Friday, July 16, 2010

Spring 2010 Projects

Adopt-a-Beach Contest - 6th grade only

Students had to create an artwork about "Keeping Texas Beaches Clean." They really enjoyed doing research in the computer lab about sea creatures and the Texas coastline. We never heard back from the contest, so I guess none of my fabulous students won the cruise :-(




African Clay Figurines - 7th & 8th Grade

While 6th graders were working on the Adopt-a-Beach contest, 7th & 8th graders worked on their own research about African animals and the Ardmore ceramics studio in Africa. Students had to create drawings that were inspired by the Ardmore style (bright colors w/African animals). Then they turned their drawings into 3-D art using clay. Some students made bowls, cups, jewelry holders, etc. Two requirements for the assignment were to make the piece functional and to incorporate an African animal. The results were amazing and exceeded my expectations! It's not easy to turn a drawing into a three-dimensional piece! Great job!!!!




6th Grade Clay - Pinch Pots, Coil Pots, and Tiles



 


Clay Whistles - 7th and 8th Grade

These took days and days to make! I thought we would be done in 4 days. Ha! It took 6-7!!! It took teamwork to get the half that did work to work! The students pretty much did everything except make the whistle work. That was my job after they carved the initial hole out. I put the popsicle stick in for them and showed them where to carve to try to make the whistle work. Then they brought their whistles back to make for a more precise carving if it did not work. If a student's whistle didn't work, I had him/her decorate it anyway and make into a little figurine.




Pop Art

All grades created a pop art inspired canvas painting. We studied pop artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Peter Max, and Keith Harring. Students selected one or more of these artists for inspiration to create their own design.

6th Grade




 7th & 8th Grade




Printmaking

All grades did the printmaking project. They loved it! I did this last year. It was such a big hit and so inexpensive, I had to do it again! The pics are on my computer at school. Will add later if I don't forget!

Final Exam - T-shirt Project

Students had the option to create a group screenprint design and/or bleached stencil design. They turned out great, and the kids had a lot of fun. Students were required to make stencils for both the screenprints and bleached designs. That took the longest! Some didn't understand at first how certain letters & numbers needed to be cut a certain way - like letters with floating shapes, like A, D, O, P, Q, R, a, b, d, e, g, o, p, q, 4, 6, 8, 9. Everyone eventually figured it out and got their stencils cut!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Fall 2009 Projects

OP ART

Students learned about Op Art and artist Victor Vasarely. He was the "Father of Optical Illusions." Students loved his work and were given the opportunity to create their own versions of optical illusions!



STILL LIFE DRAWINGS

After students were comfortable with contour, they began drawing various still life set-ups. They were asked to use lots of detail and shading. Great job to everybody!







CONTOUR DRAWINGS

Students spent last week learning how to draw an object based on its contour, or outline. They had some amazing drawings!!






COMPLEMENTARY COLOR LINE PAINTINGS

Students were asked to create a line drawing that incorporated each of the five line types: horizontal, vertical, diagonal, curved and zigzag. Students were then asked to color the drawing using only one set of complementary colors. Last, students turned their drawings into paintings!



I WAS INSPIRED BY...

Students learned that artists get their ideas from lots of places such as nature, artists of the past, history/political issues, and myths and legends. Students were asked to look through several textbooks and/or magazines to find a photograph, drawing, painting, or sculpture that inspired them. Students then took that inspiration to create an original artwork using any media available.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Compass Drawings

Students spent a few days learning about some math concepts! They had no idea that math could be learned in art class! The final products were wonderful!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Creating a Face

Students spent two weeks in April learning how to draw faces and facial features. On the last day of the unit, students were asked to take everything they had learned about the face and create a face from start to finish. They really enjoyed it, and the results were fantastic! If you want to learn how to draw faces and facial features, I highly recommend Carrie Stuart Parks's Secrets to Drawing Realistic Faces.

Face Drawings A - Je


Face Drawings Jo - Z

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Paper Shoes

This has to be one of my all-time favorite projects! Functional paper shoes! Students spent two weeks creating a pair of shoes out of bristol board and white glue. All of them look amazing. I'm so proud!!

1st Period, 2nd Period and 4th Period



6th Period, 7th Period and 8th Period

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Ceramic Tiles

RJH art students always look forward to working with clay. A tradition at RJH is to make a ceramic tile. My students had some very creative ideas this year, and I even decided to make one of my own.

Students A - J


Students K - Z