Illustration Unit: Willy Pogany

I started this blog for in-class art projects and lesson plans. Lately it's been all about field trips - and I've covered a few art gallery shows in between. I want to get back to posting about in-class activities and good starting points for projects.

The golden age of illustration would make a great theme for a studio project and a long-term art history section. This high-point of traditional commercial art featured work by english artists including: Aubrey Beardsley and Arthur Rackham and american artists including: Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth and Maxfield Parrish.

This post presents a personal favourite Willy Pogany, originally from Hungary, who started his career in England and then moved to the US.

Willy Pogany illustrated many wonderful narrative books covering myths and legends, fairy tales and adventure stories. He works with pen and ink on smooth paper using short expressive line-work and an  art nouveau design approach. His work features beautiful examples of hand-lettering.

A fun studio project: students choose a myth or legend from any culture to research and illustrate one scene from the story. A title or quote must be included in the design using hand-lettering. Students can also choose from folk stories, fairy tales and adventure books. 

Students will complete a Creative Process Booklet to be submitted with the final work that will present the brainstorming, research, experimentation, rough work and reflection.

Lesson One: Intro to the Golden Age of Illustration 

Lesson Two: pen and ink basics 

Lesson Three: pen and ink techniques

Lesson Four: hand-lettering techniques

Lesson Five: The work of Willy Pogany

Lesson Six-Ten: Studio project: The Creative Process

Lesson Eleven: Final Submission - Class Presentation and Group Critique

The Beehive Design Collective

Last week I was fortunate to have three volunteers from the Beehive Design Collective visit my Challenge & Change in Society class to discuss globalization using a massive hand-drawn illustration.

The Bees use art as an educational tool to engage students and start discussions about complex social, political, economic and environmental issues. The graphic campaigns provide a thorough look at many of the negative effects that globalization is having on society.

Our workshop focused on the Free Trade graphic. Students worked in small groups to decipher one symbolic animal from the poster each and then share their ideas with the whole group. The posters provide a fascinating, interactive visual approach to learning about globalization. Here is their site.

Blyth Academy Visual Arts classes at the Varley Gallery and Ai Wei Wei at the A.G.O.

    It's been longer than usual since my last post so I'll make up for it by covering two posts in one: Blyth at the Varley Gallery and Ai Wei Wei at the AGO. The start of this school year has been so busy - but I guess they always are! I 've been less involved in art education this term because I've been teaching exclusively grade 12 Social Science courses. Even though I miss Visual Arts, the new courses have been very rewarding to teach. I organized a field trip to the Coroner's Courts in Toronto, to sit in on the Inquest into the Death of Ashley Smith. I also brought in a social justice lawyer to visit my classes and discuss the inquest after.

    That will all change soon- my courses end in mid-November and I will be establishing a Visual Arts program at Blyth Academy, Thornhill. The arts program that I've been working on with the wonderful team at Blyth is based on a parntership with the Varley Art Gallery in Markham. The students will tour the collection, paint in the studios and curate their own show that will be held in the gallery at the end of the course. I am very excited about this partnership and can't wait to get started!

Back in Toronto... the Ai Wei Wei exhibit at the AGO is one of the best shows I've seen in a while. The works are thoughtful, surprising and truly creative. The pieces communicate important messages about social justice issues with a bold, thought-provoking directness. Even though he is not allowed to travel outside of China due to his open criticism of the Chinese government, Ai Wei Wei uses art to visually communicate all over the world and, luckily for us, especially in Toronto.

Museum of Anthropology (at UBC)

This month I spent some time in Vancouver and enjoyed exploring the UBC campus. One of the highlights for me was the Museum of Anthropology.

They have a variety of old and new artifacts from various cultures and places around the world, but what fascinated me the most is their huge collection of Northwest Coast Aboriginal Canadian art.

Here are a few examples, older and newer:

                                        

This would be a fantastic museum for a field trip. I envy the UBC students who get free admission anytime and who get to study here as part of their courses! If I teach in the Vancouver area I will definitely bring my classes here.

Museum of Inuit Art

I have enjoyed visiting this museum and I would like to bring my art classes next year.

The Museum of Inuit Art is located downtown Toronto, at 207 Queen's Quay West- right on the water by the Harbourfront Centre.

The beautiful and well-lit venue contains a variety of Inuit art in different media and presents great opportunities for students to analyze visual communication and cultural connections to art making. 

Here's their site for more info: miamuseum.ca.

Cham Shan Temple Visit

This week I spend some time at the Cham Shan Temple with my World Religions class. We've been enjoying studying Buddhism and had a great time walking around this beautiful temple. I've passed it so many times on the bus and always wondered what it looked like inside. 

The most interesting part of the tour are the sculptures. They have wonderful monuments to the various representations of Buddha throughout the buildings. 

This one is the Buddha of 1000 arms, a Bodhisattva of compassion (Avalokitesvara).

A.G.O. Field Trip

I always enjoy a field trip to the AGO. This time was especially amazing! It was a beautiful spring day, I got a warm welcome from some colleagues that I hadn't seen in a while and the students had a great time.

I brought my World Religions class to look at how Aboriginal spirituality has influenced art. One student chose the Raven Rattle above. This wonderful carved and painted wood piece is Tlingit from southern Alaska, from around 1860.

The Louis Riel quote above is always inspirational and reminds the viewer of the power of art and its central role in culture.

The Canadian Galleries.

And of course one of the favourites: Chuck Close's Kent - a massive photo-realistic painting that always captures the students' attention.