Over the past few weeks my students have been creating fish tiles. You may have seen them coming home and wondered what was involved in making them. Here is the run down of the process. During the introduction to this project students researched different fish, learned what they looked like and where they lived. They then drew a picture of the fish and took notes about the fish in their journal. From this preliminary research students began to practice drawing their fish. Their first drawing was big allowing them to add many details. Then gradually students reduced the size and detail of their drawing to match the size of the final tile. The next week, after students were confident in their ability to draw their fish we began making the tile. The students began by sketching their fish on a paper the exact same size as their tile would be. Then this drawing was transferred onto a rectangle of meat tray foam. The foam would be the mold for our tile. The transferred
fish drawing was then embossed into the foam by using a pencil to gradually make deeper and deeper grooves into the foam. Them after all the details of the fish were etched into the foam clay was pressed and rolled out onto the foam, forming the tile. Students were encouraged to maintain an even thickness of about ½ an inch of clay. After the clay was rolled out and completely covered the foam the entire thing was turned over so the foam was on the top. Then, using a Popsicle stick students cut around the foam forming their tile. This was allowed to dry and then the foam was removed. After bisque firing the students then used their fish drawings as a guide to glazing their fish. This project allowed students to learn how the same subject changed when it was used in different sizes and media. By repeatedly drawing the same subject students were also able to refine their art work.
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