Two more weeks for summer break!!!  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!!!
This was an end of year assignment that I gave my adv. students a few years ago.
 I found this old paper that looked like paper bags, but thinner.  I gave the students conte crayons and gave them a week and a half to complete.  No preliminary sketches, just straight to the drawing.
There was a relaxed feel to this assignment, the kids worked quietly and I could see that they were enjoying the process of just sitting down and drawing with these materials.  I will definitely do this assigment again next year.
To view some of my work go to @nenasart

Shake it like a polaroid picture!

Somtimes the simplest ideas turn out to be the best, don't you think?  The top one is a sketchbook assignment that took about 15 minutes or so.  I give the kids a Smarties candy and had them draw it as we opened the wrapper.  At the end, the kids can eat the candy, if they wish.

The bottom picture is of a polaroid picture selfie.  The kids had to take a selfie, I then let them sketch in their sketchbooks for  a class period.  Afterwards, I gave the students paper with the dimensions of a polaroid picture.  I have a template I created and the kids traced it in order to have the picture frame of a polaroid picture.

I think they came out great, don't you?

To see more of my work, please visit @nenasart

Drawing Horses!!

My co-worker and I asked for money to buy supplies to construct drawing horses this year.  My coworker was in charge of building the 35 horses (no easy task) and my students are now creating art work on them.

This project is going to last several weeks, I'm sure.  I'll update as I go.

On a different note, I am shocked at how much time has passed since my last post.  With the ease of social media, posting on my blog became a thing of the past.  I am going to try and revive my blog.

You can find me on Instagram to see some student work, but I mostly post about my own work and my quest to keep creating.

I am @nenasart

Still Life

When I set up objects around my classroom for students to draw from, I make it a point to make the most out of it. 

The first square on the left hand side is Art 1, tissue paper collage, second square is Art 2-charcoal, third square is Art 3-charcoal and conte, fourth square is Art 4, colored paper, mixed media.

This particular project took about 2 weeks with 47 minute classes. This is from sketching to completion.

Sign Language Hands-drawings

Art 1 started off the school year doing sign language hands.  I start the art 1 kids  with modified contour drawings .  They practice their drawing skills in their sketchbooks and when I feel they are comfortable I get them started on this particular project.

They really enjoy this project and are always happy with the end results.  I laminated the finished pieces, something I never do.  I decided to do so this time because I have heard from former students that they still have their sign language hands up on their walls in their bedrooms.  I figured they'd last longer if I laminated them.

I hope your school year is off to a great start!

Lesson Plans

I just returned from my summer semester at Texas Tech University and have a week off before I return to my next summer session.  One more year and I will be done with graduate school.  I will share pictures of the work I created, soon.

Instead, I want to show you something I've been thinking about.  Keep in mind, I've never done this before and charting new territory is scary.   I'm thinking of selling my lessons on line! 

My original idea was to write a book incorporating my lessons, but truth be told, I don't have much time with graduate school and my first grandchild arriving in the next few months.  Instead of putting the whole idea on hold, I figured I could start offering my lessons.

The first lesson I'm thinking of selling is the one that I posted about previously.  I've already put it together, I just have a few finishing touches to do before I start selling my lesson.  This first lesson is going to be a test, writing a lesson for myself and for my admin (which knows nothing about art) is one thing, writing for other art educators is another.  I'm hoping I will get feedback that will help me improve on the lessons I will be offering. 

I will probably put this lesson up for sale in August, this will give me enough time to return from graduate school, rest and prep for the start of the coming school year.

I hope you are enjoying your summer vacations, till next time!
 

Let's try this one more time.

Wow!  It has been three years since I last wrote in my blog, time sure does fly.  In case you were wondering, many things kept me away from my blogs. 
When I first began this blog, I was posting pictures of student work with no thought of where these images might end up.  One day, as I was perusing a new site (at the time) called Pinterest, I came across my pictures!  I was upset at myself for being so careless with the images of my student's work.  This prompted me to stop posting and sharing student work. 
I've wanted to return many times, but other factors began to impede my return.  Life, as they say, got in the way.
School ends in a few weeks, but I decided to peek in and say "hello" and to ease myself back to posting. 
I will be attending classes at TX. Tech in the summer and hope to share the work I create there during the summer.
As for the pieces I have pictured here.  They are being created by my Art 2 students.  In retrospect, this is a great beginning of the year project, but my brain did not come up with this idea until recently!  We are dealing with positive-negative space and design.  I'm getting mixed reviews on this project, but mostly positive.  I'll post the finished results as soon as they are done.


Construction paper on paper.


See you soon!