" I point to the drawing's nose, cheeks, center of the forehead, and chin as places to add the darker shade. I also remind them that their chin and hair would cast a shadow on their face, so they should also add the darker shade there. Then use a clean finger to blend the darker color into the lighter color. The eyes were colored in grey, and they used their eye color to simply draw an outline of a circle to give the drawing a vacant expression. I heard a lot of "Woah, I look creepy!" I was sure to remind them that if they look creepy, they're on the right track!

I also showed them how to add highlights to their hair in a number of ways. They could add the lighter color first and color over it, or color around it. They could also color in the darker color first and add the lighter lines on top. I demonstrated all three techniques so they could see that layering color in a different order would create different results. Students were allowed to color their shirt one color, and their background different color. I really wanted them to keep it simple, and I think they are really eye catching! I'll be sure to post pictures of the whole display at the art show on Friday!