Exploring Mural Painting: Creating Large Scale Art with Chris Bose

A few months ago an opportunity arose for art students at SKSS that doesn’t come up very often. We were given the chance to volunteer our time and work on a mural that would be going up in the hallway once completed.  Interested students talked to the artist in residence at our school, Chris Bose. At first, Lauren Mark and I were hesitant about the project but soon grew to be very dedicated towards the process. We split up the 5 panels between the group of students that had volunteered, and got started right away. Lauren and I were immediately drawn towards a panel that had a sketch of a balancing rock on it with some trees and the outline for a sunset. As we started to mix the colours in large amounts we realized how different this would be from our regular class painting assignments.  A few of the challenges we faced during the whole process were: textures of student painting styles, mixing the right amount of paint, and creating a connected colour palette. Over time, Lauren and I ended up taking on more commitment to painting than we had originally planned. In fact, by the end of the project we had assisted and guided the completion of all five panels.  The last few weeks were spent fussing over little details and making sure everything was to our liking, before we finally decided that we were finished. Lauren and I had an awesome time working together and combining our ideas to create something that we are both very proud of. I am so glad that I took advantage of this experience and was able to learn so much and spend time doing something I love. The many hours spent during class, lunches, and after school were all worth it in end when I get to see our art lighting up the hallway every day.

Written By: Kate Mey, Grade 9

A Special Thank you!

Local Kamloops artist Chris Bose recently completed an artist in residency at South Kamloops Secondary School.  This project was made possible through ArtStarts unique program: Artists in Schools. We are thankful for this opportunity and enjoyed working with Chris in the classroom! Chris shares his vibrant and friendly personality through active art making, risk taking in creative processes, and many conversations about contemporary artistic culture.  Perhaps most importantly, he shares specifically about his diverse processes, image development, and current art making: poetry, music, graffiti, art teaching, travelling, painting, exhibiting, collaborations, sketchbook explorations, stenciling, mentoring, and many crazy art adventures!  However, what is most meaningful about Chris’ passion for the arts is his underlying connection to Aboriginal culture and how this voice is embedded throughout his work.  It was a pleasure to learn from your creative nature, Chris!  Thank you for making time to connect with local student artists!

Making Progress: Skate It or Hang it? Continues in the Art Room

South Kam art students are beginning to see their artwork and designs develop into individual images on skate decks in our Skate it, Or Hang it? project.  Alma Shankar and Noah Fischer share a few words about their personal experience working with airbrushing:

Creating a personal skate deck design has been such an interesting experience. Specifically, we are learning to airbrush (a brand new medium to all students) with professional artist Vaughn Warren in our classroom studio.  While exploring this new experience we have learned so many new things, both in considering design and specific techniques.

To start, we have learned how to control the airbrush and move it along the skate deck to create different effects on our artwork. We have also explored how to layer colors and blend them together to alter the design we created before beginning. Along with this we have learned the difficulty of cleaning the brushes, and the effort it requires to maintain the airbrushes.  From the time we began by transferring our design, it was an eye opener to see how much control and effort it requires to airbrush properly and safely. With this in mind, Vaughn has been so helpful with everything, as well as very patient when helping people that are a little bit uneasy - he has helped make this an amazing opportunity!  Overall throughout this whole process we are enjoying every step, and triumph we’ve had! 

As an art educator I have witnessed our students truly embrace the process of learning a new technique as we continue with the final details and finishing touches on all the skate decks at SKSS.   Perhaps most importantly, it is such a pleasure to witness the collaborative and supportive learning environment our students have created through the guidance and teaching of artist Vaughn Warren!  Each day student artists are working together and sharing as they take risks within their artwork, solving problems, and celebration of individual successes.
Again, we would like to thank both ArtStarts for providing grants to promote artists working in classrooms and OLIVE Skateboarding for supporting visual arts programs in Canadian schools.  

SKATE IT OR HANG IT?

Deck Designs!

Students at South Kamloops Secondary have a unique opportunity this semester to work with an artist in residence: VAUGHN WARREN.  We are thrilled to have Vaughn, from Kamloops BC, work with grade 9 and 10 art students, guiding us through the process of airbrushing artwork on skate decks.  This project has been made possible through ArtStarts in Schools, by providing grant opportunities that promote a connection with youth to professional arts experiences in the classroom.  In addition, we are thankful to OLIVE Skateboards for their support of visual art programs in Canadian schools.

As we begin our journey in creating upwards of 50 painted skate deck designs, I have asked grade 10 student Bailey S. to share our process to date:

Over the past few weeks, we have been working on designing a finished copy for our skate decks, starting with a small wire frame of a skateboard, subsequent colour models, leading to a full sized blown-up skate deck copy. Vaughn Warren, a local artist who is working with our class, is sharing his expertise teaching aspects of design and airbrush mediums. 

Airbrushing seems like a difficult technique to work with.  Unlike sketching it is harder to erase and especially when you learn a new art style, the first time you actually create a piece isn’t always the best.  Some of the kids in my class were apprehensive to the idea, not knowing if it was something they would be good at or enjoy. Others, including myself, were super excited. I quote one of my friends in the class who was weary at first, “... suddenly it hits you. This is actually happening; you can make your own skate deck, and you can keep it!”

Creating a successful skate deck will take time, direction, and artistic considerations.  After we finished a contour drawing of the final design, we moved on to creating colour models colouring many photocopies of the original design.  Finally, we blew up the image in hopes of soon transferring the design onto the skate deck.  This process requires students to think ahead, plan, and consider more ways to look at one project idea.