Magic Garden Get Away
Magic Garden Get-away
Finding the Norms, and then changing them up
approximately 2 blocks, or 3 - 4 hours
Intro to project: watch video!
Goals for our project:
Use creativity strategies to invent a magical garden filled with never-before-seen trees and plants.
Demonstrate knowledge of drawing strategies to create the illusion of space.
Utilize strategy of drawing using the properties of an object to create a believable object.
Essential Standard: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to create art. VA:Cr2.3.7
Essential standard: Apply methods to overcome creative blocks VA:Cr1.1.7a
Overview: Imagine the world has been stopped in its tracks due to a deadly pandemic. People have to social distance from each other and cannot participate in normal activities, such as going to school. While you are stuck at home, you start exploring your neighborhood and discover an entry to a Magical Forest. Draw the world that you find.
Activity 1: Journal entry. Writing can help us to go deeper in our thinking and create messages with deeper significance. For this assignment, you will write a minimum of a half page entry answering at least 3 of the following prompts. Be sure to include the prompt in your entry. (about 20 - 30 minutes)
Do you want to discover a forest that is peaceful and calm, where you can get away and be happy? What would you need to include in your forest for it to be a happy place?
Is the forest a dangerous place that you need to escape from? Do people/creatures there need your help? After a trip there, are you happy to come back to our world?
Are you the same person when you visit there, or do you need to shrink/grow/fly/breathe underwater, etc.
Where do you discover the entrance to the Magical Garden/forest?
How do you get back to the "real world" from the Magic Garden?
Are there certain people or creatures you find in your forest?
How are the trees different from the ones in the real world?
What grows on the trees in the magic world?
Activity 2: Empathy Map. Creating an empathy map can help you to come up with images that can be added to your piece and it can help to refine your thinking for the product you want to create. Get out a sheet of scratch paper, and get ready to work along with the video below. (about 20 - 30 minutes)
Activity 3: Search for themes and overlapping thoughts between your journal entry and your empathy map. Revisit your notes from Patterns and Properties and your creativity unit. What items do you see overlapping or repeating? How can you use those things to design your project? What items might you want to draw or include in your piece? On a piece of sketch paper, make a plan. Draw a loose sketch of what you might include in your project, including themes, subject matter and ideas for color. (10 - 15 minutes)
Project: Combine your ideas and thoughts into a Magical Garden/forest.
You will use a 9 x 12 piece of drawing paper. (You may have larger paper if you'd like, but it will be harder to transport to class.)
You must have at least 3 trees that you have created.
You must have at least 3 plants that you have created.
Your plants and trees need to have enough of the properties of the original item that they are recognizable.
Use techniques to create the illusion of space. (size, placement, overlap)
Focus on being creative, and don't worry as much about how your drawings turn out.
Turn in: Find the Magic Garden slideshow under "Creativity: finding the norm and changing it". Add your work from activities 1- 3 to the slideshow, along with a photo of your finished project and an artist statement about your work.