Excellent Web Sites

I'd like to use this post for all of us to share other excellent art teacher web sites.

Today I visited Ms. Rosania's site. She teaches in New Jersey, USA. Her photo assignments and student art are top notch. 

Thank you all who have posted a lesson so far. 

Typography

Posted by Jeanen, Texas.

Typography is a large word for "type" or "letters". Letters are symbols because we relate them back to a sound from when we were taught to read. Letter symbols can be seen everywhere but not just in intentional writing or hand-drawn script. You can find letter symbols everywhere in the environment such as a windy road can symbolize the letter "s". A curled lock of hair can look like the letter "j". A tree with a split trunk can look like the letter "v" and so on.
See the examples below:

Your Assignment:
1. Using your first or last name, find a symbol in your environment (home or school, home might be more creative if you have your own digital camera) that represents each letter. You must use a different item for each letter, even if it is the same letter. For example, if your name is NOLAN, you must use two different symbols for the N's. If your name is longer than 6 letters then you may use the word: BEARS.
2. Open up photoshop and create a new file, make the resolution 200, use the background color (make sure it is black) and for the size, the height on everyone's is 6.5 inches but the width will vary depending on how many letters in your name. There is 1" on the two outside letters and 1/2" in between the letters and each letter is 3"x4.5" so if you have 5 letters, the width would be 19". Go to view>rulers and making sure you are on the black arrow tool, drag your ruler lines to make a grid for your images. See below:


Save this file as environtype.psd

3. Open your letter photos into photoshop, go to image-adjustments-desaturate then create more contrast in the image by going to image-adjustment-curves. Move the diagonal line slightly up and down to create a strong contrast.
4. For each photo letter, select the crop tool and in the width measurement at the top put 3 inches, in the height put 4.5 inches and in the resolution box put 200.
5. Crop each photo and leave files open.
6. Drag the photos into the appropriate grid space.

7. Save your file as environtype.yourname.jpg and put it in the class folder. (Don't forget to save a copy for yourself as .psd in case you have to make changes.

Here is an example from last year:

Flip books

Hi Kim,

     Look forward to trying your symetrical project with my students. Just wondering what paper you used for the flip books?

Thanks for setting up this blog.

Dan.

Symmetrical Portrait movie

Hi Daniel,
This is the first video I ever made so pardon the mistakes.
Thought it might help explain the lesson I sent in previous email.