High School Printmaking Unit: Post Thirteen -- Self-Directed FInal Projects

Being asked to give a final in art is really, really difficult because... well... it's art. Art is not like Math or Reading Comprehension or World History. It does not have an exact answer to a multiple choice exam. Art is expressive and invoking. So when I realized I had to have the high school students do something for final exams, I decided that they would use all of the knowledge and skills they had gained to do a project of their own design.

It had some structure, of course. They had to present a written proposal, complete with a time frame for the project to be completed. They had to document and research their work and the work of other artists. And on the day of finals, they had to present their work, research, and process to the class in a power point presentation.

The final projects had a lot of variety. Here is a sampling:

One student created a series of stamp prints, using patterns and colors in interesting ways...

One created a reductive block print inspired by his hometown...

 

One student made a lino-cut inspired by Art Deco and the Chrysler Building...

 

One student explored stenciling, creating stencils of objects that reminded her of her town. She talked about how this graphic imagery could be used in merchandising...

 

One student expressed his obsession with the Stanley Cup though a collograph...

One student explored logos, by making cut out collograph plates and printing them. He used patriotic colors to emphasize America's preoccupation with branding and consumerism...

One student used multiple carved stamps to create a stop-motion image of a girl cartwheeling...

One student combined monoprinting and stamping, using found leaves as stamps...

One student combined a stamped background with a collograph as the foreground image...