Still-Life Drawings

Here, I've posted some of the still-life drawings that the 7th and 8th graders just finished working on. All 3 grades begin still-lifes with a value sketch. The 7th graders then do a sketch in colored pencil. The 8th graders move on to reverse-value and scratch art. I have 3 girls taking 8th grade Art for the second time (they are more advanced). Those girls used charcoal and chalk. I find the results to be quite nice! Great job artists!

More Artsy Travels!

During spring break the "Little Man" and I took a trip to the Franklin Park Conservatory to check out a really cool butterfly exhibit they had going on. Knowing that Dale Chihuly works closely with FPC made me even more excited to go. I had a sneaky suspicion that they would have some of his work there, and I was right. Here are some of my more recent, "Artsy Travels". My hope is that my son becomes cultured through Mom's influences (Dad's not an art fan:(.

Art History Reports

The 7th graders turned in their art history reports right after spring break, so I thought I would post some of their work. In an earlier post I showed all the steps we went through for this project. After grading them, I decided to hang all of them in the hallway (one more way to teach others about art)!

Buttons! Buttons! Buttons!

The 6th graders always start the trimester with about a week of button drawing. We begin with them sketching buttons without my help, so I can see where they are coming from. The next 3 days we start class with me demonstrating different skills that will help them improve (value, making the drawing look 3-D, sketching details, etc.). It's amazing how much they learn and how far they come in just a week!

Self-Portraits

I love this project!! In fact, I tell the kids that this is one project that their kids will do. As a warm-up, we paint a 20 step value scale in one color. Then, I take their pictures with a dinosaur of a digital camera (I can't find a new camera with "Solarize" as a setting). We print the pictures in black and white. Then, the kids sketch their portraits using a grid system to enlarge them 3 times the original size. Once the drawing is done, the kids paint them using their monochromatic value scale to assist. Shown are some of the best from last trimester.

Doodle Art

I was searching my brain for a lesson that would involve lines, patterns, and contrast. Being a teacher for 11 years, I have all kinds of lessons that I've done before. However, I wanted something new, something, "Fresh!". So, as I was looking for something else, I kept seeing doodles. The more I looked at these, the more I liked them. So, I put together a lessons on Doodle Art. The kids had to choose a theme to stick by and they started with the main images they wanted to represent their theme. Then, they filled in around with a "supporting cast" of images and fially, filled in the small areas with lines and patterns.

Here, I've posted some of my fav's:

Art History "Reports"

I LOVE teaching art history! I'm that art teacher that gets teary-eyed when I walk through a museum (I'm sure my husband enjoys this!). I would love to pass this passion onto my students. However, I'm not so sure that a typed out research paper is the way to do it. So, I have come up with (thanks to the help of Pinterest) a more "fun" way. The kids will still learn most of the important facts about the artist, without me having to carry home boring research papers and then worry about plagerism.

To help the students find their information, we spend the first 2 days in the computer lab answering questions on a worksheet. Also, I let each student choose their artist and make sure that no 2 students choose the same artist.

I started with a 12x18 piece of drawing paper and divided it into 6 inch sections. Each section I cut so it was 2 inches shorter than the section before it. The first section (mearuring 6x2) is the title page.



The next section is for the basic information about the artist (their birthdate and place, etc.). This section measures 6x4.



The following section is a basic timeline of the highlights in their life and measures 6x6 (we use 2 sheets for this). With 7th graders, it is really important to discuss with them what is important enough and what should be left out. I make them list at least 10 items for their timeline.




In the next section (measuring 6x8) the kids write about their opinion of their artist. I encourage them to share their true opinion as long as they back it up with solid reasons.



The final section is for pictures of the artist's work. This section measures 6x10 and 6x12. The kids are required to have at least 5 pictures and are encouraged to present them in a nice way.




For the final step, we put all of the sections in order and staple them together at the top. Posted is the final product. I'm hoping that when I hang all of these out in the hallway they prompt people to stop and take a closer look (and maybe even learn something).