Sunday, March 16, 2014

Superheroes

The second grade kids created superhero self-portraits!  I have been itching to do this project since last year.  In fact, I have had my example project ready to go for a year now!  Students were encouraged to invent their own characters but some students were so excited about superheroes like Batman and Captain America that they chose to become them!

We began by talking about how cartoonists create stylized versions of people.  Cartoons are often simplified (three fingers instead of five) and facial features are often exaggerated (eyes that are too big for the face and heads that are too big for the body).  The kids were asked to draw self-portraits but use cartoon versions of facial features instead of using a realistic style.


The next time we came to art class we looked at example pictures of well known superheroes and came up with a list of costume common characteristics: cape, mask, boots, gloves, belt, logo/symbol.  I asked the kids to use at least some of the common costume characteristics in their own work.







When we painted our backgrounds, the children were asked to choose a color scheme that would contrast with their capes and costumes.  I showed students how a blue costume is harder to see on a blue background than a red background.  

Background Color Schemes:
- Sunset: red, orange, yellow, pink
- Daylight: light blue, dark blue, purple.

We added salt to create a textured effect in the sky.





Great job second grade! You amaze me!

Learning Goals: I can...
- Explain what a self-portrait is
- Describe common characteristics of superhero costumes
- Work as a cartoonist (careers) to create my own unique superhero
- Use salt to create texture in my watercolor painting
- Used good craftsmanship when coloring, painting and cutting.

15 comments:

  1. These are fantastic! I noticed they were painting with watercolors, but what did they use for the skin tones?

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    1. Tempera cakes were used for the face skin. The kids painted those the first day because they tend to be more opaque than the watercolors. We sharpied after the paint was dry. ...Twistables (crayons) were used for the hand skin tones.

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  2. Those look amazing!! What materials did you use? (I'm planning on doing this next year for our grade-level theme of superheroes).

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    1. Glad you like them! Check out the comment above for materials!

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  3. Did you only focus on the face for the first lesson, without mentioning superheroes at all?

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    1. I believe so! Kids added the masks later if they wanted them.

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  4. These are so fun! What was your approach for teaching them how to draw the body? I think I might try this with my second graders this year!

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    1. We did the body the day after the face. We tend to draw 2x once on the front once on the back. The kids pick their favorite drawing to edit afterwards. The bodies were on 12x18 paper folded in half. I believe that I started with the hips right around the fold then legs then upper body.... I hope that helps!

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    2. We also brainstormed all the accessories a superhero would have after drawing and kids added these to their favorite drawing: boots, gloves, capes, a logo (symbol), tool belt, etc. On second thought, I'm certain I stared with drawing the belt... then the rest of the body.

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  5. Wonderful! I love your idea to treat the head and body separately. Also love the watercolor sky.

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  6. Was everything done separately? Did you cut out the face and the body,and glue it to the background?

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  7. Love this idea! Thank you for sharing! Can I ask how much time roughly did it take to complete this whole piece or artwork with the class? And did the children cut the face and body out themselves?

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    1. 4 or 5, 50 min class periods. You could speed it up by using 1 sheet of paper. I see the kids every 3 days which is awesome.

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  8. I love this! Thank you for sharing! My students will love it too.

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