Weekly Update 1/27/14 - 1/31/14

Long time no update, I know! We've been a bit crazy around here with all of these snow days and my updates have been lacking lately. Hopefully the weather is on its way back to a more normal forecast (fingers crossed). Here's what we did this week:

Sixth Grade

Sixth graders worked on some elements of art this week. We looked at texture and shape. For texture the students spent one day making texture rubbings from texture plates. Then we spent a few days cutting up our rubbings and using that paper to create some collage creatures. The students used the texture from the plates to represent things like fur, slime, scales, feathers, etc. After that we talked about organic and geometric shapes (more on that next week).

Seventh Grade

This week in 7th grade we discussed architecture and proportion. The students began drawing the KY governor's mansion (which is celebrating its centennial this year). We talked about who/what the governor is and what an architect does. After discussing some drawing techniques for our architectural drawings, the students began drawing. Some of our drawings will be submitted to a contest hosted by the Governor and First Lady in March.

Eighth Grade

8th graders spent the week studying value and paint mixing. First we practiced creating value with black and white paint. Students made 5 point value scales and mixed their own grays.

Next, we discussed landscapes and monochromatic color schemes. Students drew 5 layered simplified landscapes and we discussed atmospheric perspective. Students chose a color and began painting their landscape. By putting dark shades at the bottom and light shades at the top we created the illusion of atmospheric perspective.