Ir-resist-able fish.

Ir-resist-able fish. If it's true that fish is "brain food," then thismethod of teaching your students about batik batik(bətēk`), method of decorating fabrics practiced for centuries by the natives of Indonesia. It consists of applying a design to the surface of the cloth by using melted wax. will give them extrabrainpower brain��pow��er?n.1. Intellectual capacity.2. People of well-developed mental abilities: a country that doesn't value its brainpower.Noun 1. . On a recent trip to the Caribbean island of St. Kitts Noun 1. St. Kitts - the largest of the islands comprising Saint Christopher-NevisSaint Kitts, St. Christopher, Saint ChristopherFederation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Christopher-Nevis, Saint Kitts and Nevis, St. Christopher-Nevis, St. , I visited awonderful batik studio, Caribelle Batik. This world-famous studio andshop offers a wide selection of hand-painted batiks, ranging from smallitems and clothing to large wall hangings. A friendly artisan may befound demonstrating the wax-resist method in the front of the studio,explaining the process as she works. Somehow I knew that I wanted to bring this beautiful technique backto my elementary-school students, but I was concerned with the safety ofhot wax in the classroom. So, I simplified it by using a crayon-resistmethod to simulate the crisp white outlines and brilliant colors foundin the Caribelle fabrics. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] First, I shared some sample batik fabrics and photographs of batiksand asked students what they liked about them. The kids enjoyed thebright colors and tropical themes, and someone always notices the whiteoutlines surrounding the shapes. I shared photos of the Caribellestudio, available online at www.caribellebatikstkitts.com, and explainedthe batik process: First, liquid wax is applied as a "resist"substance; then the fabric is either dipped in dye or painted with dye;next, the wax is removed using heat; and the process is repeated foreach additional color. I told the students we can't use hot wax in elementary school elementary school:see school. ,but there is something we use all the time in art class that we cansubstitute. They quickly guessed: "Crayons!" I informed themthat it's called "crayon crayon,any drawing material available in stick form. The term includes charcoal, conte crayon, chalk, pastel, grease crayon, litho crayon, and children's wax colors. resist" when we paint overcrayon with watercolors because the waxy waxy(wak��se)1. composed of or covered by wax.2. resembling wax, especially denoting some combination of pliability, paleness, and smoothness and luster. crayons "resist" thepaint. Since I used an underwater theme, during the remainder of the firstsession I shared books and pictures of fish and ocean scenes. TheUnderwater Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta and Buck Wilder's SmallFry Fishing Guide: A Complete Introduction to the World of Fishing forSmall Fry of All Ages by Timothy R. Smith and Mark Herrick are excellentchildren's books that show fish in their environment. Othersuitable subjects are flowers, birds or tropical foliage. [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] We looked at photos, books and prints of fish and brainstormedfeatures all fish have in common. The students then created their ownpictures on practice paper in pencil, sketching lightly and using basicshapes to draw our fish, starting with an oval and then adding fins, atail, an eye and mouth, with some patterns on the body and fins.Seaweed, coral, shells, rocks and sand were added to the background.Some students drew bubbles rising from their fishes' mouths. Thenext step was to outline everything in black permanent marker A permanent marker is a type of marker pen that is used to create permanent writing on an object. Generally the liquid is water resistant, contains the toxic chemical xylene or toluene, and is capable of writing on a variety of surfaces from paper to metal to stone. and erasethe pencil. Before coloring, we reviewed warm and cool colors, and discussedhow warm colors pop out and cool colors recede re��cede?1?intr.v. re��ced��ed, re��ced��ing, re��cedes1. To move back or away from a limit, point, or mark: waited for the floodwaters to recede.2. . They decided which colorgroup Color Group ASA was established in 1990 as a result of the merge between Jahre Line and Norway Line. The same year Color Line took over Fred. Olsen Lines cruiseferry operations, and then expanding its business further. , warm or cool, they would use for the foreground and then used theopposite color group for the background. While some students wereresistant to the idea of red, yellow or orange water, I explained thatsometimes the water looks bright when sunlight is streaming down throughit, reflecting the light in a striking way. This made them feel moreadventurous and willing to try something different. The second session, we reviewed the batik process and discussed howit compares to crayon resist: hot wax versus crayon; dye versuswatercolors. We used light gray paper to draw our final copies, as itmakes the white crayon much easier to see. With white charcoal pencil orchalk, we lightly sketched the fish and background features, making surethe composition filled the whole paper. Next, we drew over the chalklines with white crayon, pressing hard and going over every line severaltimes so the wax was thick enough on the paper to resist the paint. Iexplained to students they should be able to feel the waxy crayon lineswith their eyes closed. The next session, students painted the foreground, including thefish, coral, seaweed, shells and so on. I reminded them to use eitherwarm or cool colors for everything they painted that day and not topaint the water or ocean floor. Mixing and blending colors adds avariety of shades and hues. Finally, we painted the water and ocean floor using the oppositecolor group. Wet-on-wet works best for this part, so I demonstrate thistechnique by painting one section at a time. After each section ispainted, while it is still wet, sprinkle some coarse salt over the area.The crystals absorb the paint and add a very unique texture to thewater. Students get very excited seeing the salt crystallize crys��tal��lizealso crys��tal��ize ?v. crys��tal��lized also crys��tal��ized, crys��tal��liz��ing also crys��tal��iz��ing, crys��tal��liz��es also crys��tal��iz��esv.tr.1. into thepaints. The use of warm and cool colors, salt crystals and the batikeffect, with crisp white outlines, created magnificent underwater scenesthat we found to be "ir-resist-able"! MATERIALS * 12" x 18" light gray heavyweight drawing paper orconstruction paper * 9" x 12" practice paper * White charcoal pencils or white chalk and erasers * White crayons * Watercolors * Brushes, water and paper towels * Coarse salt * Crayons * Fine black permanent markers * Pencils, erasers LEARNING OBJECTIVES Elementary students will ... * use crayon-resist techniques to simulate the batik effect. * create underwater landscapes with fish using warm and coolcolors. A&A online Go to artsamdactivities.com and click on this button for a Web linkto learn more about the Caribelle technique of batik. RESOURCES * Pallotta, Jerry, The Underwater Alphabet Book. CharlesbridgePublishing, 1991. * Smith, Tim and Herrick, Mark, Buck Wilder's Small FryFishing Guide: A Complete Introduction to the World of Fishing for SmallFry of All Ages. Buck Wilder Books, 1995. * Web site: www.caribellebatikstkitts.com Joan Sterling teaches art at Hickory Woods Elementary School inWalled Lake, Mich., and coauthored "Art by the Book" fromPieces of Learning (piecesoflearning.com).