Lesson #4: Changing the composition

Part of the unit: Digital Storyboarding |
Download PDF of Lesson
Download PDF of Lesson

Goals

Aim: 
How can you arrange, layer, and combine images and photographs from multiple sources to create meaning in your digital collages?
Students will be able to:
re-arrange the components of their digital collages before making any final decisions.
reflect upon how their decisions to position a component behind, in front of, at the side, above, or below another affects the meaning of the resulting image.
identify placement, layering, scale and color, angle and mood in the selected artwork.
Materials
Computer print–outs / calendar images of: Bruce Conner, Bombhead; Hannah Hoch, Beautiful Girl; Kara Walker, Harper's Pictorial; Leonora Carrington, Los hombres; Man Ray, Self-Portrait, Peacock; Richard Lindner, Man Walking Computers; with AppleWorks and Internet access, laptop, printer, projector, scanner

Motivation & Demonstration

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Motivation: 
Before the students come in, display the selected images on their tables. There should be a set of images for each table in the room, and one extra, for the teacher, displayed on the chalkboard. I see you're all excited about this project and eager to get started. Today, before you begin to work on your digital collages, we're going to learn about composition and placement and how this affects the meaning of the image. From the images placed at your tables, select "Beautiful Girl" by Hannah Hoch and "Bombhead" by Bruce Conner. Select with your eyes only, as you want each person at your table to be able to look at the images easily. What do you see in these images? Where does your eye travel first? What is the biggest object in each image? Where is this object placed in the image? What do you notice about the scale of these objects? Is the object that is closest the biggest, and the farthest smallest? Why do you think the artist chose to make certain objects appear smaller and others larger? Now select Man Ray's "Installation with Self-Portrait, Peacock feather and Metronome", and Leonora Carrington's Los Hombres Pajaro de Burnley. Which objects seem to be in the front? Which in the back? How has the artist created this sense of space or layering in the image? Why do you think the artist chose to place these objects in this order? Look at Richard Lindner's "Man Walking a Rooster by a Crested Moon" and Kara Walker's "Bank's Army Leaving Simmsport". Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War. How have the artists used color differently in the two images? What do you think these images are about? What do you think will happen if we re-arrange some of these objects? How do you think the meaning of the image will change?
Demonstration: 
When you begin to compose your own digital collages, you will have to do a lot of cropping, copying, pasting, selecting, and moving objects, before you are happy with your artwork. Some of you had time to try this last week and found some challenges and discoveries. Let's review some of these steps again, as we learn how to compose a digital image. First, I will open up a blank canvas, give it a name, and save it in my folder. Next, I might want to draw something on this canvas or select a background color. How can I do this? Now, I want to add a hand from one of my images in the folder. How can I do this? What should I do to select it? Look closely at this tool. What does it look like? What do you think I can do with this tool? The crawling line around the hand lets me know that it is selected. How do I copy and paste it in my canvas? (Ask for a volunteer to come up and demonstrate.) Ask for another volunteer to come up and demonstrate how to select, copy, and paste another image into the canvas, using one of their own sketches. Demonstrate how to save selections in a folder. How can I move this image to another part of my canvas? How can I bring another copy of the same image into my canvas and change the color? Now I have a drawing, a colored background, and parts of three outside images in my composition. If I am not entirely happy with the way the image looks now, how can I re-arrange the composition to make the meaning clearer? How can I make one of the parts smaller and remove some of the background? Are you all excited about starting to work on your final digital collages? Let's get on the computers and have fun with all of these tools and images.
Worktime
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You're going to be working individually at your computers. You can take this time to scan and save any photographs you have brought with you from home. Once you're ready, open up a blank canvas on AppleWorks, name and save it, and begin to work on the first of your three digital collages. You can pull from the materials in your folders, refer to your storyboard for ideas, select and add the new photographs you have brought from home, and draw directly on the computer. Good luck and remember, when you have a question, do the three things we talked about - look at the instructions on the charts, ask the person sitting next to you, ask your table monitor - before you ask me. This way you will learn better and be able to help each other.
Reflection & Assessment
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Save your work. In pairs, share your work and make suggestions for improvement based on the questions on the board. Remember to have your poems and storyboards visible so your classmate can refer to these when making suggestions: What do you see in this image? How does this image make you feel? How does the artist's choice of color affect the mood? How would you change the color to change the mood? How does the placement of the objects affect the image? How can I re-arrange the objects to make the meaning clearer?
Homework/Extension
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Students may bring in more photographs from home and additional drawings to include in their digital collages. (Community and Cultural resources, Making Connections) MESSAGE FOR TEACHER: The easiest way to select an object within an image is by using the magic wand. If the object has color values that are clearly different from the rest of the image, the magic wand will select it without any trouble. When there are similar color values, the lasso tool is a better option, as you can drag the mouse carefully around the shape, getting in as close as necessary. Be sure to work in a circular motion, close the shape, and end where you began, so that a crawling black line defines your selection. At this point you can either copy and paste this selection into a new canvas, or copy and import it into your working canvas. To copy, select Edit, then Copy / Cut. To Paste, open up the canvas you want to paste on, select Edit, then Paste or Paste Into. Make sure all the charts, with the instructions for the different functions and tools, are displayed in a visible location for the students to refer to throughout the duration of this unit. View original artwork at a New York City museum to really examine and grasp the scale, layering, juxtapositions, and intent of these works. (Community and Cultural Resources, Career and Lifelong Learning, Literacy in the Arts)