Big Mouth Art - An Exploration of Paper Folding Art - 


This is a multi-day project based class, which means:
-	We will meet multiple times.
-	There are scheduled times that class is held, recordings will be available if a class is missed.

   
Paper folding art has always been a hit with my students when I introduce it, so I thought why not offer a class where it is all that we do. Students will learn the art of paper folding to create big mouthed creations. This is a directed drawing class where students will learn how to draw a new creature each week in the paper folding method.

No prior skills are needed for this class, A video will be linked in the welcome message to allow you to help your student with the folding process. Students should enjoy drawing and art and have a great sense of humor to enjoy these big mouthed creatures.  Many students will enjoy this process so much they begin designing their own big mouthed creatures just for fun. 

Lessons Covered in Segment 1:
Week 1: Big Mouthed Frog
Week 2: Big Mouthed Fish
Week 3: Big Mouthed Octopus
Week 4: Big Mouthed Cat
Week 5: Big Mouthed Monster/Alien

Lessons Covered in Segment 2:
Week 1: Big Mouthed Lion
Week 2: Big Mouthed Dog
Week 3: Big Mouthed Hippo
Week 4: Big Mouthed Unicorn
Week 5: Big Mouthed Person

We are our own worst critics. My goal is to help us take our own art less seriously while also taking art in general more seriously. Students will learn that growth in a subject matter such as art comes from repetition and breaking larger more complex drawings into simple shapes. My goal is always to increase student’s confidence levels, help them see mistakes happen and can actually be good sometimes, and that art is a great relaxation activity. After just a few short weeks parents often notice a surprising increase in their student’s art confidence level. 

I recently had a 9 year old student say, "That is cool but looks hard! I wouldn't be surprised to find it easy though! All the art we have made so far has looked hard, but it was actually not hard and fun!" This is 100% my goal. I want to teach my students techniques and drawings that appear hard but are easy enough for them to find success.

My passion and excitement about art comes out in my teaching. And I love seeing and hearing the kids get excited about their art. My classes are set up in a way that there are natural social interactions as we trace over our finished piece in black marker or as we work on coloring our masterpiece. I have found even shy or quiet students share in this no pressure environment. 

It is my hope that students will relate to each other through their art and realize that even though we are each unique, being different is ok, in fact being different is awesome! Students will learn to encourage each other through the struggles of the daily life while growing as individuals. They will learn to express their feelings through line and color as well as other art techniques depending on the week attended.

For examples of the types of drawings we will be doing in this class please see the teacher profile where a link to my student’s art portfolio is provided. If you have a student who typically feels they “can’t draw” this is the perfect class for them. I have been working with students who do not see themselves as artists for the last 7 years and have had these same students who were forced to attend the class the first session, beg to continue on, many I’ve had in class for 4+ years. This is not a draw this in this exact way, which is what helps these students be successful. The goal for me is to have no students works of art be identical, I encourage them to change things up and follow their gut.

Please Note:
I recommend using the biggest screen you have possible as I teach using a combination of slides and live directed drawing so kids can see both the end goal and the process of getting there.