Tagxedo is an awesome free word cloud generator. Students made a list of 10 words that describe them and entered them into Tagxedo. Once the cloud was generated, students played around with lighting effects and blur effects in Photoshop to create unique clouds. This is a quick and easy project to do at the beginning of a Typography unit and an intro to Photoshop filters.

A link to Other Cloud Generators

Process Work

Students chose a famous painting that they wanted to work with. They did a sketchbook drawing of the painting and then decided what 'modern twist' they were going to give it. Next, they drew the image onto a piece of gessoed Stonehenge and then painted the image with acrylic paints. We first covered a series of Acrylic Paint Techniques as well as experimental paintings in the style of their chosen artist in preparation for their final paintings. Students also completed an Art History Page after researching their artist and style. 

You can tell by the paintings below how much they were into this project!

Final Paintings

Materials: gesso, Stonehenge paper, acrylic paint

After studying Salvador Dali's famous painting, "The Persistence of Memory", students learned about the concept of 'parody'. With that in mind, they revisited the painting and created a comedic 'parody'. Choices were to change only the clocks (from the original painting) into new objects, change only the background and leave the clocks, or change both. The results are funny and creative!

Materials: 8x11 white paper, pencil crayons

Students used the grid technique to grid a black and white photograph of themselves. They then drew the outline of their image and filled in the space with a variety of text. Focus on light and shadows.

This project also works really well in a Media Arts class. I've used it during studies on Typography.

11x 14 Mayfair, pencils, sharpies, fine liners

Students used the grid technique on a black and white photograph of themselves making a silly face! They then drew the photo with a focus on tone and pencil shading.

The images below are from Grade 9 students!

Materials: 11x14 Mayfair, pencils, kneaded erasers, charcoal, photographs

Students used a full face magazine image to work from and learned the grid technique to practice drawing realistically with a focus on the use of tone.

The images below are from a Grade 9 class!

Materials: pencils, kneaded erasers, sketchbooks, magazines

Adapted from Ken Vieth's Book 'From Ordinary to Extraordinary: Art & Design Problem Solving'. Students were each given a No. 2 Pencil to study, they created an outline of an object and creatively filled it with pencil shapes: distorting, condensing, changing the width and length.

Materials: pencils, pencil crayons, sketchbooks, No. 2 Pencils