Weekly Update 02/24/14 - 02/28/14

Sixth Grade

This week we looked at the principle of design pattern. Students spent time drawing unique patterns and then we discussed drawing techniques for our upcoming Oaxacan animal drawings. Be on the look out for those.

 

Seventh Grade

Seventh graders have been working on grid drawings this week. We finished our contour line drawing self-portraits and are moving on to create a collaged background for them next week.

 

 Eighth Grade

After finishing our pottery glazing (look for pictures soon of the finished products) we spent some time practicing still life drawings. Students got to choose objects from my still life collection and arrange their own compositions. Then they photographed them and worked on practice sketches.

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.

Weekly Update 12/2/13 - 12/6/13

Sixth Grade

Sixth graders worked on pattern this week. We started out by creating unique patterns and discussing repetition and visual interest. Then we looked at the art of Alibrijes in Mexico. Artists in Oaxaca have been creating these amazing carvings since the early 20th century. They provide a great way to incorporate Mexican art and history into a pattern lesson, because the artists used so many great patterns in their work. 

Seventh Grade

Seventh graders continued working on our self-portrait project. Last week we finished using grids to create detailed line drawings of ourselves. This week we made collages on cardboard that we stained using tempera paint. Lastly the students cut out their portraits and glued them to the background. The white and black portraits look great on the colored backgrounds, and the texture provided by the magazine images really looks great. Look for photos to be posted soon.

Eighth Graders

Eighth graders have been looking at still-lifes and positive/negative space. To do this we created still life drawings, but instead of putting the detail in the positive space (which would be what is traditionally done) we put a lot of detail in the negative space. The result are some very striking images, which should be done on Friday.

What've we been doing lately?

Lately I've been slacking on the weekly updates. So I want to post one mega-update with some of the things art students have been doing lately.

8th grade underground railroad quilts

 7th grade clay masks

 

8th Grade patterned pottery

6th grade color scheme landscape paintings

8th grade still life compositions

Weekly Update 11/04/13 - 11/08/13

Sixth Grade

Sixth graders spent most of the week working with the element of shape. We talked about the difference between organic and geometric shapes and when we all knew what those were students created creatures using only organic or geometric shapes. These drawings were finished on Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday we worked on beginning our newspaper sculptures which we will continue next week.

Seventh Grade

In seventh grade we discussed balance, proportion, and space and talked about the Japanese design concept of Notan. We made collages which represented our new found knowledge and mimicked Notan through our use of color and symmetry. 

 Eighth Grade

Eighth graders spent the week learning about coil building pottery. They made a coil built vessel this week, which are drying out as I type this. I'll fire them next week and hopefully we can glaze the week after that. Pictures should come soon.

Weekly Update 10/28/13 - 11/01/13

Sixth Grade

We spent the week looking at lines and texture this week. We talked about types of lines and how to use contour lines to create simple but detailed drawings. Then we created visual texture rubbings and on Thursday we created actual texture using paper. We had a quiz on Friday testing our new knowledge.

Seventh Grade

We talked about what abstract art is about, and then looked at the elements line, shape, and value. Students created abstract drawings on black paper which displayed their understanding of these three elements.

Eighth Grade

Just like seventh grade, we looked at line, shape, and value. But in 8th grade we talked about op art and how to create optical illusions using value. The goal was to create a drawing that showed the illusion of 3-dimensionality. These were finished on Friday.

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.

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.

Weekly Update 9/23/13 - 9/27/13

Sixth Grade

In sixth grade art we've continued working on color this week. We finished our landscape paintings (which we used color schemes on) and moved on to some review of all of the elements of art. On Thursday students took a quiz over the elements. Look for the landscapes to be posted in the next day or so, they're really great!

 

Seventh Grade

In seventh grade we have been plugging away at our grid style self portraits. Friday is the last day to work on these, so we'll see some finished products soon. I can't wait to see them, the progress has been really great so far!

Eighth Grade

Eight graders have been working on a lot of things at once this week. First we finished our positive/negative space still life paintings (images to come soon), then we glazed our pottery, and lastly we talked about the principle of design pattern, which we will use for a project next week.

 

Digital Art

We have almost finished our stop motion animations! I can't wait to share them with you!!!!