Wednesday works - 7th grade buildings this time.

 7th grade enjoyed looking at my 8th grade example on the blackboard so I decided to try this one with them as well.

They must have been hungry because we have a few restaurants in the group.

Wednesday Works - 8th grade 2-point perspective buildings

 I have found myself thinking I should really start teaching 2-point perspective first, then 1-point.   I think the "rules" are easier for the students to see, understand, and be able to translate onto their own images.    Here are just a few from this week. 

my class example

Monday Motivations - a little more perspective

Two-point perspective! 

Monday Motivations - quilling

Not quilTing, but quilling.   It's rolled up thin strips of paper glued on end to form the images.   Look closely at the fish images and you'll see the tiny little paper rolls.

Friday Video - The Nightwatch

Flash mob - art style!

First look at this......

...then watch this...

Now pause the end and look at the painting again.  :)

Wednesday Works - Printmaking

Other than the obvious goal of learning to teach middle school this year, my other goal has been to create a matrix showing exactly which grade levels are working on what project in which art material.  

In other words, I want to make sure I'm teaching all sorts of art lessons using as many different art materials as we have in the classrooms in each grade level.

Clear as mud, right?

This is what it looks like right now.   Green squares are lessons I'm lacking.  Pink are things I either forgot to add when I typed it up or things I've added recently.   Other writings are the random ideas and lessons I might try to fit in somewhere along the way.  

You'll also notice I've listed all the grades I teach here so from grades 1-8 is the range I'm working on. 

The whole point of that introduction is to show you the printmaking week lessons we've started in the middle school. 

 6th grade made cardboard printing tools for printing collagraphs.   Collagraph is a print made from a collage of materials.   So we created a design on a piece of matboard and then printed with it.   Stay tuned for some final project photos. 

collagraph  [′kä·lə‚graf]

(graphic arts)

A print made from a plate produced by the collage method.

7th grade worked in Monoprint/monotype printing.    Monoprints and monotypes are known as the most painterly methods among the printmaking techniques, they are called printed paintings.

Ink is manipulated on a bench plate then a piece of paper is placed on top and pulled off to create the print.   

Finally, 8th grade is using linoleum carving blocks to create a symmetrical design, 

 

Printing really went quickly this week so I will post final project photos at a later time.   You can also pop over to the MBG Artroom Facebook page to see them as well.  

Monday Motivations - Amy Shackleton painting a landscape

Friday Videos - "Square peg into a round hole" clip from Apollo 13

If any one thing could sum up what I would like my students to do in art class this clip is it.  I want them to be able to create anything with what ever material they have in front of them.   It's engineering at it's finest but it can be taught in the art room just as well as in any other classroom in the building.

A scene from Apollo 13

Monday Motivations - how to draw a perfect circle

Post by KISS FM Phoenix.

Friday Videos

I don't always see my middle school groups on Fridays due to the fluctuation of the schedule but when I do I like to end class with a short video clip just for fun.

Here's one to share with you.

Wednesday Works (Thursday Edition) - Notan Paper Cuttings

no·tan

noun \ˈnōˈtän\

:  the combination of lights and darks especially as used in Japanese art 

I introduce this paper cutting lesson at the beginning of each quarter to get a feel for the ability level of the students since they last saw me at the elementary building.   It is a simple to do yet complicated looking lesson to use for a variety of different ability levels.   Students can work with compound cuts and smaller detail sections to bump up the challenge level.  I have also given them a two color square challenge for fast finishers. 

This is the section of 8th grade projects this quarter.    Very nice works here!  I cannot wait to see what else this group comes up with.  

Monday Motivation - Matisse and his cut-outs