Grade 8 Mola Paper cutting. Middle School Art project

The Mola, or Molas, is a hand -made textile that forms part of the traditional women's clothing of the Kuna people from Panamá. The full costume includes a patterned wrapped skirt, a red and yellow headscarf, arm and leg beads, a gold nose ring and earrings in addition to the mola blouse. - Wikipedia

Supplies: various colors construction paper 12" x 18", x-acto knives, cutting boards, white color pencil, paperclips, pencils, rulers, and paper.

Vocabulary: mola, layers, bridges, boarders, outline, negative/positive space, cutting, overlapping, lines, warm/cool colors, and shape.

Please click on link to see the step by step instructions and previous student work.
http://www.mrbobart.com/2011/11/molas-grade-7-paper-cutting-project.html
http://www.mrbobart.com/2013/02/mola-project-reprise-7th-grade-art.html

Selected student outcomes (meets standards examples and exemplary examples) :

Middle School Papel picado-Mexican paper cuttig project

For the papel picado (Mexican paper cutting) inspired project we looked at the how to create shapes by creating a composition with negative space. Much like the mola inspired project we did the previous year, the concepts of working with layers and shapes still applied. I let the students develop their own designs-they were asked to make a couple of drafts so that they understood what pieces had to be removed to keep the overall design intact. This posed many problems where some students had to redo the top layer of the project. Below are the results.

Molas Middle School Art Project

Always popular with my students since 1995! Just make sure they don't cut themselves like some of mine did. Check the tags for learning objectives and concepts taught. You can always check my older posts for more examples by clicking here.

Consider the following: layers, negative and positive space, lines, bridges, shape, color, and safety (be aware of your knife blade).

Below are a few of my student examples.

Stencil Self Portrait

I thought a stencil might be a good project to kick off the year. Typically I start with some a self-portrait project. This year I had my students make a funny and/or outrageous faces when I snapped their photo as a means to demonstrate facial expressions.
Objective:
The students will learn the process of making a 4 color stencil print using shape and value.

Vocabulary:Value (light, medium, and dark), shape, registration, print, base, bleeding, and expression

The Process:
Step 1: Take a photograph of student, print a gray scale version of it, and make 4 copies. The size should be on 8.5" x 11" paper.

Step 2: The student will assign each paper the label of LIGHT, MEDIUM, DARK, or BASE. The student will then determine the appropriate value for each paper then use a marker to trace them out.

Step 3: Once the values have been traced, and approved by the teacher, the student will use an x-acto knife to cut out the shapes.

Step 4: Begin painting! The BASE stencil will be applied first (use either a LIGHT or a MEDIUM color). Apply the LIGHT value next, followed by the MEDIUM, and ending with the DARK. Allow 1-2 minutes for each color to dry between stencils.

I encourage my students to experiment with paint and paper color and alter the order of the stencils. Each student will submit 3 of their best prints.

Online resources: Stencil Archive Banksy Stencil Art