UE: Apples Still-Life

David

Billy

Emma

Today we did a one-day lesson on drawing round shapes three-dimensionally and used apples as our reference. I demonstrated on a large paper while they followed along, making sure to teach what all the different parts were called. Some of these terms included: deep shadow, core shadow, highlight spot and half-tone shadow. I only do step-by-step lessons for projects that are very technique-based and therefore require a thorough demonstration. After we drew one apple together, they completed the set on their own. I love how they turned out!

The Letter Project

I heard about this website from the artsy grapevine a while ago where anyone can design a letter and post it online. I found it recently and thought what a fun idea it would be for all students to design a letter and get it out there. It's very imaginative and makes you think outside the box, which I think will come naturally to many students. I can't wait to see what they come up with! They're so much more creative than I am:-) Stay tuned...

Brilliant solution!

I was super excited when I read artprojectgirl's post on using Comic Life as a way to teach and assess her students' learning. How much more fun would learning be if your notes were presented in comic strips? And why did I never discover this on my mac until now? I am definitely going to apply this tool to my own teaching! Thanks artprojectgirl! :-)

MS: Escher Eye Drawings

Mallory

Daniel

Amelia

Max L.

If your eyes were the window to your soul, what would people see? This is what we discussed as we looked at Rene Magritte and M. C. Escher's work. We use our eyes to communicate how we feel, to look at someone or something we love, to fixate on a goal or a dream we hope to accomplish one day. Whatever it is we're looking at, it (literally) reflects a significant part of ourselves. Students asked themselves this question as they thought of what to draw in their eye. We first sketched out an eye as a class. While I was demonstrating on a larger sheet of paper I did my best to explain the reason behind each step. Shading was key in order to give the illusion of three-dimensionality. After students got a good sense of how to draw the basic shapes of an eye, they each got a mirror and added more detail and also adjusted their drawing according to their own eye.

UE: Calavera Necklaces

To commemorate The Day of the Dead coming up on Nov. 2nd, students made calavera (skull in spanish) necklaces out of clay. We first discussed that The Day of the Dead should not be confused with Halloween. It's a special day where people in Mexico celebrate and honor lost loved ones. They believe that the spirits of their lost loves ones visit earth on this day and they welcome them with festivities, food and prayer. Sugar skulls and skeletal sculptures are popular decorations. Although skulls and skeletans are normally associated with Halloween, Day of the Dead calaveras are adorned with colorful clothing, flowers and bright festive patterns. After our discussion and a quick demo, students made a basic skull shape out of clay and painted it with acrylic.

LE: Art at the Zoo

Miles

Eleni

Aidan

Gabe

Max

LE went to the zoo today and I joined them for art class. We were only able to draw the giraffes and Harbor seals, but it was a wonderful experience to be right in front of the action! I tried (more like failed) to teach students about gesture drawing since we were looking at moving subjects, but eventually I just stopped talking and let them draw however they wanted as long as they were observing the animals and not forgetting to draw key details (like the giraffes' spots and the seals' whiskers).

UE: Lines and Patterns

Remy

Kevin C.

Jordan

Palmer

This was a preliminary lesson on lines and patterns that I'll be applying to other projects throughout the year. We first discussed what lines and patterns were and students came up and drew examples on the board. They were squiggly, zig-zag, straight, swirly, etc. Students drew nine different patterns in pencil and traced over with pen before gluing them side by side. For references, we looked at a collaborative drawing done by Quest MS students in the past as well as objects in the room. I hope this lesson broadened students' understanding of the potential of lines.