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Ice Art
Ice Art
Have you ever seen snow up close? Have you ever had the chance to let the soft snow fall through your fingers? If you have, you’ve touched some pretty impressive ice art. By now, you have learned that each snowflake is a unique creation and that scientists can learn a great deal from studying these tiny pieces of ice art.
Peter J. Wasilewski is a NASA scientist, turned artist, who makes amazing works of art using ice and light. He actually created his own art form called “Frizion”. He basically looks at frozen water through polarized light and then photographs what he sees. Wasilewski says that a Frizion photograph can basically be thought of as, “a painting of polarized light on a canvas of ice.” Learn more about Wasilewski and his amazing photographs by checking out this video.
For this project you will be creating a snowflake on a coordinate plane, calculating the surface area, then painting it with watercolor techniques to mimic the colors that Wasilewski discovers in his art. Wasilewski focuses on colors and shapes which happen to be elements of art. As you work, you will pay close attention to the elements of art and the principles of design.
Steps:
Begin by watching the instructional video on ice art.
Create a piece of grid paper for yourself using a ruler and very light pencil lines (they will need to be entirely erased later). Be sure to include all 4 quadrants in your coordinate grid and go up to at least 10 on each axis, using cm.
Choose a snowflake to create on your grid paper. You can use one of these images or you can create your own. Keep in mind that no 2 snowflakes are exactly alike, so feel free to get creative with yours.
After you create the snowflake, calculate the surface area using what you know about breaking down the shapes, calculating area and adding the numbers together. If your snowflake is symmetrical, which it should be, you will only have to figure out the surface area in one quadrant, then multiply by 4.
Next, you will erase your grid lines and paint your snowflake using different watercolor techniques to try to replicate the colors that Wasilewski gets inFrizion photographs.
Let the snowflake dry, then cut it out.
Finally, create a background for your snowflake that will cause the color choices you made to pop out and be noticed, attach your snowflake to the background.
Share your work with someone after you are finished. Explain to them what you learned about Wasilewski and the type of work he creates. Explain the use of the coordinate plane and how you were able to calculate the surface area of your snowflake. Consider visiting the artist’s web site to view a gallery of his works.
Finally, complete your Artist’s Statement. You can use this form or you can write about it on your own. Be sure to discuss the process of your artwork, how you created it, explain the artistic choices you made, share one thing you love about your piece and one thing you would change if you could.
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