S03M01:Tracing ArtStarts Explores: Our Province at Play

May 2020, An Introduction to Tracing
ArtStarts Explores: Our Province at Play digital series

This week, we explore TRACING.
Be sure to join us for our 2 part live workshop series hosted on Facebook Live: Saturday, May 23rd and May 30th at 11 A.M. The sessions will then be captioned and added to our channel here!

Our weekly, free family programming goes online in this new bi-weekly series focused on getting families to make time for play and exploration together. Our art-making, process-based workshops encourage folks to try new things, and to embrace experimentation and discovery as we build critical thinking skills together.

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Narration, script & subtitles: Kay Slater (shared using the CC-share like-attribution license, feel free to use and remix this video)!
Music credit: Ghost Dance, By Kevin MacLeod - used under the CC share-alike-attribution license. Thank you Kevin.

Welcome to ArtStarts Explores.

I’m Kay and I work at ArtStarts

as a Gallery Coordinator and Preparator.

I started the ArtStarts Explores program

3 years ago, and am excited to

bring a version online that

can be enjoyed

by families across the province.

Today, we’re going to explore

the theme of Tracing.

The word tracing can mean different things

when exploring art-making such as

copying and transferring an image from

one surface to another, using an object

to create an outline, or drawing an image

into or through a material.

You can also say that you left a trace

when you mark a surface or

leave an impression behind.

We use tracing to help us

quickly make copies, leave outlines

or marks to help us cut-out patterns,

and even to help us learn,

like when we trace the alphabet

to practice writing our letters.

If you’ve never joined us for Explores

in the past, I want to take

a quick moment to tell you about

3 rules or guidelines we like to follow.

First: is respect.

We practice respect for ourselves

by listening to how we feel,

respect for others by listening and sharing,

respect for the land by

acknowledging the nations and

indigenous people who have served

and continue to serve as guardians and

stewards of the land and by doing our

best to be respectful guests as

we learn and play here.

Second: is no expectations.

Try not to plan too much before

trying something today.

If we get a picture in our heads

of how something should turn out,

we can be disappointed with ourselves

when it doesn’t. Try to practice

surprising yourself, and always ask

“I wonder what will happen if I…”

Third: is that Nothing is for Keeps.

In the gallery in Vancouver, we like

to say “take nothing home with you

except your experience” but since many

of you are at home now,

we challenge you to unmake everything

you try today! This means, after you’ve

finished trying something, try to

disassemble or take it apart so you

can use it again for something else.

Try not to make any completed thing,

and whenever possible pull from your

recycling bin to practice (and if it can

still be recycled when you’re done?

Put it back). Trying something new

doesn’t need to make something for keeps

- and that’s just what we’re practicing

today!

Let's start exploring tracing together.

Have you ever used your finger to try

tracing a picture in the air? As you move

your finger, can you see a picture in

your brain? What about tracing

your finger through dirt or water?

What happens?

Remember, the ideas

that I suggest we try here are just a

few of the things that you and your

family can try to explore together.

For today’s activity, we’re going to

focus on using light to transfer or show

images through different surfaces so that

we can quickly repeat an image and

be influenced by lines we have drawn

before. We’re going to use a window

to help us with this.

Before we go to the window, I’ve collected

the following things: Tape,

(you could also use poster tack or putty

if you don’t want to tape things

to the window).

Some mark-making tools. I know from

experience that darker markers or a pencil

will show up better than a lighter marker,

but try everything for yourself

rather than just listening to me.

What happens if?...

If you want to use a yellow marker -

see what happens! And finally, some paper.

I like to use printer paper, but I also

suggest you look in your recycling bin.

Old receipts are very see-through so

it’s easy to use them for tracing.

What changes when you use a blank page

compared to one that has marks on it?

Try it out.

Now let’s bring all of our tools over

to the window. If you and your family

are sharing the same window,

you can take turns on different layers.

If the room you pick has different

windows, you could each take a window

and then share what you did at the end.

Tape up your first piece of paper

and draw a mark.

I suggest not making a complete picture -

just a really quick mark.

Next, tape up another piece of paper.

Notice how the light from the window

shows the marks you just drew

through the paper?

Now you can either trace

exactly or add different marks around

those original lines.

Keep adding layers and add new lines

as you go along. When you’re all done,

pull the pages away from the window

and look at each of your drawings.

How are they the same?

How are they different?

Put them back on the window in

different orders.

How does the image you see

when you layer them together change?

There are lots of ways you can

explore tracing, and today

we explored how light travelling

through an object can help reveal

existing images for us to trace.

Be sure to download our

Activity Resource Page this week

for additional questions you can

ask each other as well as some

words you can use to challenge yourself

when you’re practicing tracing.

And don’t forget, when

you’re all done playing and exploring,

try to take things apart and put them

away again so that the only thing that is

left behind are the pictures in your brain.

Thanks for watching this

video today. If you have any suggestions,

please let us know.

If you’re watching this in May 2020,

we’ll be hosting 2 live art-making

workshops over the next

couple of weekends on Saturdays

on Facebook Live where

you can MAKE at home, ask

questions or just watch me practice!

Check us out on Facebook or Instagram

I hope to see you then.