LE: Hybrid Creatures

Zachary R.

Cooper

Elizabeth

Students are still finishing up their final touches, but I was too excited to wait, so here are samples of finished pieces! As a way to tie in the Zoology theme in lower elementary, students drew and sculpted hybrid creatures. We looked at references of Greek mythological sculptures, a painting that one of my RISD professors had done, and identified the different body parts. Students then drew their own while looking at photos of animals for reference. After giving them a demonstration on modeling and painting, students brought their drawings to life out of clay and painted it with acrylic paint.

Quest photos that make me feel warm and fuzzy inside:)

Kata and Amelia enjoying the rainy view.

The prettiest campus!

Happy Birthday Gary:-)

These walls are craving to be decorated.

MS- Have a Little Perspective

Nathan

Robbie

Max

Tommy

As a follow up the students' recent study on the Renaissance, Lori (the art history teacher) and I collaborated on a lesson on perspective, one of the key characteristics of the Renaissance. Using the horizon line and vanishing point as reference marks, students drew a city block in perspective. It was a challenging lesson and I was concerned that they would become weary of the tediousness in the line work involved, but many students were actually engaged and invested in their drawing. I am delighted by all the details they added in their architecture.

UE: Haunted Mansions

Sofia

Harry

Palmer

Phoebe

For the month of October, I thought it would be appropriate to have students draw haunted mansions in the style of Victorian architecture. We first looked at references and discussed the common characteristics of the Victorian style homes. When they started their drawing, I challenged them not to include any ghosts, witches, R.I.P tombstones, or other iconic Halloween symbols for the purpose of focusing on the design of the house. Their intricate line work, pointy roofs, and moody colors, effectively achieved a haunting mood. I was very impressed by the details they put into their surface patterns and their patience in tracing over them in pen. It was entertaining to see their reaction when I brought in coffee for them to use as a wash over their drawing!

LE: The Exquisite Corpse

LE: Underwater Sea Creatures for OA fundraiser

Max Rome

Steffy Andreev

Cooper Cardone

This was another lesson for the Original Art fundraiser. I gave students the theme Underwater Sea Creatures and showed them a technique where they paint over oil pastel to get a bubbly underwater effect. Now that students know how to draw patterns, from the previous portrait lesson, I encouraged them to design a pattern on their creature to make it extra interesting.

MS: What Would Warhol Do?

Mallory Dale

Tommy Cross

Ella DiPippo

As a follow up to the fish prints that MS students made for their Odyssey Trip, they made prints influenced by the Pop Artist Andy Warhol. When it comes to trendy products, teenagers are one of our biggest consumers so I thought they were the perfect age group to make art based on what is popular in our culture. I gave a brief background of the Pop Art movement and as a class, we discussed questions like, Why did Warhol print his images in a repetitive pattern? What culturally trendy or iconic products would Warhol make prints of today? Students thought of Apple products, hip fashion trends, Starbucks coffee, YouTube, etc. For the execution, students first drew their idea, carved the reverse image on a styrofoam sheet and painted over it with acrylic before stamping it on their paper.