Art From Scratch and More Portrait Work

Last week I asked students to find their favorite 

Native American artist, and four students 

really came through! ATCs were given to 

John-Luc, Tavia, Hunter, and Morgan, four young artists who are well on their way to winning some very cool art prizes at the end of the semester!  If there was a special prize for best drawing of a kachina, it would definitely go to Morgan! She did the most amazing drawing of a kachina that I've ever seen! Great work!

Students in our Drawing and Painting and 

Drawing and Printmaking classes all had fun with scratch art this past week! Just like magic, they put their wooden stylus' to the scratch art paper, and revealed wonderful artwork through the process of "taking away."

There were many more works than you see here, 

but (sadly) my camera shots were mostly a little blurry. 

This gives you a really good idea, though, of the 

talented artists who attend HSC! 

Explorations in Art (I and II) students began work on some small sculptures, which will likely be finished in the coming week. They're off to a GREAT start, so be sure to check back for a peek at the finished works!

Fiber Arts students continued with their current works in progress (a surprise to be revealed later!). 

And students in all Ceramics classes spent their class time glazing pinch pots! Glazing ensures that the pots will be food and drink safe, and the kids already have plans for sipping cocoa and eating snacks out of their hand built pots. When all of the pots have been properly glazed (3 thin coats of glaze), the wares will return to Woodrow Wilson Academy to go through their final glaze firing--a temperature of 

nearly 2,000 degrees! Wow, that's hot!

Artists in Portraits class continued their work on the human face. This past week, we concentrated on drawing the mouth, and there was some spectacular work to behold! Following are just a couple of examples . . .

After getting through that exercise, we drew various facial features on small bits of paper, and moved them around on the background drawing of a head. This gave the young artists a chance to see how the face looks when features are properly placed, rather than, for instance, drawing the eyes too high up on the head, or putting the mouth too close to the chin. It became a kind of "portrait game." 

I absolutely love it when students continue their art studies at home! Whenever they do, and bring in a sample to share with the class, they're eligible to receive the very coveted 

Vincent van Gogh Award for Dedication to the ARTS!

This week's award goes to Kaylyn in Evergreen for the stunning work featured below. 

Great Work, Kaylyn!

And now for the coming week's web challenge! Inspired by last weeks' challenge to find a favorite Native American artist, I'm asking you to do a little research on one of my own faves, Maria Poveka Martinez! Please do a search* and find out:

1. The type of art that she was so famous for creating,

2. The pueblo (reservation) where she lived and worked,

3. Your own drawing that depicts a favorite work of Maria's

(I've seen your art, so I KNOW you can do this!)

*Remember: Anytime you're doing an online search, your parent or other responsible adult must be present. No exceptions!

When I receive your completed challenge**, 

you'll receive your ATC!

**Because this is a WEEKLY (and completely optional!) assignment, the information must be presented to me the week it is due. This keeps things fair for those who work hard to find the answers and turn them in on time. Whoever has the most assignment-related ATCs by the end of the semester will win a REALLY COOL ART PRIZE. A 2nd place prize will also be awarded. There will be a first and second prize for each school day, so get busy!  

Copying the Masters, and More Great Art!

Quite a few students participated in the web challenge last week, and I'd like to take a moment to recognize them before recapping the work we did in class. Special thanks to:

Valencia, John-Luc, Hunter,

Parker, Morgan, Tavia, 

Keith, Delaney, and Ivy! 

Each of you found your favorite Canadian artist. Great work! 

Drawing and Painting students finished their modern masterpieces this past week, and I'm sure you'll agree that these photos were worth waiting for!

We learned a lot about the artists' work we copied. Each brush stroke, each decision about placement, and each color choice opened a window on that artist's mind. 

While this wasn't necessarily an easy exercise, it was very rewarding when finished! 

In Explorations in Art (4th-6th), River finished a magnificent work that he's been laboring over for the past several weeks. It's a pencil on paper work which he calls Nighttime Jazz (below). He's proven that talent, patience, dedication, and time can work together to make something incredible! 

Great work, River!

Students in Explorations in Art (1st - 3rd) learned all about the element of Texture, and how texture can make a work more interesting and approachable! After discussing several famous works of art, the young artists put together collages (and a drawing!) of various textures . . .

Students in Portraits class continued their work on the human face. We discussed the boney structure of the face--the nose in particular--and set to work on portraits of each other. Though we've only been in the class for a few weeks, young artists are already making great strides and improvement in their portrait work!

In Drawing and Printmaking, 

we finished up our unit on stencils . . .

. . . and several students in the class brought in work that they'd done at home! And because of this special dedication to the ARTS, the van Gogh award goes to 

. . . (drum roll, please!) . . .  

Kelton, Nathan, and Kaylyn!

Great work!

And now for the coming week's web challenge! For the week of February 23rd through 25th, search* for the following:
Look for a Native American artist whose work you particularly enjoy. The work can be in any medium (paint, ceramics, weaving, sculpture, photography,etc). Bring me the name of the artist, the tribe and area/region where they come from (example: Hopi tribe from the four corners area), and a print out, or your own drawing (if printing isn't a possibility) of a work of their art which you like. This should include the title of the artwork.

*Remember: Anytime you're doing an online search, your parent or other responsible adult must be present. No exceptions!

When I receive your completed challenge**, 

you'll receive your ATC!

**Because this is a WEEKLY (and completely optional!) assignment, the information must be presented to me the week it is due. This keeps things fair for those who work hard to find the answers and turn them in on time. Whoever has the most assignment-related ATCs by the end of the semester will win a REALLY COOL ART PRIZE. A 2nd place prize will also be awarded. 

There will be a first and second prize for each school day, so get busy!  

Paper Baskets, Stencils, and Modern Masterpieces!

Before we review last week's work, I'd like to give a hearty thank you to the students who participated in our first web challenge of this semester! They correctly identified 

Pablo Picasso's The Actor 

as the work of art that was recently damaged while on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Great Work,

Roman, Diego, Morgan, John-Luc, Hunter, and Parker!

In Fiber Arts class this past week, we wove beautiful paper (compliments of Miss Elona! Thanks, Miss Elona!)

into heart-shaped baskets. This particular project was really quite tricky, but each student eventually mastered the technique and walked out of class with a gorgeous work of art!

In Drawing and Printmaking class, 

we used stencils to create cards and prints, 

and had a whole bunch of fun in the process! 

We also 

used decorative-edged scissors to play with 

positive vs. negative space

and got some interesting results!

Students had so much fun, in fact, that we decided (in an overwhelming vote of majority--democracy is such a good thing!) that we'd continue our work with stencils for a while.

In Explorations in Art, 

we discussed the element of shape, and how 

various artists might use shape for both design, 

and to create a mood. We also discovered 

ways that shape, combined with color, 

can enhance that mood. 

The works that we used for comparison were 

Jacob Lawrence's Parade, 

and Grant Wood's Stone City, Iowa:

One student, Kaylyn, used what she's learned, so far, about color, shape, and the direction of line to create a very calm scene that soothes the senses. 

Great work, Kaylyn!

The past couple of weeks, students in 

Drawing and Painting 

class have been working on their own versions of some very famous paintings! While there are still many "masterpieces" to be completed, I just couldn't wait to share with you the ones that are finished. They're truly spectacular!

(Above left) Tavia, Horizontal Tree, by Piet Mondrian

(Above right) Parker, Two Peaches on a Branch, after Ko Chung-bsuan

(Below top) Kevin, Count Tommaso Inghirami, by Raphael

(Below middle) Eddie, detail from Sugar Cane, by Diego Rivera

(Below bottom) Josh, detail from George Moore, by Edouard Manet

(Below left, middle and right) Derik, Jacob, and Stefan

Still Life: Apples, Pear, and White Mug, by Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin

These are a small sampling of masterpieces from this class, so be sure to check back next week for more!

And now for the coming week's 

web challenge!

In honor of the Vancouver Olympics, and our wonderful neighbors to the north, our challenge for the week of 

February 16th through 18th is as follows:

Do a search* of Canadian artists, and print out a copy of a painting, or other work of art (or architecture!) that you find especially appealing. It MUST be by a Canadian citizen (born or raised in Canada). If you have problems with printing, you may write down the name of the artist and painting, and also the URL where you found it (URLs usually begin with http://). Be prepared to tell me why you like this particular work! 

I value your opinions!

When I receive your completed challenge**, 

you'll receive your ATC!

*Remember: Anytime you're doing an online search, your parent or other responsible adult must be present. No exceptions!

**Because this is a WEEKLY (and completely optional!) assignment, the information must be presented to me 

the week it is due. This keeps things fair for those who 

work hard to find the answers and turn them in on time. Whoever has the most assignment-related ATCs 

by the end of the semester will win a 

REALLY COOL ART PRIZE. 

A 2nd place prize will also be awarded. 

There will be a first and second prize for each school day, 

so get busy!  

Kente Cloth, Pinch Pots, Portrait Basics, and The Mighty Line!

In Fiber Arts class, we learned all about the history of Kente cloth, and its significance among the Asante (Ashanti) people of Ghana. For instance, we discovered that there are many different patterns of Kente, and that each pattern has its own specific meaning. Also, Kente was originally woven only for royalty, but now it's use is widespread.

Authentic Kente cloth is often named for a proverb, or story, and so each young artist was challenged to create a name for their own (unique!) Kente cloth. They were encouraged to think about the pattern and story of their "cloth" while picking the order of the "weft" (horizontal) weaving pieces. This being a particularly creative group of artists, they did not disappoint!

Though some of the students are still thinking about 

how to title their Kente weavings, several young fiber artists knew immediately what titles would best fit their work. 

For instance, our Tuesday weavers came up with . . .

Valencia: "He Who Walks First Shall Finish Last"

Acacia: "The No Name"

Roman: "Video Games, Video Games, How I Love Video Games"
Joe: "I Fell Off a Squirrel, and Now I Am Checker Board"

Sedona: "Each Strip is My Life"

Ike: "The Artist is Mixed Colors"

Natalie: "Color Twist"

Rio: "Legos, Legos, How I Love Legos"

And some titles from our Wednesday class include:

Cynthia: "In Every Which Way There is a Different Color, Which Doesn't Matter"

Jacob: "I Like to Climb on Trees, Trees, Trees, 

and I Want to Stay in the Trees!"

Morgan: A Kente Cloth to All the World"

Lark: "Every Single Color Doesn't Matter to the World"

Ben: "Running, Running, I Like to Run!"

Kevin: "Light Snack"Ceramics students (all levels) worked on the basic and humble pinch pot. For Ceramics I students, this was their first lesson in hand building, though you certainly wouldn't guess that by looking at their finished pots! They certainly worked like experienced builders! Perhaps it was all that wedging that they did last week . . .

Ceramics II students also made pinch pots, because several were quite "rusty" from not having worked with clay for a while. It must be like riding a bike, though, because they did fine work, and by the end of class, the "drying board" was full of wares. Several young artists also used their newly made "artist stamps" that they created last week in class!

In our Portrait Drawing class, students continued their work with mapping the face according to portrait drawing "rules." To get an idea of what the rules are, check out this nice little tutorial!

(Left to Right, Artist is: Morgan, Kevin, Zoe)

Students in Drawing and Painting class began work on a very special, multi-week project. Each student picked a famous painting to copy. This week, they worked on the drawing portion of the project. Next week we'll get out the paint and see what happens! Photos will be posted here when the works are finished, so be sure to check back!

Our Thursday Explorations in Art class learned all about the line, and about various types of lines used in art. We talked about horizontal, vertical, diagonal, curvilinear, heavy vs. light lines, and how lines can convey either tranquil stillness or active movement. After looking at an analyzing a number of famous artworks, students set to work on their own, highly linear, drawings. The goal was to include as many different types of lines as they could within the time allowed. Fantastic Work!

Students who are interested in participating in the web challenge may earn their first ATC for this semester 

by finding the answer to this 2-part question*: 

What work by artist Pablo Picasso was recently (end of January, 2010) damaged in a NYC art museum? What period of his work is represented by this painting?

Please either write down this information, and include your name on the paper; or print out an online article that gives this information, being sure to write your name on the copy. Be prepared to talk about this painting, 

and how you feel about it (like, dislike, etc). 

To receive your ATC, you MUST** bring this information to class this week, February 9th through 11th. 

*Remember: Anytime you're doing an online search, your parent or other responsible adult must be present. No exceptions!

**Because this is a WEEKLY (and completely optional!) assignment, the information must be presented to me 

the week it is due. This keeps things fair for those who 

work hard to find the answers and turn them in on time. Whoever has the most assignment-related ATCs 

by the end of the semester will win a 

REALLY COOL ART PRIZE. 

A 2nd place prize will also be awarded. 

There will be a first and second prize for each school day, 

so get busy!  

oops!

Hi, Kids! If you've come back to see the coming week's web challenge, I owe you an apology. I'm sorry! I neglected to hand out the information about our virtual classroom to the new art students. Just to keep it fair, we'll start the challenges after the coming week's classes. Okay? Great!


See you in class!
Miss Robin