Captured Sports Action

Abstract

by M. Bruce Bowman Sports action lends i tsel f well to the classroom artist. It appeals to boys and girls alike as subject matter and it has an aura o f excitement about it. To create an interest or identification for all, I put no restriction as to what sport was used, but to ensure a good design I required three to f ive figures that were overlapping and coming together from different directions. While choosing and arranging their compositions the students were to give primary consideration to position, arrangement and directional flow of the figures. Other elements o f major compositionat importance were numbers, stripes, stars and league symbols. Most of the figures used had to be shifted or rearranged while some students had to compose one picture out o f a combination o f several. The students drew their visual material from various magazines, with action sports illustrations. Though this project could be used in any media, I chose colored construction paper. After the students decided on the sport and searched for a variety of photos to work from, they worked out their idea on small sheets o f newsprint. The student and I conferred as to what would be the best design to develop and why. Many recommended changes were suggested when enlarging the small rough to a 9” x 12” sheet of newsprint. Though the enlargemenf was s t i l l newsprint it was in essence the final, for each different shape or color change would be traced onto the appropriate construction paper. This was done by darkening the back o f the newsprint and tracing. This method ensured precision and neatness. The shapes were cut out and glued to a 9’’ x 12” background of colored construction paper. Students should be informed that not much glue is needed to hold the paper together and that too much may become messy and distract from the appearance of the finished product. 0