Visual Art Activity Examples
Art students used Computational Thinking to create beautiful snowflakes. They followed algorithms to create specific flakes, looked for patterns on the snowflake display wall, and used abstraction to develop universal tips for snowflake cutting.
If you are in need of beauty, color, and creativity as this unusual year comes to a close, look no further than Mrs. Mecum’s Visual Arts Exploratory classes. These collages, which include a wolf made of candy wrappers, a 3D landscape, and a bird made of… birds, are inspiring and gorgeous. They are also great examples of abstraction, which is a computational thinking concept our students learn and use when creating these works of art. Think about how much meaning is being conveyed through these representational images, and you’ll have an idea of how abstraction works. Thanks to our art students for these beautiful examples!
Art students completed a project called Cloud Gazing. What do you see in a cloud? Apply the same concept to ordinary objects. What do you see in them?
A student completed this portrait of Vincent van Gogh
after the class studied the artist.
A selection of student art from our Reedy Creek visual arts students was selected for a December 2019 display at the WCPSS district office. The board room at central office featured indigo dyed Japanese Shibori fabrics, along with detailed, intricate drawings created by Mrs. Mecum’s art students.
In art, students use computational thinking (CT) in a variety of ways. Weaving, for example, uses CT for breaking down parts, finding patterns, and repeating steps, resulting in the final piece. Shibori is much the same. There are specific steps to bind the fabric to create the pattern. There is also a scientific component to indigo in that oxidation provides the blue color.
Mrs. Mecum’s students learn that drawing is not a talent; it is a skill that is developed through practice. Students use CT to break their drawings into shapes, find patterns in the shapes, and use mathematical steps to create their final pieces.
