Finally

Here are a few more images of some of the papier-mache insects my Art 2 students made. My camera was acting up and so I had not been able to photograph them. These bugs were made with no wire armature and were required to lift the body off the table. My kids are finally able to take them home and I must now say "good-bye" to all of the bugs that were adorning my desk.

We are now working with clay, doing your typical coil pots.

My Adv. class is creating books. My favorite project is the one my seniors are working on. More on that later. I hope you have a good weekend.

Spray Painted Faces

My art 2 students are just about done with the spray painted project. I'm glad, I'm ready to move on to papier mache. After creating a 24"x18" stencil they spray painted onto three different backgrounds. The white paper is the test spray, the others are treated papers. So far I have only photographed the test papers and a few treated papers.
The kids enjoyed this project over all, there were a few that struggled in the beginning. They had a hard time figuring out what to cut, but once they started it became clear to them.

As soon as the others are done I will post pics.

Work in Progress

Well, after a week off we're back to work! I've come back energized and ready for the next three weeks of work before our next break.
My Art 2 kids are working on their first still life painting. They've been working on them for a few weeks already and I am so ready for them to be done. I usually keep their work relatively small but I don't know what got into me this time and I had them use a 24" x 18" format.

I set up two different stations and they were able to pick which still life they wanted to work from. Hopefully they will be able to finish these pieces in the next week or so, although I think I'll be lucky if they finish before Christmas.

Just to keep things fresh I think I will have them do something different this Fri. I better think of something quick.

Painting

My Art 2 students are beginning their first painting. Before they can start on their project they must freshen up on their painting techniques.

Do these shapes look familiar? They are the same ones used by my Art 1 students for their pencil shading assignment. I figured I might as well use them since they were already out.

I had the kids use three to four different color to paint the forms. The objective is to show lights and shadows.

I forgot to tell them to add one more thing, can you tell what it is?

The shadows on the table!

Love this face

I just love this face. Yes, it has several faults, but there's something about this face that appeals to me. The shading is actually done quite well, the colors he chose are questionable but they do seem to fit his expression, don't you think? I very rarely let them leave a white background, but I decided to let him leave this one alone. This one was a preliminary to another self-portrait that he did, I've sent it off to a competition and forgot to take a picture of it prior to sending it. Once I get it back I will photograph it and add it to this post.

Technical Piece

These are close-ups from a technical piece from an Art 2 student of mine. I am extremely proud of him, his finished piece came out amazing. If you'll notice, he used several mediums in this piece, he used paint, pencil, pen, colored pencils and watercolor. Can you tell which is which?

I will be submitting this particular piece into a competition this Fri., along with a few others. I hope it does well.

Reflections

This particular project evolved from one idea to another. After the pen still life I give my Art 2 students a colored pencil project and I usually incorporate their faces in the mix. After the kids finished doing a skin colored portrait of themselves I had them create another portrait using different colors for the skin. This usually takes them for a loop. Once they finished that portrait I had them put the two together to create a "reflection" of sorts. They had to come up with an idea for the background that said something about themselves. The hardest part of the project is trying to get the kids to put more value in the face and to burnish a bit. They're afraid of how they will turnout, you know how it is at this age, God forbid they don't look good! By mid-year I will make them work with more layers on their faces. These are the only two that have been completed, I will post a few of the others once they are done, which should be by Monday.

On Display

I believe that as art educators it is our responsibility to get our student's work out to the public, albeit the public being the rest of the student body. Our school librarian is always so gracious in letting us display our work throughout the library.

We do have a beautiful gallery in the school but it is far away from the rest of the school and it is very difficult to get anyone out there!

I am planning on having an exhibit for my students and sending out invitations to teachers and parents, hopefully I will have a good turn out. I will let you know!

First lesson for Art 2

The first lesson I usually give my Art 2 class is a pen and ink still life. This project allows me to see their drawing and composition abilities, especially since many of the students may not have been Art 1 students of mine. This also sets the bar for the rest of the year as they quickly see the level of work that I expect from them. After they complete the assignment we have a class critique where all of the students are expected to speak in order to receive a final grade.

For this lesson I asked students to quickly grab items in the classroom and set up a still life in their close vicinity. All drawings had to be done from life so they had to set up their objects where they wouldn't be disturbed.

They also had to show a foreground, middle ground and background in their drawings.

Even though the kids made a couple of mistakes, like forgetting a shadow here and there, I feel they did a great job on their first class assignment.