Texture and Pattern

http://www.mmwindowtoart.com/foundations/foundationstexture2.htm (No longer available)

The Elements of Art - Texture and Pattern

• California Visual Arts Glossary Definitions

  • Texture. The surface quality of materials, either actual (tactile) or implied (visual). It is one of the elements of art.

  • Pattern. Anything repeated in a predictable combination.

• Textbook Glossary Definition

  • Pattern: Design made by repeating a motif or symbol (all-over pattern).

  • Texture: The actual or visual feel of a survace-bark on a tree, fur on an animal, sand on a beach.

  • Description of texture and pattern

    • Texture and pattern are considered secondary or adorning elements

    • Created by repetition of individual elements

    • Texures may be:

      • Rough or smooth

      • Actual or implied

      • Bumpy or jagged

    • Patterns may be:

      • Regluar

      • Irregular

      • Stripes or bands

      • zigzag (chevron)

      • Scallop (fish scale)

      • Plaid (crossband)

      • Notched (crenellated)

      • Checkerboard (counterchange)

      • Can be lines that crisscross, straight curved, wavy, or jagged

    • Patterns in nature - mathematical and geometric

      • Arrangement of seeds in the head of a sunflower

      • Bumpy divisions on a pineapple

      • Random cloud formations

      • Tree branches

      • Coastline's indentations

    • Textural gradient - when a texture changes progressively, as from distinct in the foreground to blended in the distance

• Review the elements of texture from Getty Art - http://www.getty.edu/education/for_teachers/building_lessons/elements.html#texture

  • Texture depicted in two dimensions

  • Surface texture

Henri Matisse

Matisse Art Lesson - Watch this art teacher help students create a collage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elle8Hn1QOI

Matisse Art Lessons Paper-Cut Collage - http://www.storyboardtoys.com/gallery/matisse-kids-art-lesson.htm

• Make a Collage in the Style of Matisse - http://www.ket.org/artstoolkit/visual/lessonplan/171.htm

From How to Teach Art to Children (by Joy Evans) See Google Books.

• How to Decoupage - http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/decoupage/a/012201a.htm

• Wiki How

  • How to make a collage - http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Collage

  • How to decoupage - http://www.wikihow.com/Decoupage

• ArtHouse - http://www.storyboardtoys.com/gallery.htm

Mosaics

• Ancient Mosaics - http://www.classicalmosaics.com/photo_album.htm

• Greek Mosaics - http://www.greekmosaics.com/

• Institute of Mosaic Art - http://www.instituteofmosaicart.com/class_descrip.html

• Pumpkin Seed Mosaic by Kinder Art - http://www.kinderart.com/sculpture/pumpkin.shtml

• Classical Mosaics - http://www.classicalmosaics.com/

• Mosaics by Plaid - http://www.plaidonline.com/Mosaics.asp

• Paper Mosaics - http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/magic_mosaics.htm

Creativity and the Visual Arts

• Visual Thinking Strategies - http://www.vtshome.org/.

• Video - http://www.vtshome.org/pages/videos

A Whole New World - "We need people with skills in critical thinking, analytical reasoning and problem solving. We need people who can communicate. We need to enhance the richness and diversity of the workforce, and we need people with the confidence to face the future.” (Introduction to Visual Thinking Strategies)Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) is a curriculum and teaching method for students and teachers, founded on the premise that finding meaning in works of visual art involves a rich range of thinking skills.VTS encourages:

• a personal connection to art from diverse cultures, times and places

• confidence in one’s ability to construct meaning from it

• active class discussions and group problem solving

• development of thinking and communication skills

• development of writing skills

• transference of these skills to other subject areas

Why Use Art? Children start using their eyes to make sense of the world as soon as they open them as infants. Long before they can read, they understand imagery. Using art as the starting point for discussion or writing, therefore, allows young people to use strength virtually all of them possess. Experience with art helps students picture what they read, aiding comprehension. Check out the research at Visual Understanding in Education (VUE) - http://www.vue.org/

Visual Thinking from Sesame Street! These are old clips from Sesame Street - but notice how the music relates to the art being created - and vice versa!

• Visual Thinking #1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU57i9rxoYU

• Visual Thinking #2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcqY66chhCA

What is Creativity?

Here's the wikipedia definition - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity. "Creativity is a mental process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts. An alternative conception of creativity is that it is simply the act of making something new. From a scientific point of view, the products of creative thought (sometimes referred to as divergent thought) are usually considered to have both originality and appropriateness."

The research on creativity is ongoing, but recent discoveries on how the brain works are providing more knowledge of what parts of the brain are involved in which human functions: seeing, moving, thinking, hearing, speaking, feeling, etc. View the powerpoint on how the brain works and you will see the complexity of everything we do, think, say, touch, and feel. If you have ever known someone who has suffered brain damage due to an accident, a stroke, or Alzheimers, you can attest to the complexity of the brain. The wikipedia article presents many of the different theories and research conducted on the subject of creativity and intelligence. Generally, "intelligence" does not necessarily correlate with creativity or vice versa. However, creativity in the arts is often thought to foster critical thinking, the ability to look at many different possible solutions to problems, and create innovative and unique products and performances. The frontal lobe is suggested as playing an important role in the development of creativity. The article mentions that there is a difference between the following:

• the creative person

• the creative product

• the creative process

• and the creative environment

Some children do not have the opportunities to develop their creativity because of their home or school environment and experiences. Often, adults do not see themselves as creative in the visual and performing arts because they have never had the opportunity to create a product or performance. They have never gone through the creative process in making art, composing music, choreographing and dancing, or acting on stage. I believe that we all have creative potential that has never been developed just because we were not in the right place and the right time! The old argument of nature vs. nurture is still a valid discussion and a balance of both is required. Your genetics may make you predisposed to certain artistic talents but if you were not mentored or given an opportunity to experience and develop those talents, your creativity in the visual and performing arts may remain dormant. Of course, it's never too late to awaken those abilities with exposure and instruction.

Other Definitions in Wikipedia include:

• in producing or bringing about something partly or wholly new;

• in investing an existing object with new properties or characteristics;

• in imagining new possibilities that were not conceived of before;

• and in seeing or performing something in a manner different from what was thought possible or normal previously.

Do Schools Today Kill Creativity?

View this TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) video from Sir Kenneth Robinson!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

YouTube Video Information: http://www.ted.com A must-see for every parent and teacher. Education guru Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. Sir Ken Robinson is author of "Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative," and a leading expert on innovation in education and business. (Recorded February, 2006 in Monterey, CA.)

Figure Drawing and Developmental Stages in Art from Young in Art (no longer available online)

Stages of Artistic Development - http://thevirtualinstructor.com/blog/the-stages-of-artistic-development

The Brain and Visual Arts

Integrating Visual Arts with Language Arts

Downloadable pdf files