Week in Review: October 22-26

6th Grade
I can't believe we only have two weeks left after this!  I know I feel like I say this every time, but this term has REALLY flown by!  Most of this week was spent finishing up our 3-dimensional block letter sculptures! Students got to choose a base coat color and a "wash" color to put on as a finishing paint coat.  It's been really fun seeing how the color combinations turn out!  Next week, I'm going to get these projects graded and photographed and up on Artsonia - and then sent home to be enjoyed in person!  Yayy!  On Friday, we started our final sketchbook assignment, which is a wooden mannequin drawing.  This drawing will be due Tuesday, November 6th.



7th Grade


This week was spent working on two projects: first, our still-life paintings, which will be finished by the end of class this upcoming Monday.  Secondly, we created a graphic black and white composition inspired by Op Art for our second sketchbook assignment.  You can check out those drawings on our Artsonia gallery.  I think that this group of students did especially well on these drawings.   In order to help us with our own artwork, we spent time in class looking at and evaluating drawings to find good contrast.  I think the results are excellent!

The next two weeks will be all about drawing portraits!  First, we have our third sketchbook assignment, which is a realistic self-portrait that is drawn using a mirror (due Nov. 6).  Then, we'll be spending the rest of our class time creating large-scale grid enlargement drawings of a celebrity, chosen by the student.

8th Grade
This was our first week of quarter 2!  Sadly, I missed the first day of class due to a district meeting, but we found a fun way to introduce ourselves while I was out: LEGO portraits!  If you've been following the blog for a while, you've probably noticed that it's my new favorite project this year, and that I've done this assignment across grade levels (if we have extra time for it) several times this year already with different classes.



On Wednesday and Thursday, we started our first sketchbook assignment, which is a scene from a favorite book.  This will be due next week on Wednesday (October 31st - Halloween!).  Friday, we began planning for our first major in-class project: glazed clay mugs!

In other news...
The art room is in the process of getting a brand new kiln!  The old one was in a very bad state (I think it may have been original to the building...!!!) and was letting fumes out into the classroom (ick!).  The new one has arrived, but isn't 100% up and running just yet.  So we're pushing through with our clay mug project and hoping for the best!  Excited to test out our new equipment - yayy!



Also, here's an exciting upcoming art opportunity:

Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp is a non-profit summer school of the arts specializing in two-week arts programs for intermediate and high school students. A scholarship representative from Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp will be visiting Bryan Middle School to share information about the camp and audition students for scholarships. Sandburg students are invited to take advantage of this opportunity. Any student who auditions will be considered for scholarship aid toward tuition to attend the camp. The representative from Blue Lake will visit Bryan on November 6^th and 9^th.  Band, Orchestra, Choir, Art, and Drama students may audition after school between 3:45 and 5:00 p.m. Each audition lasts approximately 5 minutes. Please contact Brian Berg (bberg@elmhurst205.org) by Thursday, Nov. 1 to schedule an audition. The Blue Lake representative will present a 10 min slide show presentation with information about Blue Lake from 4:00 – 4:10.  You are encouraged to visit Blue Lake’s website at: http://www.bluelake.org to learn more. 

(Please note: the art "audition" is typically a portfolio review where the students submit artwork that they have created.)

Thanks for another great week!
-Mrs. L.

Week in Review: October 15-19

6th Grade 
This week, we worked really hard on our paper mache letterform sculptures!  Everyone finished the paper mache coating, and after it dried, we added texture to the front face of the letter with puffy paint and/or Elmer's glue.

On Thursday and Friday, we began working on drawing techniques using shading and value.  These skills will be used for our pen & ink drawing later on in the 6-week term.

7th Grade 
Most of our week was spent painting our still life compositions.  On Monday, we started painting value scales for practice before beginning our final painting.  Students chose one color (red, orange, green, blue, or violet) to mix with white or black to create lighter and darker values.  These are called "tints" or "shades."

These value scales help us decide what areas of our painting should be painted in what values.  So far they're looking pretty good!  Next week we'll begin adding shadows and highlights to our still life objects, and maybe even finish by the end of next week!

On Friday, we began sketchbook assignment #2, which is all about Op Art designs and high contrast black and white imagery.  This will be due next Wednesday (10/24).

8th Grade 
This was our last week of the quarter!  Boo hoo!  We spent the week finishing up just about everything!  First, our star lanterns were completed, photographed, and graded.  Then, Ms. Best talked with 8th grade students about art at York High School and showed off some of the awesome artwork she's made while at York.  We ended the quarter with one last quick drawing where we illustrated our greatest fears.

During the week, I was able to hang our plaster sculptures in the library!  Our maintenance staff installed screws in the library above the bookcases, and Mrs. Fullerton (our librarian) was kind enough to let us display our work in her space.  It looks FANTASTIC!  Check it out!

On our last day of art (as promised), we enjoyed using our glazed clay mugs by drinking hot chocolate, tea, and/or lemonade.  Some students used the time to draw, while others enjoyed watching the classic Simpsons episode where Homer becomes an "artist." Hilarious!



In other news...
A 4 million dollar Roy Lichtenstein painting has turned up after being missing for 42 years! Whoa!  Read all about it here.



Thanks for another great week!
-Mrs. L.

Friday Update: Week of October 8-12

This week was a short week due to having Monday off for Columbus day!

6th Grade 
This week we began construction on our 3-dimensional block letter sculptures using paper mache.  It's very messy and very fun!  On Thursday, we turned in our first Sketchbook project: one-point perspective name designs.  Next week, we'll begin our second sketchbook and further stretch our one-point perspective knowledge when we design our own rooms!

7th Grade 
On Tuesday, each student brought in an object for a collaborative still life arrangement.  We used the iPads to photograph a portion of the arrangement, which will be sketched out and painted using a monochromatic scheme.  Read more about our iPad photo-taking experience here.  Next week we'll begin the painting portion of our unit!

On Friday, we drew pictures of ourselves as LEGO minifigures.  Here's mine.  What do you think?



8th Grade 
We are nearing the end of our first quarter!  Next week is the last week for the current group of 8th graders.  I'm going to miss them!  Currently, we're in the middle of our paper sculpture unit, which is a 3-dimensional star-shaped hanging lantern.  The points of the stars are made of watercolor paper, which was painted using experimental techniques - resists, salt, washes, and even metallic and glitter paints!  By early next week, these stars should be completed and ready to hang!

The end of the quarter is also when the bulk of the projects are completed and grades are issued.  This means that tons of projects have been uploaded on our Artsonia gallery!  Be sure to stop by and view our 8th grade animal trophy head sculptures and clay mugs!  Oh, and definitely do NOT forget to check your grades on Powerschool!



Thanks for another great week!

-Mrs. L.

Using iPads in Art: Still Life Photos

Today we tried something new in art class, which was arranging and photographing still life compositions for our painting project, which we started talking about in class on Friday.  Students took photos of our collaborative still life arrangement using the iPads!  The iPads are great for selecting and cropping a portion of a composition because looking at the screen is like looking at a framed photo.  What the students "see" is what they "get."

We ran into problems with Photo Stream though.  I tested it out on Friday, and it was working just fine.  The plan was to use Photo Stream to print photos off the desktop PC in the art room after students took their photos.  Maybe my PC is just too old, but Photo Stream kept saying we were logged out of iCloud (we weren't) and our pictures weren't showing up.

My workaround (man, that was stressful!) was to create and share a Photo Stream on a website that can be accessed from any computer.  Of course, this means individually downloading and printing each photo one by one... but the important thing is that it WORKED!

Here's the links to our galleries:

7th Grade Period 1 Still Life Photo Gallery

7th Grade Period 2 Still Life Photo Gallery

Remember that we are only beginner photographers and that this is our first time shooting with the iPads!  But we are trying.

-Mrs. L.

Friday Update: October 1-5

Welcome new students!  This week was the first week of art classes for "Term B" 6th and 7th grade classes.  Remember, if you need more time to work on a project (outside of class) and you're unable to work at home, I'm available in the art room twice during the week:

• Tuesday morning during extended seminar (homeroom) time from 8:25 to 9:05 am
• Thursday afternoons after school from 3:20 to 4:20, with prior notice

6th Grade
This week we learned all about 1-point perspective!  We're working on name designs with a 3-D effect using our 1-point perspective skills.  The most fun part is the coloring and decorating:



On Thursday in class, we reviewed our 1-point perspective knowledge with a quick worksheet that assessed our skills.




7th Grade
All week, we've been exploring SURREALISM.  Our very first sketchbook assignment (due next Thursday) is a surreal landscape that incorporates 3 boxes drawn using 2-point perspective drawing techniques.  We even watched a really fun video all about surrealism.  You can check it out here:

8th Grade



This week, we finished our plaster animal trophy heads!  We painted them using acrylic paint, and punched holes into the background plaques using a hammer and awl.  A bit of wire created a hanger for our sculptures.  Our plan is to hang these up for display in the library! Yayy!



On Friday, we experimented with watercolor paints to create interesting washes and effects.  These "experimental paintings" will become the star points for our 3-D paper star lanterns, which we'll continue next week.

In other news...
I dressed up the Mona Lisa for Halloween.  What do you think?!



Thanks for another great week!
-Mrs. L.