Sunday, October 27, 2013

Radial Symmetry part 2

Seventh graders started out the new grading period by learning about radial symmetry. We started out by looking at some images and discussing what it means for something to have radial symmetry, and then we did some practice drawings using shapes to create radial symmetry. During this time we also looked at lettering styles and how to create a unique style of lettering. To end the unit, students used their name (or nickname, or a word) to create radial symmetry.











Graffiti Tags

Eighth grade students worked this past week on creating graffiti tags which somehow represented themselves (either through imagery, symbolism, color, line, etc.). The drawings were really successful, and I can't wait to see future projects from this group based on their first work in my class. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Weekly Update 10/21/13 - 10/25/13

Sorry for the lack of weekly updates recently, with the end of the first grading period things got a bit hectic and I couldn't find the time to post anything. Now we have started the 2nd grading period, which means all new students and new artists to highlight. 

Sixth Grade

In sixth grade we started out with our self-portrait collages. These were mostly finished by Friday, and may need a few finishing touches before they get posted on here, but keep a look out for them.


Seventh Grade

Seventh graders started out by talking about radial symmetry and creative lettering styles. We used our new knowledge to create abstract designs using our names which highlight radial symmetry. Finished pieces coming soon!


Eighth Grade

In eighth grade we started out by talking about graffiti (styles, meanings, legalities, among other things) and about how to incorporate our own personal style into a graffiti tag of our names. Students finished their names this week and they'll get hung in the hallway soon. 


Digital Art

Digital students are working on creating GIFs that animate a character moving through a background. Students drew the characters and used cameras to digitize them and edit them in photoshop. They used ArtRage to create digital paintings of the backgrounds. Next week we'll use gifpal to animate them.




Quarter 2 Legos

The second grading period is off to a great start, and just like last time the sixth graders started out with drawings of themselves as a lego alter-ego. Check out the results.

 

Friday, October 4, 2013

Weekly Update 9/30/13 - 10/4/13

Sixth Grade

Sixth graders looked at animal sculptures from Oaxaca, Mexico. These sculptures use a lot of color and pattern which were the art content we focused on for this unit. (we looked at these for inspiration) The students were required to use patterns in their animal drawings and reference the artwork of Oaxaca in their drawings. They should be done next week and uploaded here.
 


Seventh Grade

This week seventh graders worked on two projects at one. Some groups worked on glazing our pottery from a few weeks ago and others worked on designing and coloring templates to create 3D stars. 


 

 Eighth Grade

In Eighth grade this week we worked on creating letter forms out of cardboard and adding layers of paper mache to them. Next week we will paint them using patterns.



Thursday, October 3, 2013

STOP MOTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We've finally gotten our animation unit done and uploaded to youtube (LMS art on youtube). I'm really excited about these videos as they are 100% student created. Students were asked to create a short scene or a narrative through the medium of stop motion animation. First we created small cubee sculptures that would serve as our characters in the videos. Next students spent time creating a set for their video, students had to create large drawings that served as a background and floor for their videos (much like a green screen in a movie). Then we got out the digital cameras and the students shot their videos one frame at a time--moving their characters a fraction of an inch at a time. Students then put all 100+ images into photoshop and edited them. Lastly we used windows moviemaker to edit the individual images into one short video. The project took a long time and a lot of work and I am very pleased with the result. Check them out!