Outsider Animals
God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:25
Outsider art is art by self-taught art makers. Typically, people called outsider artists have little or no contact with the mainstream art world. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Look at this artwork created by Outsider Artist, James Castle.
What do you think Castle used to create this artwork?
Castle was deaf from birth and did not attend school until he was ten years old. When he turned ten he went to live at a school for the deaf and blind in southeastern Idaho. He only stayed at the school for five years. At a very early age Castle began drawing and making things with materials he found. He was inspired or influenced by everything around him. Every day he would check all the trash containers in his home and around the neighborhood he lived in. His discoveries became the materials from which he made his art. Castle would use things like sticks, apricot pits and broken writing pens as tools to create his artwork. He discovered he could scrape soot from the wood-burning stove and spit into it to mix a black ink to draw with. He would add color to his drawings by putting water on colored pieces of paper he found and squeezing out the color. Family members gave him store-bought art materials such as oil sticks and watercolors, and he incorporated these new materials with the things he made to produce the many textures and colors found in his work.
Another Outsider Artist is Mamie Deschille. Look at these pieces of art she made.
Castle was deaf from birth and did not attend school until he was ten years old. When he turned ten he went to live at a school for the deaf and blind in southeastern Idaho. He only stayed at the school for five years. At a very early age Castle began drawing and making things with materials he found. He was inspired or influenced by everything around him. Every day he would check all the trash containers in his home and around the neighborhood he lived in. His discoveries became the materials from which he made his art. Castle would use things like sticks, apricot pits and broken writing pens as tools to create his artwork. He discovered he could scrape soot from the wood-burning stove and spit into it to mix a black ink to draw with. He would add color to his drawings by putting water on colored pieces of paper he found and squeezing out the color. Family members gave him store-bought art materials such as oil sticks and watercolors, and he incorporated these new materials with the things he made to produce the many textures and colors found in his work.
Another Outsider Artist is Mamie Deschille. Look at these pieces of art she made.
What do you think about Mamie Deschillie's animals? What do you think she used to make them?
Mamie Deschillie (1920-2010) was a Navajo Indian. She is best known for cardboard cutouts of animals native to the American Southwest and other animals she saw in circuses and children's books. Today Mamie’s creations are prized by collectors and shops throughout the southwest and are included in many museums.
These Outsider Artists used their imagination to create artwork of animals God created.
Mamie Deschillie (1920-2010) was a Navajo Indian. She is best known for cardboard cutouts of animals native to the American Southwest and other animals she saw in circuses and children's books. Today Mamie’s creations are prized by collectors and shops throughout the southwest and are included in many museums.
These Outsider Artists used their imagination to create artwork of animals God created.
Objectives:
In this lesson you will create a cardboard animal inspired by the work of "Outsider Artists."
Materials:
- tempera paint
- large flat paintbrush
- painter's tape or masking tape
- white glue
- cardboard
- white paper and black marker, googly eyes, or buttons
Process:
- Think about and decide what animal you would like to create.
- Tear cardboard into small pieces. Do not tear itsy, bitsy pieces and do not worry about the shapes of your torn pieces. Just make sure they are interesting shapes, not perfect squares or circles. Interesting shapes will make your animal more interesting. Let some of the corrugated lines show. This will add texture to your animal.
- Mix paint the color you would like your animal and, with the brush "dry", paint your cardboard pieces. Let some of the brown show through and let it dry.
- Lay out your painted cardboard pieces. Look for a piece that might make a head for your animal. Look for pieces that will make the body, the legs, the tail, etc. You may want to experiment and move around the pieces. You may want to tear or cut some of your pieces for different parts of the body. Make sure your pieces overlap so you have a place to glue them.
- Once you have decided how you want to arrange your pieces, carefully glue them together.
- Place them on a tray to dry.
- Turn the piece over and tape the back to help strengthen your animal.
- Decide how you would like to add the eyes. You can draw right on the cardboard, draw eyes on white paper, cut out and glue them on, or use googly eyes or buttons.
- Upload your cardboard animal to Artsonia.
*Thank you Carla Sonheim for this lesson idea.
Standards:
VA:Cr1.2
VA:Cr2.1
VA:Cr2.3
VA:Re7.1
VA:Cr2.1
VA:Cr2.3
VA:Re7.1