Self-made palanquin

Passing down- Our self-made holy palanquin

After the visit with Holy palanquin master, Mr. Bao-neng Chen, we were extremely interested in the subject. We all wanted to try to make it. Therefore, art teacher Sheng-ping Wang taught us how to make a simple holy palanquin. Materials requires are, plastic PP boards, transparent tapes, white glue, brushes, watercolor brushes, commercial paint, pencils, red ribbons, black markers, Styrofoam balls, paint, corrugated boards, colored cardboards, wires, etc….

Making Process as Shown Below:

Activity Record 11/13/2012

1、Teacher Wang:

The purpose of the palanquin is to parade for blessings and pray for peace.
Holy palanquins emphasize symmetry.It includes the art of beauty and artistry.
It turns of color we try toachieve a harmonic balance. Try to reach for wholeness and changes between dark and light.
Look for symmetry at all levels andsides. Don’t make too many irregular designs
When using knifeswatch for safety.

二、Activity Record

Type of Roof Top	Patterns on the body of the palanquin	Patterns on the body of the palanquin

Tracing the pattern of a dragon	Coloring the dragon with commercial paint	First Stage Completed – drawing of the dragon’s body.

1.About Holy Palanquins

First Teacher Wang gave us an introduction on the main components of a holy palanquin with the help of some photos. The main components of the holy palanquin are the roof, the body, and the bottom.

2.Divided group discussion, making process

The whole class took part in the discussion on how to divide the work. Below is our preliminary discussion result:

(1) Palanquin divided into: Roof, body, bottom.

(2) Body:

Cut outfront and back doors.
Thinkabout the patterns on the body; first use yellow cardboards to design the pattern, and then use black ink to fill-in the dark region.
Positionthe boards and paste them vertically with Styrofoam glue to form the body.

(3) Roof:

Placethree-dimensional dragon ornament on angular ridge roof.
PlaceSphere at the very top of the roof.
Paint theroof tiles.

(4) Edges around the roof top: paint and make decorative borders, carve four Styrofoam balls 10cmX2 in diameter. (dangling down)

(5) Windows on the two sides of the body: paint and make octagon windows.

(6) Seat: Put in a bench.

(7) The place where the body and the roof meets: “Changhua County Rixin Elementary School” Plaque.

(8) Inside the Palanquin: Place a picture of Confucius.

(9) The four dragon pillars at the four corners of the palanquin.

(10) The decorative peace and tranquility charms hung along the four sides of the roof.

Our Design Draft

Inside the Palanquin

body

Roof

dragon pillars

3. Design Draft groups

(1) Drawing of the design draft: Yu-chi Huang, Class of Six Jia

(2) Body of Palanquin, Class of Six Jia, 8 people.

(3) Roof of Palanquin, Class of Six Jia, 6 people.

(4) Bottom of Palanquin, Class of Six Jia, 3 people.

(5) All of the Class of Five Jia made peace and tranquility charms. They made16 pieces in total including the four sides of the roof.

Afterthoughts

Hsiao-guo: After hearing the teacher’s introduction I’ve gained a better understanding of holy palanquins. It’s so hard and complicated to make.

Hsiao-chieh: From making holy palanquins I learned thebeauty of symmetry. It has shown me beauty in different levels.
Hsiao-ci: After a lecture on holy palanquins, I have a better understanding of its purpose and making procedures. I wish to have the chance to gain more knowledge of this topic.

Hsiao-chih: I didn’t know that making a holy palanquin is that difficult. I wish by making a holy palanquin my life experience would be enriched.

Hsiao-teng: After discussion, we realized that making a holy palanquin is no easy job for us. I hope we will succeed.

Activity: 11/20/2012

Pattern on the body of the palanquin-- Qilin	Pattern on the body of the palanquin-- Chrysanthemum	Pattern on the body of the palanquin-- Qilin

We’ve divided the work this time into two parts. (1) Cut out the half complete dragon we drew last time and use it to decorate the roof. Due to the fact that it’s drawn on PP board, we must be extremely careful. When cutting, the knife must be placed in an inclined position. Do not cut vertically onto the PP board. It would ruin the entire pattern. (2) When making patterns for the body of the palanquin, you can use flowers, trees, animals, and characters. Such as, chrysanthemum, so tao, and qilin. When making patterns of plants make sure that the patterns are in symmetry. This would make it look simple and yet formal.

Activity: 2012/11/22

Use a flying dragon as décor for the palanquin roof.	Making the dragon pillar- use black pen to draw the baseline.	Painting the Dragon pillars

The whole class is divided into two groups.

The first group makes the patterns for the body of the palanquin. They made patterns of flowers, trees, animals and characters. The carvings were divided into yang (convex) carvings and yin (concave) carvings.

The second group makes the dragon pillars.

(1) Use paper tubes as pillars to determine the length between the top and bottom of the palanquin. (Four Pillars)

(2) Use corrugated cardboard to make a dragon

Use Chalk to draw the lines.
Use black marker to trace.
When Coloring, use red, yellow and a little bit of black for dark areas.
For the bright areas use primary colors.
Make simple representation of texture such as the scales of dragon by applying primary colors, intermediate colors, and dark colors to give it a visual effect of three layers.

Activity: 2012/11/27

Painting the Holy Palanquin—paint the roof	Painting the Holy Palanquin—paint the roof	Painting the Holy Palanquin –Paint the interior.

1. PaintingPrinciples:

from in to out, from top to bottom (prevent soiling of theclothes.)
Put on raincoats, hats, and gloves. (Better prepared than not)

2.Process Description:

Painting the holypalanquin---paint the interior and the roof first.
Make the body of the palanquin and short pillar decorations for thebottom.

3.Life Education:

Cleaning of the site and recycling ofwastes.
Self-cleaning, use hypoallergenic agents such as turpentine to clean ourselves.

Activity: 2012/11/29

Make patterns for the body of the palanquin.	Glue the dragon to the paper tubes.	Dragon pillars completed.

1. Continue to paint the holy palanquin.

2. Unfinished work.

3. Make patterns for the body of the palanquin:Pattern copying

Completely fill the back of the sample picture with leadpencil.
Place the sample picture on top and a blank piece ofpaper in the bottom.
Trace the sample picture with a hard pencil

4. Encourage the children to use their own imagination, and make their own patterns.

5.Paste the dragon onto the pillar:

first try tosoften the cardboard with the dragon
Stand the dragon onto the paper tubes
tape them together with a clear tape.

Activity: 2012/12/6

Divided into two groups

Group One :1. Draw qilin and the sun with red, blue, and grey.

Group Two :1. Screw in the parts. 2. Put on patterns of good fortune. 3. Paste the patterns onto the holy palanquin. 4. Secure the body of the palanquin.

Pasting and getting the patterns ready for pasting.	Position and screw on the bolts. Get ready to put on the peace and tranquility charms.	Decorative patterns and peace charms. A very pretty holy palanquin completed.