That time of year again…

…so much happening. Lots to do. A constant emery go round of events, or so it seems. Anyway, I thought it might be time to remind you of a few art based, ICT ideas that I’ve highlighted previously. You might be creating firework images using a suitable software package, or looking for ideas based around Children in Need, but I’m going to focus on poppy based  ideas you could link to November 11th. So here we go…

You might like to create some mosaic style images: poppies (any sort of flower really) are a particularly good subject for this – you just need to find the right images. Andrea mosaic would be my tool of choice and there’s a bit more information about that here (including a poppy themed example). You could also try your hand at one of the art activities here or maybe create a stained glass or texture style image: all fabulous ideas in their own way. But what I really thought you might like was another quick clip art tutorial showing how to make simple poppy images using Autoshapes. So that’s what you’re getting…

Creating a Poppy

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The End is in Sight…

I feel a bit guilty this week. Our school broke up last Thursday but lots of you are still busy in the classroom. I’m sure it all evens out in the big scheme of things but I thought I’d share an end of the year activity with you that might be a nice way for any school leavers to take away memories of their class and friends. Best of all it uses free stuff.

The above image was made using Microsoft AutoCollage and it’s a great program for merging photos together in a pleasant and artistic way. I’ve mentioned it before and I’ve used it for a few different things in the classroom. The good thing about this is that it’s free if you’re a member of Partners in Learning  – and it’s not the only free download they’re offering! I think it would work well, with individual pictures of members of a class (plus teachers or support staff), as a take home memento. If you don’t like the images merged together you could do a similar thing with Shape collage, although it’s worth looking for an older version as the new one leaves quite a visible watermark. shape collage allows you control over the shape , background colour and spacing of the pictures but the full version is not free. It is, nonetheless, worth seeking out in its older format.

The picture above was made using a free download called Andrea Mosaic. I think it is a great little freebie. Collect a group of images together ( in this case family images but for class purposes it could be individual portrait pics), choose the photo you want to mosaic and away you go. The website has loads of examples to view and inspire you and there’s more information on it here. I did this with a group of Year 6 leavers a while ago and parents were coming in and asking to have them laminated - they were that nice! So there you have it – fun stuff that’s also free! You can’t fault it.

 

 

Picture This

About a week ago I mentioned a digital art project :trying out different ideas using computer generated art and photo editing packages.  There are all sorts of programs available t try out and everyone can create something something different or unusual. Digital art offers a range of different ideas, some of which are more inclusive than others, but it’s truly a ‘something for everyone’ area of ICT.

One technique to look at is tracing over photo images: a lot of clip art is created this way and I’ve already highlighted this method for making textured images in PowerPoint. You could use 2Paint a Picture or Revelation Natural Art (plus any number of other things) to paint over the photo images (the picture above was created this way using 2Paint a Picture). The results can be variable but  the impressionist setting on 2Paint a Picture and the watercolour setting on Revelation Natural Art give the most realistic results.

If creating art is not your thing then try making photo collages using Shape Collage, Microsoft AutoCollage or Andrea Mosaic. Microsoft AutoCollage definitely has a big ‘wow factor’ but Shape Collage does offer more control over their finished collage as it allowed them to choose a background colour, border colour, shape and overlap. Andrea Mosaic is a different sort of thing entirely and some might think it needs too much effort as you need a large selection of images to get a good result. The resulting creations have a big impact though.

There’s also plenty of opportunity to use photo editing packages ( online application FotoFlexer is a favourite)Why not collect all the images together and place them in a PowerPoint Notebook template. These look like sketch books used in many art sessions and these are a close approximation of the same thing in a digital format. Why not have a go?

Fun with Mosaics

When we think of mosaics we usually think of Rome, but there’s a fantastic free download called Andrea Mosaic that allows you to make photo mosaics of the type made famous initially by The Truman Show Poster. This creates beautiful photo mosaics and can be linked to classroom activities in a number of different ways. All you need is a folder full of relevant photos/images, that are in .jpg format, and away you go. The website has plenty of ideas to get you started and there’s also a tutorial section.

The most obvious way to use this program is to recreate a famous work of art using images that match the theme of the painting. Van Gogh’s sunflowers looks fabulous created from photos of real sunflowers as does Monet’s Water Lilies created from photos of real water lilies. There are numerous pieces of art that could be recreated this way. My current favourite is this Lowry image created from images of other Lowry paintings – the effect is amazing!

It’s also a nice program for creating art linked to topical or historical events. The image below, created to coincide with Armistice day, and I am sure there are many other occasions or topics  throughout the school year where this sort of activity could be used as an interesting and engaging extension.

You can even use it to create Roman style mosaics using blocks of pure colour. I’ve created a collection of coloured mosaic tiles (you’ll need to unzip the folder) so that the program can be used in this way if you would like to try it. For the mosaic to look detailed you will have to set your tile number to the highest available setting (10,000) but the results can be truly gorgeous.

Whatever you choose to do with the program I’ll sure you’ll have fun with it. I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the results.