Hubble Space Telescope Chalk Pastels

Hello again from Mr. Reardon’s class! This month, we learned about the Hubble Space Telescope and interpretted its images using chalk pastels. It was awesome.

We started out by talking about the Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope does not merely see the visible spectrum far beyond what humans can see, but it can also see the near ultraviolet and near infrared spectra. So the colors and formations captured by the telescope are infinitely diverse and colorful. I brought some print outs of the photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. We talked about the vastness of space, the shapes of galaxies, that nebulas are made of gas (giggle), and that those tiny white spots in the photos are stars, just like our sun. The images are so amazing, and they were to be our inspiration for making art!

Well, the perfect medium for interpretting these incredible photos would be chalk pastels. Chalk pastels can be transparent or opaque. Depending on how we use the pastels, the color they may be hard and intense, or they can be soft and subtle. And, we get to use the pastels on black paper, which is the perfect canvas to emulate deep space.

I showed a few techniques for using the pastels. Like, drawing a dotted line to lightly sketch the composition. Or using the torn edge of a paper as a mask to create a hard edge. I also demonstrated that when we smudge the color, it softens its appearance. When we leave the color pure and untouched, it is more opaque and sharp. I encouraged them to not cover the entire sheet of paper with color; the black paper will help us represent the vastness of space.

Finally, we discussed that chalk pastels are messy, and that's why we covered their desks with paper. Mr. Reardon asked them to please roll up their sleeves.

Then we got to it...

It was a deep space free for all. I encouraged them to experiment with opacity and blending colors. Try to remember that there is energy and gravity in these space formations, so there should be spots of intesity in their compositions.

Many students completed more than one drawing. It was a good time.

I sprayed the pictures with clear coat fixative to help prevent smearing. I'm actually not sure if that was a good idea, because now they stink! Hopefully, they'll air out soon and we'll be able to hang them in the hall this week.

You can really see the inspiration in their interpretations.

Chalk Pastel Planets

The 5th graders were learning about planetary bodies so we incorporated a space theme into this project. We used black paper and chalk pastels. 

Students were instructed to use light and shadows (the sun as the light source) to create the illusion of a 3rd dimension. 

Because chalk pastels will easily smudge, it helps to cover the final project with hairspray which acts as a fixative. (We recommend good ventilation for this part.)