Hendrix Art
Menu
Classroom Blog
To enhance their study of Native American culture, third grade artists got to make their own Native American paintbrushes this week! Long ago, people had to use whatever resources were available to meet their needs. They had to make the tools that were needed to get the job done. Paintbrushes were one of those tools! To start, we looked at modern-day paintbrushes and learned some terminology: Students had already studied Tomie DePaola's book The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush. It tells the story of a young boy named Little Gopher and his journey to capture the beautiful colors of a sunset. The book describes how Little Gopher makes paintbrushes from animal hair and bone, and stretches buckskins for painting surfaces. I asked students to create their own paintbrushes from natural materials like Little Gopher did in the story. Each brush needed to have a handle, bristles, and a ferrule- the part that attaches the bristles to the handle. I provided a few supplies- rubber bands and tape- but the method of construction was up to each student. The next step was to actually try painting with these brushes! Each student used bright colors of paint to try to replicate Little Gopher's sunset painting. We had just enough time left to do a little reflecting on these hand-crafted paintbrushes compared to modern-day brushes. Most students were thankful we live in a time where we can buy the things we need instead of having to make them! "This was an awesome experience but I would rather be here because I could not live a day there. I love being creative but that's too much. It's easier being here. I love doing that kind of stuff but I'd rather do it here." "In the old days people had to make paintbrushes. In the now days people buy paintbrushes from stores. I would buy a paintbrush. People don't make paintbrushes in the now days. They don't want to make paintbrushes. " "It was so cool to build a paintbrush by myself. I am very glad I had the materials to build it. It was a fun experience, though I am glad I live in the time I am in." To further compare paintbrush-crafting methods of then and now, we finished up with this "How It's Made" clip of a modern-day paintbrush factory! Last year's group of third graders had a similar experience with making paintbrushes- click here to see examples!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
March 2018
Categories
All
|