Articles by artandsoul

Anatomical Heart Art

Art Gallery, Art II Art Gallery, cross-curricular, Drawing/Painting Art Gallery
Posted on

Art II students completed an assignment in which they studied and drew the human heart. I think to some people it seems a bit creepy, but the anatomical heart lends itself so well to illustrative pursuits…

We did gesture sketches of a model of human heart (borrowed from the Health Occupations teacher), studying it from different angles. Then students did several pages of sketches, in which they brainstormed different ways to morph the heart into something else. These are highly imaginative drawings. i had them experiment with different media, as they could choose which they wanted to work with. The results include a mixture of pen, charcoal, graphite, colored pencil, and soft pastel. This was a really engaging project, and my students enjoyed it and came up with some awesome interpretations of the heart.

Contour Line Drawings…color added:)

Art I Art Gallery
Posted on

Art I students have been studying line drawings — blind contour, gesture, contour line drawings. They also experimented with different types of mediums in their sketchbooks such as pastel and watercolor. As a sort of finale to our study of line, students created line drawings and added color with either a watercolor wash or soft pastels. They then traced back over their drawing with black ink. The results were really eye-catching. Here’s a sampling.

 

 

Remembering that it’s more than enough

creativity, Our Lives, the Art Room
Posted on

???????????????????????????????

Change. It can be be good; it can be bad – but it is inevitable. This is my first, very late post of the new year. The new year, and the new school year. Life has a way of getting in the way, but I hope to be more intentional with posts. Coming back to school after Christmas, or Winter Break was so difficult this year. I’m not sure why it was so much more difficult than usual. So, I thought it might be nice to reflect. . . 

I have been going through my files, sorting through images so I can catch up on posts. I found a folder with some random pictures of my students working the first year I moved over to the classroom I’m in now to teach art. The room was. . . less than inspiring. Trashed furniture, bare floors and walls, no personality. It was really daunting. But somehow, through sheer determination, hard work, and the inspiration of my lovely art students’ creativity, I muddled through. 

I love the image above. You can see the classroom, how it was — the “Yo Mama” on the locker, the bare ugliness of the room, the concrete floors — and in the midst of this a student intent on her creation. Despite my newness, the physical surroundings, and all of the other impossibilities I, as a teacher, and she, as a student, had to surmount every day, she is in the throes of a divine creation, and I am inspired one more time.

And it is enough.

Enough, and more than enough!

Art II Mixed Media “Selfies”

Art II Art Gallery, Portraits
Posted on

Art II students recently explored the genre of the “selfie.” For this project we worked with four media in one piece — the student’s choice of: graphite, colored pencil, ink, art marker, chalk pastels, oil pastels, or watercolor. This gave students the opportunity to display their mastery of several media in one artwork. And it made for some lovely and unexpected results!

Art IV – Expressive Self-Portraits

Art IV Art Gallery
Posted on

Art IV students recently studied and completed Expressive Self-Portraits. I left these very open to interpretation with the request that they explore a variety of media. The result is an interesting variety of portraits that employ everything from ballpoint pen to old book pages.

 

 

 

 

Art IV Work

Art IV Art Gallery
Posted on

Art IV students worked hard last semester to complete these awesome projects. Each one is informed by a different artist that the student studied. For a more in depth look, visit the student’s individual blog – the links can be found on the homepage. Enjoy the variety!

 

2014 Festival of Trees

Art in the Community
Posted on

This year SCHS’s Art Society again participated in the Fly Art’s annual Festival of Trees. This year’s theme was “All I want for Christmas…”, which we interpreted as “All I want for Christmas is You.” We hearkened back to the WWII era, thinking of all the soldiers overseas missing their sweethearts back home, and all the loyal girls over here missing their fellas. I think this is such a romantic era; I think of all the letters my grandmother has from my grandfather who was a merchant marine during the war. This is what really inspired this theme.

I pictured a tree covered with nostalgia: tea stain and silver, black and white photos of couples, old letters, some glitz. I told one of our talented students about the famous photo taken in Times Square, and she replicated it in clay, beautifully. What a lovely tree our students created. And the judges thought so too. . . we took away FOUR awards this year!! This tree meant so much to me, thank you to everyone who worked so hard.

 

Colored Pencil renderings of Christmas Bows…

Art II Art Gallery
Posted on

This was just for a bit of seasonal fun, while tying in with our colored pencil study. In Art II we studied colored pencil use, and then tried this technique, creating the look of shiny highlights on black paper. Students also payed close attention to the form of the bows, using their observation skills to realistically capture their likeness. These Christmas bows turned out very nice!


Art I Challenge – identifying classical orders

Uncategorized
Posted on

Greek_TempleWe are studying Ancient Greek art right now in Art I, and I have challenged my students to look for examples of the architectural orders in our small town. Extra Credit opp!!! 

Just leave your answer in the comments! 🙂

Art II and the Still Life. . .

Art II Art Gallery
Posted on

Recently in Art II we studied the still life. We discussed the whys and wherefores of the still life, and I got excited about something that I had previously found pretty boring. The still life is something that we have to do in Drawing class, but what’s it actually GOOD for? We talked about that. If I didn’t convince my students, I convinced myself! If nothing else, fortitude, surely. And of course, there’s the fact that the Dutch realists CHOSE to paint still lifes. I introduced students to “vanitas” — still lifes that take as their subject matter the fragility and brevity of life. “Vanitas” is latin; this genre take its name from the verse in Ecclesiastes — “Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” This type of still life was very symbolic, often containing objects which symbolized the transience of life — skulls, shells, stringed instruments, etc.

The vocabulary we studied as we prepared was as follows: balance, cast shadow, chiaroscuro, highlights, inanimate, movement, overlapping, proportion, still life, thumbnail sketch, vanitas, viewfinder 

We also discussed hierarchy, overlapping, and proportion in the still life, negative space in the still life, and how to set up a still life. All important!!

The students did wonderfully!! Here are some of the results, which represent hours of labor, and I hope to add more soon. I hope you enjoy!