My name is Campbell Johnson and I am an Art Education student at the University of Florida. In my art, I like looking at topics that feel close to me. Mental health, the spaces I feel comfortable, and femininity are most of the ideas I create art around. For me, art is an escape and a place of comfort. I like to work in multimedia designs, but my main mediums are painting, drawing, digital, and photography. 

As an art educator, I believe communication is a crucial aspect of the attitude I want to promote in the art classroom. With communication, students and I will have an understanding of one another that will form a safe and comfortable environment set up for students to thrive in big picture thinking and design standards that other core classes are not teaching.  Understanding one another leads to a place of open conversation that can promote problem-solving skills, tolerance, and flourish creativity. Developing connections through a safe environment will allow students to put as much of themselves forward as they want to. Art-making can be an emotionally powerful thought-provoking space for many students and educators. In my art classroom, we will look at the power art can have in cultivating a conversation. 

As an art educator, I will bring more inclusive and diverse resources to my classroom. Through the use of different websites like Art21 or Tate, I will share artists of different races, gender, ethnicities, and sexualities to widen the student’s view of what art can be. Looking at how different artists create and work through ideas will expand the concept of art to the students.  I hope for the space to be one of knowledge, where students learn about the world, themselves, and the others around them. I hope to keep the inclusive and safe attitude in my classroom even when times are dark as they have been in recent years. 

Lastly, I hope to find inspiration, as well as, become an inspiration. Teaching others about art is my passion, and I think it is important to inspire others to continue that passion and process of making art. Art practice is important to have, so I’d like to influence others to continue art outside of the school space. Art crosses all spaces of society, whether we realize it or not, and the benefits of having an art practice will promote tolerance, create a sense of community, and increases problem-solving skills throughout society.

The use of illusion in artwork has been used to construct an alternative world created within the mind. Techniques of illusion have been famously used from the Renaissance art period to the Contemporary art of today. Optical devices like the Camera Obscura and Camera Lucida were used by artists throughout the Renaissance period to create portraiture and depict mirrors/ other reflective surfaces. By looking at artworks like the “Ambassadors” by Hans Holbein, “Relativity'' and “Waterfall” by M.C. Esher, and some of Van Eyck’s works like “Arnolfini Wedding”. The techniques used during this period seem outdated, but can be identified and used in new ways to work with the concept of illusion. Some artists weren’t using optics to purposely create illusions, but people like Hans Holbein did use illusion purposely. 

As a result, the students will:

Apply an understanding of one (or more) point perspective

Explore the practices of artists who use illusion

Explore how to make illusions of space present in your own art

Develop strategies/techniques to configure scenes from the imagination using your real-world photos 

Demonstrate and explore that artistic boundaries can be pushed with realism

Sketchbooks

Rulers

Pencils in H and B varieties

Paper (9”x12” or 11”x15”)

Black felt tip pens

Masking Tape

Drawing Boards

Mirrors 

Grided Plexiglass

Week one: perspective and illusion basics

-Teach perspective (one-point and two-point)

-Sketchbook assignment practicing perspective

-Introduction to different forms of illusion

-Camera Obscura, playing with size, distorted perspective

-Playing with making shapes on different planes: group activity

-Creating a 2D shape on a 3D plane that can be seen from one vantage point

       -Ex: making a 2D square onto steps

Week two: introducing and beginning project

-Combining perspective and illusion in project

-Starting perspective drawings, coming up with a composition, etc. 

Week three: finishing project

-Project work time

-self-reflection

Project Description: (Campbell and Kaitlyn)

Animals have been a source of inspiration for artists throughout history. From art about rural life and growth, to myths and legends, animals are used in many different ways by artists. This lesson will help us explore our relationship to Florida wildlife and can help us think about how we care for animals and the environment and honor the worlds in which we live.

We are going to explore endangered animals (endangered to the state of Florida) and make 3-D animals. The students will use clay to recreate these animals(about the size of their hand) to place in a diorama that will create and demonstrate their own natural setting for the animal. Students will explore various ways to convey a message of endangered animals and preservation approaches.

The project will begin with researching species that are endangered to Florida and keeping sketchbook notes about the animals habitat and threats to the habitat. The students will be encouraged to use recycled materials creatively and/or natural materials to make a diorama of the endangered animals habitat. Students will have creative freedom to use a range of materials, as well as demonstrate their knowledge of the animal by  researching and recreating an appropriate environment.  

Activities: (Maayan, Max & Abby)

Students pick an endangered or threatened animal from Florida’s Endangered and Threatened Species List.  

Students go out into nature and look for an object that relates to the animal or animal’s environment in any way (students are encouraged to be as creative as they want in relating the object back to their animal) 

Ex: natural elements (leaves, pinecones, grass, sticks, mulch, rocks, etc.) can be used as well as litter (bottle caps, plastic bottles, food wrappers, etc.)

Back in the classroom, students use 1 lb of clay to build their animal. 

Students add nature, recycled parts, and or art supplies to their animals to create the diorama. 

Note: Students are able to do further research on the animals on the list, maybe even helping them better understand the idea of an endangered species