This Week in Art! Nov. 18-22

6th Grade Art:

This week we worked on two different assignments.  First, our sketchbook assignment: the one-point perspective name design, which was due on Thursday.  Second, we began our 3-dimensional letter sculptures.

Our letter sculptures reinforce our block-letter drawing skills.  We're building them out of old cereal boxes and masking tape.  After our Thanksgiving break, we will begin applying paper mache to our forms!  Can't wait!

7th Grade Art:

This was a very full week for us!  We started off the week with some more work time on our surreal landscape sketchbook drawings.  Then, we began our painting project - we took digital photos, and altered them on Adobe Photoshop to convert the image to four levels of value.  Our printed out photos were then transferred onto paper for painting.

On Thursday, our first sketchbook assignment was due.  Be sure to check your grade on Powerschool!  We began our second sketchbook assignment right away: a black and white design inspired by Op Art!

8th Grade Art:

We spent most of this week working on our pixelated portraits assignment, but today we started our third sketchbook assignment.  It is a copy of a famous painting.  We researched artworks online via the links on the 8th grade art webpage.  We then used a shared Google spreadsheet (via our d205 Google drive!) to "sign up" for our artwork, so that no one repeated a painting that was already claimed by someone else!  It was super fun to get to try out our Google Apps logins for the first time, and see an entire class typing on one document at the same time!  Amazing!

In other art news...
How did I miss this news story?  Have you seen former President George W. Bush's paintings?  Apparently, it's his hobby!  He seems to enjoy painting portraits of dogs.  It's pretty interesting!  He was even on the Jay Leno show to talk about it, and presented Mr. Leno with a portrait!  Art critic Jerry Saltz talks about the paintings in this article, and more on the Jay Leno appearance over here.

Thanks for another great week!
- Mrs. L.

This Week in Art! Nov. 11-15

6th Grade Art:


Welcome to art!  This was the first week for "C" Term 6th grade art classes.  We began class by sending home a permission slip for Artsonia.com, which is our digital art gallery on the web!  Students can share photos of their artwork with family and friends via the internet!  Permission slips were due today - if you need another copy, you can grab one here, via the main art webpage.

We spent the week learning about drawing block letters and 1-point perspective technique for making our letters look 3-D.  We will use these skills for our first sketchbook drawing (a name design), which will be due next Thursday, November 21st.  Details for all of our art assignments can be found on the 6th grade art webpage.  You can also e-mail me if you ever have any questions!

7th Grade Art:


Welcome also to my seventh graders returning to art this year!  This was the first week for "C" Term 7th grade art classes.  We also sent home Artsonia.com permission slips, which were due today - if you need another copy, you can grab one here, via the main art webpage.  (If you're wondering why you need to turn one in, even though you filled one out last year, it's because I update information every year!)

We spent the week learning about 2-point perspective and surrealism.  We will use these skills for our first sketchbook drawing (a surreal landscape), which will be due next Thursday, November 21st.  Details for all of our art assignments can be found on the 7th grade art webpage.

8th Grade Art:


Eighth grade students started a new project this week!  Students are creating a pixel version of a "selfie" (a self-portrait photo), which was e-mailed to me earlier in the week.  Students that did not provide a selfie had a photo taken by me in class, and they will create a pixel version of that photo.  This drawing will take us quite a while, but the results are pretty fun!

Today, sketchbook drawing #2 (a scene from a book) was due.  Be sure to stay up-to-date on your grades via Powerschool, so you don't have any missing assignments!

In other art news...

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Thanks for another great week!
- Mrs. L.

This Week in Art: November 4-8

6th Grade Art:


Today was the last day of art for 6th grade Term B classes.  It sure went by fast!  This week was spent creating our class comic book.  Each student was responsible for drawing one page in the final book, and our theme was "Best Day Ever." On the last day of class, we read our final comic book and collected autographs from our classmates!

Good luck on Monday in your next UA class!

7th Grade Art:


This was our last week of Term B art class.  Because our term was cut so short by Outdoor Ed, our usual still life unit (the pop can drawing) was cut short, and we chose to draw one large image of the pop can using oil pastels.

On Thursday, our final sketchbook drawing (comic grid enlargement) was due.  Look for those drawings to show up soon on Artsonia, as well as two other art projects: monochromatic paintings and pop can drawings!

8th Grade Art:


This week was mostly spent on clay, and finishing up our construction on our large clay mugs, which will be fired, then glazed, and then fired again.  On the last day of art (not 'til December!), we will have a hot chocolate celebration using our special new mugs!

We also started our second sketchbook drawing assignment, which is a drawing of a scene from a book.  This assignment is due next Friday, November 15th.

Next week, we will be starting our self-portrait project: students will have to bring in or e-mail me a photo of themselves for this project!  Full details to come on Monday.

In other art news...
The Rijksmuseum Holland had an idea: Let's bring the art to the people and then, hopefully, they will come to see more - at the museum. They took one Rembrandt painting from 1642, The Night Watch, brought to life the characters in it, placed them in a busy mall - and the rest you can see for yourself!



Thanks for another great week!
- Mrs. L.

This Week In Art! Oct. 28th - Nov. 1st

6th Grade Art:


We started off this week by turning in our second sketchbook drawing assignment: a 1-point perspective room design. We then finished up our paper mache letter sculptures, and then photographed them for Artsonia! Thanks to the new classroom mode on Artsonia, students were able to use the iPads to take their photos and upload/title their work, all from one device! Be sure to check out our Artsonia exhibits for both assignments to see how the final products turned out!

Tuesday through Friday was spent learning and practicing drawing techniques, such as hatching, cross-hatching, stippling, and doodle to show value on a form. Next week, we’ll be utilizing these new skills to create our own class comic book!

Today, paper mache letter sculptures were sent home with students – so be on the lookout for the real deal to arrive!

7th Grade Art:


Seventh grade art classes also started out their week by turning in a sketchbook assignment: an Op-Art-inspired black and white drawing. The rest of the week was used to work on two additional projects: our monochromatic painting, and our third sketchbook assignment. The third sketchbook assignment is a comic panel enlargement using the “grid method” to reproduce an image. This drawing will be due next Thursday, November 7th.

Next week, we will finish up our paintings, and make one more drawing before the last day of art class (next Friday! Eek!).

8th Grade Art:


This week was clay-crazy! On Monday and Tuesday, we made mini mugs as a practice for our larger mug project. Wednesday was spent perfecting our sketchbook drawings (a black and white profile zentangle), which was due in class today. The remaining two days was spent on starting our final large-sized mugs, which will be decorated, fired, glazed, and fired again to make them functional! So cool!

Next week, we’ll be starting our next sketchbook assignment: a drawing of a favorite book scene. Can you tell we’ve got a whole literature-theme going?

In Other Art-Related News…

Tonight is the big “Arte at Nite” event in downtown Elmhurst! You can stop by Elijah’s Coffee and pick up a mini mug made by 8th grade art students for $5 – and all of the money will go to the UCCA Food Pantry! It’s a “win” all-around!

Can't make it to Elijah's tonight?  No worries - our mini mugs will be on sale throughout the holiday season, and you can purchase them at the downtown Elijah's location through January.  All proceeds will continue to benefit the UCCA Food Pantry.



Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp representatives will be visiting Sandburg and holding auditions/tryouts for summer camp scholarships. Any student who auditions will be considered for scholarship aid toward tuition to attend the camp. This visit will take place at Sandburg on November 18th and 19th. You are encouraged to visit Blue Lake’s website at: http://www.bluelake.org to learn more about the camp.

Art students will have the opportunity to audition during mornings and/or during the day by appointment. These appointments will be coordinated at Sandburg by Rico Vazquez, one of our band directors. For further info/appointments, he can be reached via email at rvazquez@elmhurst205.org



A new Art Institute of Chicago exhibit opens November 12! Art + Appetite: American Painting, Culture, and Cuisine is the theme of this exhibit. Feast your eyes on the rich tradition of food and drink in American art with over 100 paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts from the 18th through the 20th century and discover how American artists have used depictions of food to both celebrate and critique everything from the national diet to society and politics.

Thanks for another great week!

-Mrs. L.