Ceramics 1 Tumblers

Ceramics 1 students are moving forward with their second project, a set of 4 tumblers that are united through surface design.  Students worked hard in breaking the traditional cup form, and have aimed to make the cups sculptural. So far there is a big variety of cups happening- here are a few photos of work.

Art 1 Value Drawings

As the sculptures are fired, students are working on their next project, a value drawing.  For the assignment, students decided on their spirit animal and are drawing an illustrative portrait of themselves as the animal.  The portraits are done with pencil as an organic study in value drawing.  Students have planned the portraits in an old fashioned style, with accessories to show their personality.  The lesson is a good way to revisit value in a different light from our perspective lesson.

Here are a few images of in progress work:

Art 1 Song Sculptures

Art 1 students have finished up their clay sculptures and are beginning their value project while the sculptures are bisque fired. Next week we will glaze the sculptures and fire them one last time. Students did a great job exploring with texture and form, prepping them for future ceramics classes. Check out some  of the products!

Ceramics 1 Products

A few more images of the Ceramics 1 products- enjoy!

A stuffed bunny with stitching and wool.

A record player.

A life-sized electric guitar.

A tattered book.

A baby blanket with trim from the real blanket sewed on the edges.

A worn out teddy bear with some loose stuffing.

A set of juiceboxes- one in good condition and one tattered.

Needless to say, I am so proud. Just a reminder for you- this is Ceramics 1. Most of these students have only done one clay project, possibly several years ago. I cannot wait to see what they come up with throughout the rest of the semester!

Ceramics 1

Ceramics 1 is finishing up their first unit of the semester, and have blown me away with their problem solving and focus throughout this unit. The prompt for the unit was to create an object that has significance to the artist, but to imagine it as a ruin. The unit was inspired by contemporary artist Daniel Arsham, and his current exhibition "The Future is Always Now".  

(An example of Arsham's work)

What would your object look like in 100 years once it has started to decay and change? This gives the students a focus for both form and texture, important elements to all sculptures.  Students chose some challenging objects, and really followed through!   Most of the class is in the glazing stage, so here are a couple photos before sculptures were bisque fired!

These are very strong for the first product of the semester, and I cannot wait to see what else comes out of this class throughout the rest of the semester!

Art 1 Completed Perspective Drawings

Art 1 has finished their initials in perspective, and we are moving on to our clay project! Before I talk about clay, here is a glimpse of the "wall of fame"- the strongest drawings from all of the Art 1 classes. These students did a great job with perspective and value, making prime examples of what to aim for in this lesson!

Our drawing project is a very tight unit, with little wiggle room for students. In our clay project, we have a conceptual focus that allows for more autonomy. It's fun to see these radically different projects next to each other, and it gives every student something they will enjoy. 

For the clay project, Art 1 began critiquing artworks in class with a focus on the Elements and Principles of Design. These are the basic ingredients in every work of art, and it is important for students to know them for analyzing and creating artwork. 

For their sculpture, students transfered  these analysis skills to music, and critiqued a song of their choice. Applying elements and principles to their song, students created abstract visuals for the music.  Students have sketched out their sculpture plan, and are now practicing building skills before we begin on Monday. Here are a few examples of student plans for the sculptures. This is always a fun lesson, and is a great way to  practice basic sculpture techniques!

Letters Due Tuesday

Students in Art 1 are finishing up their perspective letters, and are adding value to enhance the depth of the drawing. The final drawings will be due on Tuesday, since students will not have school on Monday (professional development day for staff). The students have been doing a wonderful job with value! Here are a few photos from this week in class. 

Art 1 Perspective Initials

Welcome back for the 2014-15 year! Art 1 is starting out with their perspective initials project. This project is a great way to start the course because math minds seem to really identify with it, boosting their confidence for the rest of the semester. Here are a couple images pf the grids students have made in perspective. The next move is to transfer their initials in a chosen font, and to add value.  Students have been breezing through this project! I'm excited to see what they do for the rest of the course!

Watercolor Portraits

As we near the end of the year, students are completing their watercolor self portraits, our final project.  With this project, we focused on color theory and representation of emotion through color.  Students were randomly assigned an emotion, and had to represent that emotion in a "selfie".  There was a focus on expression, framing, and angles when students took the images.  Using photoshop, we then edited the images and transferred them to watercolor paper.  Students were required to include 3 analogous colors from the color wheel within their painting, and have even transitions between all colors.  Here are some examples of student work:

Completed Value Portraits and Upcoming Watercolor

Students have turned in their value portraits, and are starting the last project of the semester- watercolor self portraits. For this project, students were randomly assigned a descriptive word such as frantic, elated, etc. Today they had time to take a "selfie" depicting that word. There was a focus on pose, camera angle, and framing. On Friday we will edit the images in the photo lab and prep them to transfer to watercolor paper.  The depiction will continue to hold importance in the artwork, as students will focus on color implications to continue their meaning in the portrait. Until Friday, we will get familiar with these color implications through analysis of advertisements and photography.

Before jumping ahead, here are some images of the finished value portraits. They turned out hilarious, realistic, and very nice! 

Spirit Animal Value Portraits

Students have been working on a quick project after finishing up their sculptures. For this unit, we began by discussing the concept of spirit animals, a shamanistic belief of a spiritual guide in the form of an animal. The animal will represent elements of it's human's personailty. So in other words (when we simplify a bit)...

If you were an animal, what would you be??

Students focused on their interests in climate, activity, company, and energy level as a jumping off point, and spoke with their peers to continue the process.

Once decided, students found an image of the animal and printed it iut as a reference. We discussed proportion and reference points in the face, and animals began drawing their images on a fresh sheet.

We are taking these in a more goofy direction, and students are adding accessories to emphasize their personality in the portraits. As the project continues through next week, students will begin adding backgrounds and frames to the artworks.

I am super excited to see the portraits progress, and am having fun along the way! Who knew that so many freshmen boys would put tuxedos in their portraits? So classy! 

Here are a few images of portraits in progress: