The Tuesday before Thanksgiving is celebrated in the art room. Not with food, sadly, as one junior boy learned... but with a trip down memory lane - the hand turkey. Most students said they remembered creating a hand turkey at one point or another. It's simple really - all you do is trace your hand on a piece of paper. The outline of your five fingers and thumb becomes the turkey. You've probably made one, too! Here's the twist in art - the goal is to use the outline of your hand to turn the "turkey" into something different. Students use their own personal interests to come up with ideas (sports, favorite pets, tv shows) or their imagination to come up with something unique. As with all artworks, our overall goals are the same: |
- Use your resources to generate original art ideas.
- Work to develop skills - try a new media or work to improve on something you've done in the past
- Seek feedback from your peers to reflect on and revise your original art ideas.
- Complete work and present to others.
While most students thought of this as a "fun" activity (which, of course, it was!), I had a secret agenda! These were made by students in grades 8 through 12 in all classes - Intro to 3D Art, Intro to 2D Art, Painting, and Art 8. Check out our creative artworks:
Thanks to art teachers Melissa Purtee and Ian Sands for inspiring this activity. I even finished a hand turkey this year, which doesn't sound like a big deal, but if you ask the art students at Pierz, I rarely finish an artwork. Thanks to one particular 8th grader that challenged me to finish! |