Good old Oldenburg

Art 1 was introduced to Claes Oldenburg and his amazing giant sculptures of everyday items.  This is the only group project that I do during the year, and I try to put them into groups so that they don't necessarily work with their friends.  Of course, somehow my random system failed, but in the end the projects still worked well.

Each group had to create a paper mache sculpture from cardboard, wire, paint and paper.  To help them come up with some out of the box ideas, I had them take a couple of object/personality quizzes on Playbuzz.com.  If you haven't gone to this site, I highly recommend it.  It is kind of addictive to see what type of items you get from answering a few questions on a quiz.  But after that I let them pick anything, and told them the only limitations were the size of my room.  I had a couple of them that went really big, and a few that were not so big, but still cute.

There is always one group that has to do a deadly weapon.  I don't know why.

Molding silence

Sometimes, you just have to find ways to get 7th graders to be quiet.  This was my solution.  I will hopefully be able to show you some amazing works next week after this quiet time.

Haring togetherness

So the elementary art teacher and I both realized that we were teaching Keith Haring at the same time.  Since I was having a hard time coming up with a Haring project that would work for high schoolers (they are a little big to trace on paper) and she wasn't sure what she wanted to do, we decided to team up.

SO after we both introduced Keith Haring we met up in one of the gyms and my students put paper out for her kids to lay on.  After the 4th graders found a pose on the paper, my students traced them and then together they all outlined the figures with black paint.  Then about a half hour later, my second art 1 class came and cut them out and hung them up on the wall.  It made for a fun and crazy long hallway that everyone has said looks great.

Lichtenstein fun

So this is the first of several big projects that I give my Art 1 students.  When I say big, I mean size, I give them 18x24 paper.  To my students this is a huge stretch.  Some of them can only work on paper that is 9x12 so this is pushing them outside of their comfort zone.

After looking at Lichtenstein, I ask the students what they think we are going to be doing for a project.  It is always amazing how by this time of year they can pretty much write the project based on what we have done with all of our other projects that follow artists styles.

They instantly knew that we would be working with a limited color scheme (black, white, red, yellow and blue), they saw we will be doing some sort of action sequence, and that it will need to be outlined or drawn in cartoon style.  Ding, Ding, Ding, they are correct.

The only thing they missed was how we were going to get the coloring done.  I actually bring out India Ink and calligraphy pens for all of the black and then I bring out markers for the other colors.  I also require that at some point in the picture they need to do dots or lines.

Marissa J.

Sidney H.

Riley R.

Jonah L.

Sommer B.

My other job

I am not sure how many of you out there are also in charge of something else at your schools, but I am the junior class adviser and in charge of PROM!!  This year the juniors picked the theme of Rustic Chic.  I guess that means, doors, burlap, flowers, mason jars and candles.  Somehow in one day we built two gazebos and decorate them and the gym around them.  I am never sure if everything will work until it is all done, but I guess it worked this year.

Warhol would be proud

Whoops, I forgot I started making this post a couple of weeks ago.  It is amazing how fast time flies when it is the end of a school year.  Maybe it is just me, but I have way too many things on my plate this time of year.

Anyways, Art 1 did some printmaking to channel our inner Andy Warhol.  We looked at Warhol's work and then each student had to create their own four part, four color prints.

For this assignment I have them do both a styrofoam print and a linoleum block print.  Both techniques need to work together to form one cohesive image.  First they make and print the styrofoam print.  That one is really easy and usually involves a lot less blood.  I usually ask them to make at least 5 because they will need 4 good ones when they are done and there is usually one that doesn't work as well as the others.

Then I give them a small piece of linoleum.  Most of the pieces are around 1 inch, but if they ask I will cut them one that is a little bit bigger.  Then they have to use carving tools and carve out the area around their image.  Then I tell them to do a practice stamp on their worst image first, so that way they can work out the kinks and see if it works before they do their good copies.

Hannah M.

Baylee B.

John S.

Brock N.

Photoshop fun

So what would you do if all your teacher told you was to make a mind-blowing photoshop project?  Well that was all I told them.  I wanted them to show me what they could do, or I wanted them to find a tutorial and learn a new photoshop technique that they didn't how to do before.  The other reason I was so vague was that I needed a short project that they could do at home.  Their ceiling tiles were taking so long and I needed a 6th project that they didn't necessarily need to do in my classroom.

I did learn that our computer graphics teacher is doing an amazing job of teaching them photoshop.  They gave me some great works and I think I will have to help them take it a step further in the future by doing more of these types of projects.

Brandon S.

Connor K.

Danica H.

Jacob G.

Jena F.

Tevin M.

Trying the Tryptich

If you are not familiar with a triptych, it is a project that is three times the fun.  :)  Okay, it is a project that involves three panels.  They could be done on three canvases, three sheets of paper, three pieces of clay or I have even had a student do three ceiling tiles.  So anything that works together in a set of three.

I love how triptych's make students think about how to spread out their designs and how to work on multiple surfaces so that it all ends up as one cohesive piece.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Nikole K.

Lexi B.

Jena F.

Holly S.

Drea B. - 4th place at state

Brandon S.

Sports and Sun

I wish we could be doing sports in the sun right now, but we have a fresh layer of the snow on the ground right now, and it will be a few days before we are enjoying the warmth again.

Anyways, here are the last two photo categories that students had to take for the 3rd quarter.  I wanted them to take shots of sports or things dealing with sports and I wanted them to catch sun rays.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Bree H.

Courtney M.

Emily H.

Connor K.

Courtney M.

Riley H.

Shadow art

I love images that make you think, and some of the strongest images happen when you use the shadow as the main form of art.  So of course I had to give out a photography assignment where they are supposed to focus on the shadow instead of the main object.

This one gets to be fun to see, because they also have to think to get the shot.  So much thinking, how will they ever manage?

Let's see some great photos and think about how they got these shots.

Austin L.

Brandon S.

Courtney M.

Hannah S.

Mikayla R.

Nikole K.

Tevin M.

Musical montage

I try really hard to not only promote my program but that of the other arts programs as often as I can.  I know that sometimes kids say they don't like music, but I also know that they love my room because I have the radio on all day, and last time I checked that was music.

SO for one of their photography assignments I required them to take a unique photo of music.  This usually means a trip to our band or chorus rooms to get a shot, but at least then I have proof that they know where it is.

Bree H.

Courtney M.

Emily H.

Jacob G.

Lexi B.

Mikayla R.