An Ark of Inspiration.

An Ark of Inspiration. Rare is the child that cannot immediately identify he critical andcaptivating cap��ti��vate?tr.v. cap��ti��vat��ed, cap��ti��vat��ing, cap��ti��vates1. To attract and hold by charm, beauty, or excellence. See Synonyms at charm.2. Archaic To capture. characteristics of most animals. They rapidly acknowledgethe prickly porcupine, the corpulent cor��pu��lentadj.Excessively fat. porker and the extendedpossibilities of the elephant's trunk. Such entertaining and unique features are tremendously interestingto students in all grades, with countless art projects inspired from theanimal kingdom. Unfortunately, many middle- and high-school students,with their belief that verisimilitude is the mark of excellence inartwork, are rarely satisfied with their animal-inspired pictures. Such adolescent artists are particularly frustrated in theirefforts to accurately depict the less-understood or less-recognizableaspects of their creature. For example, a student at almost any age candraw a well-stretched giraffe's neck; yet, how many young artistswill eagerly delineate the same animal's pointy point��y?adj. point��i��er, point��i��estHaving an end tapering to a point. little hooves? (Andthat's providing the student can FIND a photograph of a giraffe giraffe,African ruminant mammal, Giraffa camelopardalis, living in open savanna S of the Sahara. The tallest of animals, giraffes browse in treetops at heights inaccessible to other leaf-eaters. A male may be 18 ft (5.5 m) from hoof to crown. that includes anything other than its throat from which to glean visualdetails.) Even drawing a kangaroo requires a great leap of faith intheir own ability once students get past the pouch. Their frustration iseasily understood. There is a gratifying resolution to such a block on creativity, andit may sound as simple as trying to please a child by offering him ameal composed only of desserts. For continuous inspiration and incentiveto concentrate, even when students are going to commence working in anunfamiliar medium, tell them that their subject matter will beanimal-based, but they have to select from only two intriguingpossibilities. One option is for the students to combine identifiable parts fromdifferent creatures and render them as one. Immediately students graspthe idea that their project may result in a poodle with a hog'ssnout or a Technicolor skunk with a peacock's tail. (It is best tolimit the new animal to just two parts from different species. More thantwo parts may result in such horrendous hybrids that they are absolutelyunrecognizable and consequently less satisfying for the student artist.) Problematic animal parts that might derail enthusiasm are naturallyswapped between the two contributing creatures. Perhaps the unaesthetic Adj. 1. unaesthetic - violating aesthetic canons or requirements; deficient in tastefulness or beauty; "inaesthetic and quite unintellectual"; "peered through those inaesthetic spectacles"inaesthetic gills of a goldfish might easily be camouflaged under the flowing maneof a transplanted lion's head as he becomes the king of theunderwater beasts. The other option is for the students to take a single creature andintentionally and creatively distort it. Such students may endeavor toproduce the image of an elephant with tusks in a supernatural ivoryarabesque. Their percolating imagination might envision a raccoon raccoon,nocturnal New World mammal of the genus Procyon. The common raccoon of North America, Procyon lotor, also called coon, is found from S Canada to South America, except in parts of the Rocky Mts. and in deserts. inshades of blue or an angelfish angelfish:see butterfly fish. angelfishAny of various fishes of the order Perciformes. The best-known angelfishes are freshwater cichlids (genus Pterophyllum) popular in home aquariums. clearly spotted like a heifer. By using this animalistic subject matter, the teacher is settingthe stage for a very successful art experience in whatever medium theychoose. Regardless of the student's selection of subject matter orprevious art experiences, when viewing the finished creation, no one canclaim the details are grossly incorrect. Additionally, for the students,the potential stress of working with a new material or in a newtechnique is counterbalanced by the undiluted fun of trying to create abeaked bull or a jewel-encrusted woodpecker. As a bonus, other than preparing the art materials and providingthe necessary instruction in their use, the teacher need not waste timelooking for full-figured photographs of animal species in order to getthe project thundering along. Just a portion of a creature may well beall that is needed. (A statuesque stat��u��esque?adj.Suggestive of a statue, as in proportion, grace, or dignity; stately.statu��esque stag's head from an insuranceadvertisement can easily be transformed into a blond buck with blackroots.) Even a cursory examination of non-fiction children's bookswill provide a wealth of animal photographs to use, blend and adapt. Formore advanced students, this type of subject matter can neatly extendinto studies of mythological creatures as well as aspects of commercialart and story illustrations. Students learn to manipulate a variety ofmaterials and refine their techniques all the while they are in hotpursuit of an imaginary beast. Obviously the question is not, "Whether pigs have wings."Adolescents are more than ready to unleash such landlocked creatures toflap above the barnyard. It is such a simple idea that inspires even themost reticent students to grab the pen, clutch the pencil or swirl thedripping brush and see if they can really get the fur to fly. Steve King, at the time he wrote this article, was teaching art atQuantico Middle School and High School in Quantico, Virginia. He nowteaches art at Mannheim American High School in Germany.