7th Graders are Like Wild Animals!!

These are just a few of the really cool animal collages that the 7th graders just finished. Before we began the project we looked at work by Henri Rousseau for our inspiration.

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: