UE: "I and the Village"

Violet Anderson

Sofia Watson

Megan Ramos

Kyle Clark

Students and I were inspired by Marc Chagall's "I and the Village" painting. We first discussed the meaning behind the piece, which was Chagall's recollection of his childhood village in Vitebsk and their mutual relationship with the animals and their link to the universe. Students analyzed how Chagall expressed that relationship in the context of the Elements and Principles of Design. For the execution, students drew their own profiles and an animal they felt a connection to as well as other important aspects of their life, such as their home and something they were attached to. Students first followed my demonstration of drawing their profiles and I was pleased to see that a few basic techniques went a long way! They looked so professional sitting with their clipboards and diligently recording each step. This lesson was also for the Original Art fundraiser (www.originalart.com). I will post more work as students finish them!

UE: Fall Trees

Mason Barrett

Harry Valentine

Kirstyn Rice

In preparation for Fall, students learned the basic skeleton of trees before going outside to see them in detail. After this warm-up, students painted the foliage in warm fall colors and created the branches by blowing out of a straw. I think some students may have blown too hard because a couple of them came up to me and said they were lightheaded! They happily continued their painting, but next time I'll warn them!

UE: Remembered Landscapes

I was inspired by one of my RISD professors, Thomas Sgouros, who paints beautiful large scale landscapes with billowing clouds based on memory after progressively losing his eyesight. There wasn't a single cloud outside to look at for this lesson, but like Sgouros' own process, students painted them out of memory.

LE: Patterned Portraits

Steffy Andreev

Nick Kosco

Elizabeth Thompson

Cooper Cardone

Jack and Cooper

This lesson was about patterns and how the patterns we wear can reflect our personality and style. Students pretended to be detectives and carried magnifying glasses to identify patterns in the classroom and practiced drawing them in a repeated design. Then students chose patterns that expressed their personal interests and drew them on their own portrait. I think they came out very well! I see some apparel designers in the making...