design, create & fascinate

I’ve had a ton of requests for more auction project inspiration.  I’ll keep adding some as time permits, so here are two more. See my previous post for a third. 

Here’s my mantra with regard to auction projects that has served me well.   You might think about what’s important to you or how you can make your collaborations easier.

1) Form is more important than function!

I want the final project to be a piece that is art first, auction project second.   People are more likely to bid on a project that works as a piece of art, that displays well.  Always ask yourself “would I hang that on my wall?”

2) Treat it like a piece of art.

Do not clutter the piece with personalization or identifying messages.   You want the viewer to be engaged with the imagery not handprints, names or signatures.  I have the children sign the back of the project and, if needed, provide a “map” of each students contributions.  When a piece is devoid of personalization it appeals to a larger audience.  Several of our projects have sold, for a lot of money to parents, business people, art collectors and supporters that had no connection to the classroom.  It appealed to them on an artistic level.  Remember, the more people you engage with the work the higher the bids will go! 

3)  Use a color palette that is current and easily accepted into most homes.

In designing our projects, I establish the color palette of art supplies, papers and materials ahead of time.  Here in Portland we have a lot of Bungalows with historic color palettes, so I lend the project towards that direction.  This ensures that the piece will have a harmonious look in the home.  Sometimes the kids are caught a little of guard because they want the exact colors of their bodies features.  I explain to them that art isn’t literal, therefore, your skin color, hair color or colors you see in real life can be expressed without using “red for red hair” “peach or brown for skin tone” etc.  They quickly embrace the idea and often have fun playing with the stylized palette.

4)  Be the art director.

I usually “teach” our way through the projects using a step by step illustration of what we will be doing.  I try to explain to the students how an art director plays  part in the creation of stylized art.  I use cartoons as examples, explaining that there are dozens of animators working on one project.  To achieve a uniform style in shows like “the Simpson’s, Spongebob, Spiderman and Cinderella ” the art director has to establish guidelines of how the characters are rendered.  From there I take them through steps using a sample I rendered ahead of time.   It describes and illustrates the guidelines we will use for the projects.  For example: to create the Alphabet piece below we used a step by step guide starting with examples of face shapes that have cheek profiles,  how to draw an open eye and simple noses without nostrils.    We work through a rough draft, comparing it to the style I’m asking for.  The rough drafts allow them to make revisions without damaging the final piece.   The roughs are copied to their final piece and colored.

5)  Utilize technology to make your life easier and the final piece more effective.

There are a lot of parents who express sadness that they can not compete in an auction to “win” their child’s work.  So, in my early years of auction projects I decided to only use reproductions of the child’s work, allowing for the return of the original work at the end of the school year.  It is best to give them back at the end of the year so it will not undermine the excitement of the auction.

I scan and save their work or have it colored copied.  In other cases where we’ve utilized direct printing techniques, I have the children make two, one for the auction and one for their family.  Copying their work allows for enlargement and reduction, image enhancements and safeguards damaging the originals. 

There are also dozens of items that can be created digitally utilizing the children’s art that can enhance the auction piece.  One year, I hand painted and decorated a desk with the children’s work.  Utilizing the digital files, I had a local printer make me some padded note cards and stationary with the children’s images on them.  It was a huge hit.   We also gave extra copies to their teacher for a year end gift.  She was thrilled.

6)  Have fun!

Here are a couple more projects:

This was a fun project for 1st graders using scratch foam printing.  The foam is similar to the type they use to manufacture foam paper plates.  All the children do is draw on it with ballpoint pens to depress the foam.  Then the foam is rolled with ink and pressed onto paper.  If you read the above, you know that I utilize technology.  In the case of these foam prints, we printed black ink on white paper which leaves the children’s drawings as paper color and the uncompressed foam areas in black, I scanned them, inverted the colors, so now the drawings are black on white.  I digitally layered the drawings over colored blocks and printed them.  If you don’t have a program that allows you to make colored blocks, you could load colored paper directly into your printer.   For the auction, I decoupaged the works onto a wooden storage table with curvy wrought iron legs, I had picked up at a wholesale furniture company.  Then at the end of the year we presented the teacher with a framed print of the illustrations.

The idea behind these prints was to exclude face shapes from the illustration.  I wanted them to place their features within a square, making them all blockheads.  They laughed.  This is one of my favorite effects because  it’s dynamic, uninhibited and minimalistic.

The following project was inspired by vintage flash cards.  I wanted the final piece to look like a piece of folk art from the 1940’s - 1950’s.  Following my guideline teaching process described above I taught the class how to create a caricature of themselves in a stylized fashion.  We worked on continuity of characteristics so they would look as if they all came from the same cartoon show.  I think they did a wonderful job.

I digitally placed their works onto the cards I designed.  The remainder of the work was decoupaging, antiquing and building a frame with a beadboard mat.  

Vintage Alphabet Board Auction Project by Aaron Christensen

My daughter’s elementary school has an annual auction which anchors its fundraising efforts by encouraging classroom projects.  Every year, I try to invent a fun, educational and hopefully high wager product.  In the flavor of mid century illustrator Charles Harper, I worked with the students to create their own minimal realistic interpretation of a bird.  As a supporting ingredient, they authored quips and rhymes to engage the viewer, which were handwritten on vintage style ruled paper.  These elements were integrated into a triptych series that I rendered with branches and a sky blue background.  The kids had a great time and were very pleased with the final product.  The true test will come on auction night.  Wish us luck!

Charles Harper, born 1922 in Virginia, was trained as a realistic painter at the Cincinnatti Art Academy.  His works evolved away from realism into a more interpretive modern (for the times) feel.  Check out his works here at Flicker’s Harper Fan Club http://www.flickr.com/groups/charles_harper/ or http://www.theframeworkshop.com/store.cfm?SubCatID=25