Cardboard Whirligig using Stop Motion

A cardboard whirligig creation that moves with stop motion animation

Connections: Kinetic Art & Automations

What is a whirligig?
It's an object that spins or whirls through some form of kinetic energy transfer. Weather vanes and pinwheels  are whirligigs since they move in the wind. The history of whirligigs can be traced back over a thousand years. In the US colonial days, whirligigs evolved into more complicated designs and are considered an art form (folk art).
​-This piece is in the Art Institute of Chicago's collection. 
-See this collection of new and old whirligigs for sale on etsy.
-James Eaton is an artist who makes automations, sculptural objects and whirligigs. See his artworkhere.
-Automations (a kind of whirligig) are sculptural pieces that use kinetic energy from cranks, levers, and other clever mechanisms. View this collection youtube. 
-View these cardboard automas from kids.

Whirligig for sale on Etsy

Automations and Whirligigs on exhibit

Whirligig rooster

Whirligig eagle

Whirligig hummingbird

Kinetic art by James Eaton

Thanks to Caren Long for sharing this movie. See her post and how she plans to make Whirligigs with her students HERE.

Make a Whirly-bird: plan

The challenge is to make a bird from cardboard that has moveable parts. There is a clear connection between drawing a bird and designing a whirly-bird since you just have to break everything down into shapes: head, beak, eye, legs, body, wings, tail. Each shape can be a piece to add back to the whole bird with brads instead of glue. The brads keep the pieces of the bird moveable like a whirligig. However, this whirligig isn't going to be able to move with the wind. It will move through the magic of stop-motion animation.

My design for a bird with moving parts from cardboard connected with brads.

I sized the bird from a 8.5x11 sheet of thin cardboard

Since I work with 100 students in each grade level, I have to figure out a way to manage resources and materials efficiently. This guide (below) can be printed on 8.5'x11" paper to help students make good choices for size, shape, and placement of holes/brads. This may help avoid mistakes from misplaced holes, working too small, or wasting valuable space on their cardboard sheet. I will encourage students to create their own designs and not use my sheet as a tracer so I will need to provide extra cardboard for their ideas. 

This resource will help students with size, shape, and placement of brads

Build a Whirly-bird: lay out and attach

Checking the placement and sizes of pieces before I poke holes for brads

I poked holes first using a skewer. 3 layers was tight for my 1/2" brads (recommend 3/4")

Paint: prime, balance color, add pattern

Because cardboard can curl, I put gesso on both sides of each piece flattened them with books

I limited my colors, thought about balance, and painted a solid base coat on each piece

with only 3 colors I added line, shape, and color pattern to my design

Assemble & test: add brads & try it out

Whirly-bird assembled after I varnished and traced with black marker (optional)

It doesn't run smoothly because I kept losing track of my sequence

Stop motion animation test using iMotion app. It was small enough to place under an iPad stand (as I hoped). They look like this. I have six in my art room. So I would have student work together to animate.

Whirly-bird ideas: dance & weathervane

Stop motion over green (20 frames total=2 seconds 10 fps)

I did better with my sequencing in this stop motion.  I worked over green (students could use green poster board) so that we could add a background using the green screen app by Do Ink. 

I used a kaleido free animation for the background-boy is that a flashy whirly-bird

I wrote a post about using this app for a collaborative dance video. It's very similar, so it can help you through the steps of using Do Ink, layering video, and organizing files.

Monochromatic landscape as a background for the stop motion using both Do Ink apps

Whirly-bird weathervane over landscape. Bkgrd=Do Ink drawing Layered= Do Ink GS app

This project would teach SO many concepts: silhouette, landscape, atmospheric effects, monochromatic, size, movement, pattern, balance, stop motion animation, and layering. I have a post and tutorial for creating a digital appalachian mountain landscape here.

Whirly-bug

This same concept translates well as an insect too. If students made a whirlygig insect then the lesson can have a science component to learn about the parts of an insect as they build. No, that's not a tail-it's a stinger. Sorry for the confusion.

Planning the whirly-bug with cardboard shapes

I used only three colors total. Began with base coats thinking about color balance

Used the same three colors and layered different kinds of pattern

I attached with brads then created a stop motion animation under an iPad in iMotion app

More inspiration:

Clare Youngs pic.twitter.com/PAjITCfabT

— lief (obvious child) (@ThatsACreature) January 4, 2018

Students Working

One strategy for handling all the little pieces that students will be cutting out of cardboard and painting to make their whirligig is THE POUCH. This is a large folded sheet of paper with stapled edges that students can write their names on and tuck all their pieces into. When they paint, they can place all the pieces on their pouch on the drying rack. The pouch makes this project possible with 24 students.

The Pouch Makes the Project Possible with all those Pieces

Used permapaque paint markers for patterns and coated the cardboard with mod podge

Dried shiny and a bit stronger. It made the surface smoother and easier to trace in black marker

We limited the whole design to three colors for the base colors and patterns

See the finished STILL image gallery

on Artsonia here.

Working on Stop Motion Animation

Lessons learned:

Good examples:

Layered Display

Our finished stop motion animations needed a way to be shared collectively and into a class movie. Some classes might have enough time to put their whirligig into a frame with a layered project in the Do Ink green screen app. We would put the animation in the background layer, a room with frame in the middle ground (using green inside the frame), and a green screen video of the artist with smock and brush in hand on the foreground layer. Here is what it would look like: 

Three layers reinforces foreground, middle ground, and background

When I had students come before the green screen for their artist video, I wondered how to inspire them to come up with a quick movement or response for the camera. Well, I was all wrong about them needing encouragement. They jumped in front of the camera and gave me the silliest and most expressive videos I've ever seen.

Student movies

4-1 Whirligigs from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

4-2 Whirligig Jig from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

4-3 Whirligigs from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

4-4 Whirligig Jig from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.