Monday, October 29, 2012

Nathan Hale High School: 2-D and Advanced 2-D. Skeletal and Value Studies


2-D and Advanced 2-D Students explored value and the various ways that value helps two-dimensional spaces appear three-dimensional.

Students first composed four different views of a skeletal study, and in a contour fashion, drew them.

Various value techniques were then implemented. Enhanced line, traditional ebony pencil value, pointillism, hatching and cross-hatching were the four types of value that students studied and applied to their drawings. These different techniques all show dimension and depth in drawings.

Nathan Hale 2-D Art Foundations. Still Life Value Drawings with Light Source.

These students first started with a sketchbook assignment which taught them line drawing, quality composition, and use of space, value, value gradation, and how to use a viewfinder. Then they too these new skills and did a line drawing of a still life, which included things such as a bird cage, musical instruments, a camera, hats, and a large mounted fish. Students were able to find a view of objects that interested them, and by using their viewfinder, drew a line drawing of what they saw. After that was completed, each student was taught value with conte. Conte is similar to a very compressed chalk. They created dark, medium, and light values throughout their still life with the help of spot lights. Students were able to use the gray of their paper to help them with their medium tones. Overall, students learned the critical skills needed in order to move on and advance in this art class, and others.

Nathan Hale Art Foundations: Sculpture, Ceramics, Jewelry. 3-D Initials

Students’ sources of inspiration for this project were the initials of their name. They combined the letters of their name into an interesting design. Students used their initials to create an interesting design that stands well on its own. Their challenge was to create a three-dimensional, in-the-round piece of artwork that could stand on multiple sides. To build up their design, students used tagboard and tape. After they built their structure, they paper machéd the entire surface. Paper maché is a substance traditionally made of flour, water, and glue. Newspaper is dipped into this and applied to the structure to harden and strengthen the piece. Then, they used pure color and tints to paint the surface and negative spaces. Finally, they used Sharpie to incorporate line into their creations. Our lines were drawn using a special technique called zentangles, a form of sophisticated doodling that incorporate patterns and shape repetition. Zentangling is a current trend in the art world.

Nathan Hale Photoshop Mosters

Friday, October 26, 2012

General Mitchell's Artists


 After reading “Do You Have a Hat” by Eileen Spinelli the 1stand 2nd grade students were inspired to create their own self-portraits with a hat. Students were able to pick any hat they wanted, but needed to add details to the background to help identify the character. Check out General Mitchell’s page on Artsonia to view all of the students creations:
http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=66358

 

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

7th grade Dessert

All kids love to eat, especially my 7th grade students!  The kids loved learning about artist Wayne Thiebaud.  They created drawings inspired by real desserts (yes, they ate them too!).  Once they were done, the students learned about mixing colors and the color wheel to produce these look alike paintings.

Day of the Dead Art at Lincoln

The 6th graders at Lincoln have been hard at work learning about Day of the Dead.  Check out these awesome skulls that they created out of aluminum and copper!

Monday, October 22, 2012

West's First Craft Club

West's first Craft Club meeting took place on Friday, October 19th.  Eighteen students showed up for the "Spooky" Halloween themed craft afternoon.  We made bats out of miniature pumpkins, spiders out of suckers, monster bookmarks, and a really delicious Halloween Bark dessert.
All the students (and adults) had a blast, and we can't wait for next month's Thanksgiving themed Craft Club.  If anyone is interested in joining, please see Ms. Valentine for a permission slip.
 

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Jefferson Elementary Art Club


Jefferson Elementary Art Club

I am excited to head my first after school art club.  My first group of art club members are some of the fifth graders from Mrs. Geiss's class.  The artists for quarter 1 are: Livia, Zoe, Calee, John, Santo, and Jeremiah.  These students are currently working on a beautiful mural in the front hallway, leading up to the office.  Wow, this is already brightening up this hallway!  I can't wait to see it completed!

Fall Fun!


Fall Fun!


4th/5th grade classes are currently working on their fall tree projects.   I love creating fall trees with my students because there are no two trees in real life that look exactly the same and the same goes with the students' artwork.   After observing different types of trees, students spent one class period painting a silhouette of a tree.  The next class we added color to the trees, along with discussing warm and cool colors and how to mix colors using oil pastels.  Look at the beautiful results!

-Mrs. Collins

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Government Poster Art

4/5 students were learning about Government in their classrooms therefore they carried over that learning into the Art room by creating chalk pastel posters depicting the colors, animals and symbols associated with the two major parties.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

WMIS's 6th grade Symmetrical Name Designs

The 6th graders learned about symmetry and radial design.  They also studied different Mandalas from around the world.  They used this new knowledge to create symmetrical name mandalas. Repeating their names in mirror images, they connected their design and created a challenge for the viewer to find their names. 

Monday, October 8, 2012


Kindergardener's looked at the artist Alexander Calder then created Stabiles inspired by Calder's colors, organic shapes and master works of art.