My new oil painting class started last night, and it’s going to be challenging. In addition to the several oil paintings we will complete, we need to keep and turn in a sketchbook. Every two weeks we need to complete 7 pages in the sketchbook, and they should be good pages: lots of time invested in each drawing. I’m guessing one hour at least per page. I spent over two hours on a single drawing tonight, so I guess I was a bit ambitious with the still life I arranged. It has reflective surfaces, geometric shapes, wood grain and other textures, in addition to the hard and soft shadows. It shows a favorite vintage clock of mine (a Baby Ben from Westclox), along with a vintage paper maché box from the Philippines.

This drawing is a little under 9″ x 12″, completed with an HB pencil and kneaded eraser on 90-lb. paper. I don’t like to use blending stumps, opting instead to create changes in value with the pressure placed on the pencil or with successive layering. this way the texture of the paper can do a lot of the texturing work for me.

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I am adapting this unit from a project on dickblick.com: Character Nichos (2006). We began today and it is going well so far. Most of the classes got through the second sentence of step two below. I expect this project to take two to three weeks, as it involves all kinds of preparation, assembly, sculpting, embossing and painting.

While this is a wonderful lesson page, I can provide a lot more guidance than dickblick.com’s page offers, such as information for ordering the correct amount of materials, and pitfalls that can occur with inattentive students. I have reprinted dickblick.com’s instructions and material list on the left, with my commentary on the right. I will add updates as we continue this project. I will also get a photo up here of my own nicho, along with images I found online to use for transparencies.

Procedure	Notes
1. Cut a window in the lid to the box. Measure 1/4″ from the edge with ruler. Cut with scissors or craft knife.	Students must be cautioned when using the craft knife. The paper maché is pretty thick. Don’t let them hold their thumb in the direct line of the cutting direction as they hold the box lid. Poke a hole at each corner of the drawn window square with a thumbtack. This will make each easier to push the craft knife in, and to know where to stop the knife when cutting each side of the square. Using scissors will be too challenging with this thick paper.Pitfalls: Make sure students understand how to use a ruler properly. Even some of my high schoolers had trouble measuring a ¼ inch and knowing where to put the measured tick marks. I had them measure a ¼ inch from each corner in each direction, make tiny marks along the edge of the lid, then connect the marks to draw the window square.
2. Place box in the center of tooling foil, use embossing tool to trace the base of the box. Use ruler to continue lines to the edge of the foil piece and scissors to cut away corners to form tabs (see illustration 1). Using a magazine or newspapers to protect the work surface, tool designs or words onto the 4 tab sections only with the embossing tool. Tool from either side of the foil, but remember that the copper color will be the front, so words must be tooled on the copper side to be right-reading. Place a few drops of glue on the sides of the box, place it back in the center of the foil and wrap the box sides with the foil.	Cut the 25’ x 1’ copper foil roll into 7” x 1’ sheets prior to Day One. Students cut their one sheet into three pieces: one 7” x 7” for the box bottom, one 5” x 5” for the lid, and one 5” x 2” left-over for decoration.Have students fold the foil around the box bottom and bend it into it. That way, they can see where the crease marks are when they unfold the foil. They can stop the embossed design at the crease.When embossing, the magazine or newspaper gives a nice cushion for tooling and it leaves a deeper impression than tooling against a hard table surface.Have students inscribe their names on the central square first, which otherwise needs no decoration. By doing the bottom/back side first, they get a feel for how much pressure the foil can take before it develops a hole.
3. Repeat the process for the box lid. To create an opening, trace the window onto the foil piece. Use the ruler to make an “X” diagonally from each corner of the window (illustration 2), cut on the “X” and wrap the triangular tabs back over the window edge. The lid with window will have excess foil, either wrap it all around or trim it away with scissors.	Start by tracing both the outside of the lid and the window, so that students begin with two squares in the middle of their foil.Cut the X by first punching through the foil at the center of the X with the scissors. It’s okay if these triangle tips get mangled, because you will trim them off. Make sure students don’t cut the whole window out: just along the X lines. If they cut out all the triangles completely, there’ll be nothing to wrap inside the window.Emboss designs between the two middle squares, and on the flaps that wrap around the sides (up to the crease).Pitfalls: Several students cut the whole window out in spite of repeated instructions not to. Make sure students understand why they are cutting only the X, not the whole square out. The triangles need to fold over to make a nice smooth window frame. Of course, not everyone listens when instructed carefully and repeatedly. This is why constant vigilance is required on the part of the instructor. I routinely travel around from student to student, checking to see that they have understood and completed each step in turn.
4. Measure the scrap piece of mat board for a front piece. It will need a window slightly larger than the one in the box lid. Place the box lid in the center of the back side of the mat board; trace the window with a pencil. Use the ruler to measure lines 1/8″ to 1/4″ on the outside of the lines marking the window. Cut out the opening using scissors or craft knife. Leave the front piece as a rectangle or create cut-outs, rounded corners, scalloped or zigzag edges.	I’m using tag board instead of mat board. One 9” x 12” sheet cuts into four 4½” x 6” pieces. Again, many students – even high schoolers – needed help measuring ¼ inch.To cut out the opening with scissors, punch through the middle of the squares with a scissor blade, and then cut out to the square and around. Cut out the larger, second square, not the smaller square.Pitfalls: Check everyone’s measurements before they begin cutting. Some students traced around the outside of the lid instead of inside the window. Some measured ½ inch instead of ¼ inch. When cutting, a few students cut in toward the square from the edge of the paper.
5. Paint the front piece as desired with acrylic colors. Paint the inside of the box bottom carefully, avoiding foil.	Watercolor or tempera works fine too. Encourage students to keep their front piece and sculpture along a theme. I instructed students to draw a design in pencil first, then use at least two colors when painting. Otherwise, some students want to just paint the whole thing one flat color.I let students paint the box bottom one flat color if they wanted, or use their scrap copper to decorate it instead.
6. While paint is drying on the Nicho, assemble the character or object to place in the box. You may model the character with Model Magic or Sculpey, then paint the surface, or use paper cut outs or found objects. The bird in the example above was formed with Sculpey on a wire base, then baked in the oven according to package instructions and painted once cooled.	I used Crayola Model Magic. I prepared the modelling material ahead of time, cutting the 8oz bricks into ten pieces each and putting each piece into an individual zipper bag. I found sandwich zipper bags at $1 for 60 bags at Dollar Tree. Each student gets one bag.Sculpt and let dry overnight. I’ve given my students two days sculpting time. Here are the instructions I put on the board: larger than a marble small enough to fit inside the nicho box use embossing tools to smooth, shape, and create detail if desired don’t like your first sculpture? squash it and start over keep it in the sealed plastic bag to keep it soft overnight for further work when you are done, let it air dry; put initials and period number on the bottom as you sculpt, think about how you will paint it Paint with acrylic, tempera or watercolor the next day. Don’t paint areas which are meant to be pure white.
7. Glue the front piece onto the box lid and assemble the box. Decorate the outside of the box to further describe the character. Add painted wood shapes, cut-outs from leftover foil or more objects created with modeling material. Use a push pin to create holes in the box, then attach copper wire pieces to string beads (see example) or to add a hanger on the back of the box (see side view). Glue the character into the Nicho as a final step.	Poke two holes in the back with a push pin, horizontally near where the top edge will be. Through these holes, thread 6 inches of copper wire used for hanging. Form into a circle or loop and twine the ends together.Get a big gob of white glue on the bottom of the sculpture so that it really adheres to the foil on the inside of the box.

Materials
Paper Maché Mini Box, square	These are about 3” x 3”, x 1½” high and pretty sturdy.
2-Toned Tooling Foil, Coppertone	These rolls are 1 foot wide and 25 feet long. Use 7” for each student, so one roll will accommodate 42 students. Cut the roll in 7” x 12” sheets prior to the project.
Embossing tool	I got ten of each shape, but the liner will probably be the most useful because of its pointed end.
Blickrylic Economy Polymer Paint	I’m using watercolor at the middle school, and acrylic or watercolor at the high school. Tempera will also be fine.
Acme Junior Stainless Scissors	Any scissors are fine.
Matboard, scrap pieces approximately 4″ x 6′’	I’m using heavy-duty tag board instead: http://www.dickblick.com/zz131/11/ I have 9” x 12” sheets which are cut into four pieces. Each student gets one 6” x 4½” piece. One pack of 100 sheets of tag board would accommodate 400 students. This calculates to one cent per student rather than 35 cents for the matboard. It’s a little flimsier, but it still works fine and the price difference makes it work it.
Royal Soft Grip Brushes	I’m using the variety of brushes I already have in stock.
18 gauge Copper Wire, cut in 5″ pieces	I think 6” is easier to work with. One 25-foot roll will make 50 pieces. Each student will need at least one for the hanging loop. Each student will use one more for the beads hanging down. So, one roll will accommodate roughly 25 students.
Beads, assorted colors or unfinished, ready to paint	I got two of the plastic buckets of assorted colors. I have no idea how many beads are in it, but the bucket is 3 inches high and 4½ inches in diameter. It turns out we used only one bucket’s worth for 70 students, but I’m glad I got two so the students had plenty of bead choices.
Woodsie Wood Shapes	I got the bag of 330. I ended up with only circles, teardrops and ovals. I didn’t get any hearts or stars or anything. Students can paint those on instead, but next time I might get one bag of each of the 130-count individual shapes. It’s less than a half-cent difference per piece to get the smaller bags.
Crayola Model Magic or Sculpey, white	I got the value pack of white Model Magic. It contains 12 packages of 8 ounces each. The eight-ounce brick is about 7½” x 4” x 1” (30 cubic inches). Each brick should accommodate 10 students for this project. Since it air dries, wait until the last minute to open the pouches and split up the material unless you have airtight containers or zipper bags to keep it in.
Sobo White Glue	Any bottled white glue will work. Glue sticks will not, especially when it comes to gluing the sculpted character into the box.
#2 Pencil	Any pencil will do.
Blick Metal Ruler	Any ruler will do.
Craft Knife	Any craft knife will do. I’m offering to do the cutting if my younger students are not comfortable with it.

UPDATE 1/18/07: Day two, and my demonstration nicho

Today, most of the students got through the end of step 2. One class got partway through step 3. We continue this project next Tuesday.

UPDATE 1/23/07: Day 3

Most students got half way through step 4 today.

UPDATE 1/24/07: Day 4

Most students got through the end of step 4 today.

UPDATE 1/25/07: Day 5

Most students got half way through step 5 today.

UPDATE 1/31/07: Day 7

Students got through the end of step 5 on Day 6 (yesterday.) Today (Day 7) they have begun sculpting the character.

UPDATE 2/4/07: Day 8

Most students completed their sculptures per step 6. Photos of students work in progress are below:

UPDATE 2/6/07: Day 9

I gave students an extra day today to finish up their altar faces and sculptures. Tomorrow I hope to have students complete step 7.

UPDATE 2/7/07: Day 10

Students created the hanging wire and the decorative wire with beads and painted wooden pendants today. We will glue the altar face and scuplture to the box tomorrow. Next week, I plan to have them all do another critique.

UPDATE 2/8/07: Day 11

The nichos are all assembled and on display! I can’t wait to post the photos up here, perhaps tomorrow. They’re gorgeous and very very creative.

UPDATE 2/11/07

Here are photos from the middle school. The first is from first period. The other eight are individual artworks from students grades 6-8. I am so impressed with the incredible creativity of these students. This was such a wonderful project!

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