Chinese Blue & White Porcelain Scratch Art Vases

This is a fantastic lesson I've incorporated into my "Art of China" unit. 

It's found HERE on one of my all time favorite art blogs: http://arteascuola.com/. She gives all the instructions on her blog.

The only thing we did differently was use white acrylic paint instead of gesso. We also homemade scratching tools and x-acto blades for the scratching part. My kids enjoy this lesson. See my previous post on this lesson HERE. 

I started by showing videos of Chinese porcelain being made and a history of Ming Vases. 

Students start by researching Ming vases and sketching out some shape ideas.

They draw their final design large on heavy white paper. 

Colour it in completely using cobalt blue oil pastels. 

Paint it with one thin coat of white acrylic paint. 

Once dry, students can sketch their designs on top, then scratch it away using a bamboo stick or x-acto blade. My students made their own scratch tools by taping a thumb tack to a pencil. lol.

They loved the precise line this gave!

Some Grade 10-12 results:

"Year of the Dragon" art projects

My Grade 7-9 students recently finished their Chinese Dragons for Lunar New Year. This was an end of semester project for them. I gave them total free reign and said the only theme was "Chinese Dragon"- they could use any media they wished to illustrate this. I showed them a video about Lunar New Year celebration as well as one explaining the Chinese zodiac story. Some students shared how they celebrate with their families. I didn't do any tutorials other than showing them examples of dragons in Asian art. 

We discussed the physical  characteristics of a Chinese dragon. Chinese dragons have many animal-like forms such as turtles and fish, but are most commonly depicted as snake-like with four legs. Academicians have identified four reliable theories on the origin of the Chinese dragon: snakes, Chinese alligators, thunder worship and nature worship. They traditionally symbolize potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water.

Chinese dragons have nine characteristics which are a complex combination. They have a camel’s head, a demon’s eyes, a cow’s ears, a deer’s horns, a clam’s belly, a snake’s neck, an eagle’s claws, a tiger’s paws and 117 carp scales.

Prior to the lesson, I hunted down some dragon themed Lunar New Year decorations at our local Asian supermarket. They had loads to choose from as you can see below.

Look at these giant cans of Lays potato chips!!!

I was super impressed by how these artworks turned out!  Watercolour was a popular medium.

 

  

 

Chinese Blue & White Porcelain Vases

This is a fantastic lesson I've incorporated into my "Art of China" unit. 

I pinned this lesson months and months ago and finally got around to it this year 

with my Grade 9/10 class.

It's found HERE on one of my all time favorite art blogs: http://arteascuola.com/

She gives all the instructions on her blog.

The only thing we did differently was use white acrylic paint instead of gesso. We also used simple bamboo sticks/skewers for the scratching part. My kids loved this lesson- a couple even saying it was their favorite all year :)