The following is a guest post by art educator Matt Grundler. Scroll below to read his bio!
As an art educator you find yourself experimenting with apps all the time. First off, you use your apps that you are more comfortable with and can rock in any situation. Then you start looking toward your professional network and making more connections to a wider variety of educators, app developers, and other resources, even revisiting apps that might have new updates and features. That is how I came to find Buncee.
As I began to look more into the Buncee app and visiting with them at a convention, I found that educators were using it to recreate famous masterworks of art. With my inquisitive mind, I began to challenge myself by learning the app better and seeing all the possible ways it can be used for creating. Experimenting with the app, I started using their sticker feature and I began to notice that the more things you added to your creation, the more layers were added along the side of your work space for better control on your items. I started out really simple, trying to recreate Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. As the layers began to build up on each other, the landscape began to take shape. It was really amazing how easy this app was to use and get started!
Buncee 101 Video
After creating this iconic artwork, I started challenging myself even more seeing what others I could recreate. My next plan was to try the “Great Wave” by Kanagawa Katsushika Hokusai. This one was to be more of a challenge, I had to use multiple layers for the wave then try to make the boats appear in the water of this well-known wave. Once completed, I sent my creations to my newfound friends at Buncee, who were so impressed with my creations, they asked for me to continue my exploration of their app. As I challenged myself with pieces of art, I noticed that there were some stickers that were needed to complete the image. So I reached out to Buncee and told them about my struggle with some of the stickers they were lacking. They told me they would get right on it, and if I needed anything else to let them know! By the next day, they had added new stickers to go with the work.
As I was waiting for the new stickers, I began to revisit my PLN and came across another app called Plotograph. This is an app that allows you to isolate and animate a specific part of an image. After viewing the tutorial app, I began wondering how it might work with my new Buncee images. (See my how to video for using Plotograph). The end result was absolutely, amazing! Pairing these two apps together, are so incredible!
Creative Wishes,
Matt Grundler
Matt Grundler is an art educator from Plano, Texas. He is also proud parent, blogger and co-founders of the popular Twitter Chat #K12ArtChat with his wife Laura. Matt started out as a graphic designer; however after finding the commercial side of design to be unsatisfying, he soon found his niche as a K-5 Art teacher. Both Matt and Laura are passionate about raising their three creative kids, sharing their love of art education with their professional learning network and continuing to grow everyday.
