This week Art in Action students are getting into the Halloween “mood.” Mood refers to the feeling created in the artwork. The use of the elements and principles of design affect mood in a painting. The lines, colours, shapes, values and textures in the work and how they are organized through harmony, variety, balance, emphasis and unity. The subject matter – people, trees, buildings, objects etc. and the way they are represented influence the mood of a painting. The sensory qualities, emotional aspects, symbolism in the work, context – the time period and culture in which the work was produced and even the technical aspects – the medium, materials processes, techniques and style employed by the artist all affect mood. Students created a spooky Halloween mood by using dark colours, making bumpy textured trees with reaching “hands” for branches – hopefully, it isn’t too scary!
We also looked at some Halloween traditions and their origins. The story of lighting pumpkins may have come from Ancient Celtic tradition of communal bonfires where at the end of the Samhain (Harvest) celebration, Celts would bring home an ember from this fire and carry them in hollowed out turnips, creating a lantern. Resembling modern day Jack- O-Lanterns.
Trick-or Treating comes from Celtic legend of Faeries that were not necessarily evil, but not particularly good either. They were mischievous. They like rewarding good deeds and did not like to be crossed. On Samhain, faeries were thought to disguise themselves as beggars and go door to door asking for handouts. Those who did not give treats were subjected to some faerie tricks! Just in case, Art in Action gave out non-edible “treats” of orange pencils, funky Halloween erasers, rings and stickers as well as a glow stick to wear trick or treating!
To help get you in the mood for Halloween check out these works by some of our students…
Happy Halloween everyone!