This week in art! April 22-26

6th Grade:


This week, we began our letter sculpture project!  It was a good thing we learned all about block letters in our first drawing assignment, because we used this knowledge to draw our large letters for our sculptures!  Cereal box cardboard is used to make the basic letter form, which is stuffed with newspaper and taped together with masking tape (how appropriate that our recycled materials project fell right around Earth Day!).

On Friday, our first sketchbook assignment (the one-point perspective name design) was due.  We also pulled out the paper mache buckets and began coating our letterforms!  We'll continue building our sculptures into next week.

7th Grade:


This week was the start of our painting unit.  Students altered digital photos of themselves using Adobe Photoshop Elements software to create 4-levels of value on their image.  The image outlines are transferred onto white paper to be painted.  Before we begin our final paintings, we complete a value scale worksheet that allows us to practice mixing paint tints and shades, and also lets us try out three different color schemes so we can decide which one to use for our final portrait painting.

Our first sketchbook assignment (the two-point perspective surreal landscape) was due yesterday (Thursday).  Be on the lookout for those grades to post soon on Powerschool, and for our artwork to be posted on Artsonia!

8th Grade:


Wow!  Check out how our awesome sculptures are coming along!  We've been working hard this week.  The first half of the week was spent finishing up our armatures for our plaster sculptures, and the second half was spent applying plaster!  To top it off, we even turned in a sketchbook drawing assignment on Wednesday (our "master copy" drawing).  Next week, we'll be finishing up the plaster application and starting a new sketchbook drawing assignment.

In other news...


My "dream come true" story is on the front page of the iPEVO Wishpool site!  I'm not sure how long it will be up for, so you can also view it via this direct link.  The wireless station I won from them is really cool - I'm currently working on dreaming up fun ways to use it in the classroom with students!

Also in other fun news...


Last weekend, I was fortunate to attend the "Soiree 2013" event for the Elmhurst Art Museum!  It's a super fancy fundraiser event for the museum, and Mercedes Benz of Westmont purchased an entire table for the Elmhurst art teachers so that we could attend.  How cool!  There was super yummy food from Cafe Amano, and amazing theatre performers and live music!  I even had to get all dressed up to go!  Yowza!

Thanks for another great week!
-Mrs. L.

Weekly Update: April 15-19

Wow what an exciting week!  It was the first week of art for Term F classes, 6th & 7th grades.  That means it's the last term of the school year!  Then, to top it off, school was cancelled on Thursday (April 18) due to massive rains and flooding in the area!  Thankfully, our school wasn't hit too bad... but the art room did have a little bit of water in it.  I came in to school with some re-arranged furniture, but the floor was mopped up and dry.  No technology was affected, and no supplies or equipment were damaged.  Phew!

6th Grade Art:


During our first week of classes, we began our first sketchbook drawing assignment.  We're drawing our names in block letters, and using 1-point perspective lines to make our names look 3-D. Then, we get to decorate our designs and be as colorful and creative as possible!  These finished drawings will be due next week on Friday.


7th Grade Art:



During our first week of classes, we also began our first sketchbook drawing assignment.  We learned how to draw 3-dimensional box shapes from different points of view using 2-point perspective. These boxes will be incorporated into landscape compositions in a surrealist style. The more weird and crazy, the better! These finished drawings will be due next week on Thursday.


8th Grade Art:



This week, we began a new project: faux taxidermy animal heads made out of plaster. (Our clay is currently air-drying and awaiting kiln firing in the meantime.) We discussed the plaster-building process, and wrote raps, cheers, or jingles about it to re-teach the concept to the class!  It was really funny.

Then, we researched animal images on the internet and printed them out.  We used the pictures to help sketch out our plan for our final pieces.  Today, we begin the armature-building process, which is the underlying structure built from newspaper and tape that the plaster will be applied to.  This will continue on into next week.

We are also in the middle of our second sketchbook assignment, which is a master copy.  Students found and printed out a famous painting that they will attempt to copy (via observation) in colored pencil.  This drawing will be due at the end of next week.


In other news...



Last Friday was our reception for the student art exhibition at Elmhurst Art Museum!  Thank you to everyone who stopped by to view the work.  Here's the section of the exhibition that showcased all of the work from our Sandburg artists!  Congratulations everyone!

Thanks for another great week!
-Mrs. L.

Week in Review: April 8-12

This was the last day of art for "Term E" art classes (6th & 7th grades).  Monday starts our final group of students for the year - wow!

Also, today after school I will be at the Elmhurst Art Museum for our K-8 Art Exhibition reception from 3:30 to 5:30 pm.  It's so fun to see our students work on display in a real art museum!

6th Grade:


This week was spent finishing up our pen & ink animal drawings.  Students had to incorporate a variety of drawing techniques and patterns into their final images.  They also had the added challenge of mastering two different kinds of pen tips!  One was wide and round, perfect for creating large dotted patterns and bold, wide lines.  The other pen was small and narrow, perfect for fine details and thin line work.  I can';t wait to show off our final pieces on Artsonia!

This week, we brought our letter sculptures home.  Hopefully, your student's work made it all the way home!  If it is suspiciously missing, be sure to check it out on the Artsonia gallery.

7th Grade:


This week, students turned in their final sketchbook drawings (the comic square enlargement) and began one final drawing: an oil pastel enlargement of their pop can (either the first or second stage of the evolution drawing).  It was fun to get to try out a new media, as we haven't used oil pastel in middle school art before. Oil pastel can be easily smudged and blended to create bold shadows and accent colors.  We drew these pictures on black paper for added contrast!  I plan to display these drawings in the school in the next few weeks.

All pop can "Evolution" drawings have been sent home.  If you haven't seen your student's drawing, you can check it out on our Artsonia gallery here.

8th Grade:


This week, we finished up construction on our large mugs, which will be glazed after they are fired.  I also fired all of the "mini mugs" we made last week.  These tiny mugs will look really cute after they've been glazed and decorated alongside the large mugs.

Next week, we'll be starting a new project!  This will allow our clay time to dry before it is fired.  Air dry time is important with clay.  If clay is put into the kiln while it is still wet, it can explode in the kiln, causing damage to any projects around it (besides destroying the original project as well).  So much to remember when working with clay!

In other news...
Now is the time to start thinking about art classes for spring and summer!  If you're interested in working with clay, a fun local business to try is Wild Bird Pottery Studio.  There are youth workshop classes for ages 8-18 after school, and a 5-day summer session that includes working with the pottery wheel.  How fun!

For full details, or to register, visit the Wild Bird Pottery Studio website.

Thanks for another great week!
-Mrs. L.

This week in art: April 1-5

6th Grade:


Sixth grade students were VERY busy this week!  We started out on Monday with some drawing technique practice worksheets (we're working on patterns & textures at the moment).  On Tuesday we did some reading about African textile art, which serves as the inspiration for our upcoming patterned animal drawings which will be done in pen & ink - more on that next week!  Wednesday and Thursday were spent looking up animal photos and sketching out our outlines for our final animal drawings.  On Friday, we turned in our final sketchbook assignments: a manikin drawing.

Next week is our last week of Term E!  So hard to believe how quickly time has flown by!

7th Grade:


Seventh grade students are doing a whole bunch of drawing right now!  We are finishing up our "Evolution of an Aluminum Can" drawings (most students finished on Friday).  I'm going to start grading and photographing finished projects this weekend, since our last week is next week and I'll need to get grades in ASAP.  So if you're not finished, make sure you have your can drawing ready to turn in on Monday!

The other drawing we're working on is our third (and final) sketchbook assignment, which is a grid enlargement of a comic square.  We learned about Albrecht Durer and how he used a grid in order to produce more accurate drawings, and also looked at Roy Lichtenstein's comic-book style artworks.  We combined inspiration from the two sources to come up with this result!  This assignment is due on Wednesday, April 10th.

8th Grade:


Quarter 4 is well under way now!  This week, we started planning for our glazed clay mug ceramic project.  As a practice session before beginning our final mug construction, we made "mini mugs" the size of tiny espresso cups!  This gives us a chance to try out basic clay construction (rolling out slabs, wedging, score/slip/smooth to attach pieces) so we'll be more proficient when we begin making the larger version.

Some students did begin their large mugs this week - we'll be working on them all next week, and hopefully finishing up construction (with the designs and handles) and setting them out to dry by then.

Also this week, sketchbook assignment #1 was due today - a scene from a favorite book.  Next week we'll begin talking about sketchbook assignment #2.

Thanks for another great week!
-Mrs. L.