Week in Review: March 4-8

This week was ISAT testing week!  That means that art classes were very short - less than 30 minutes each day for 7th & 8th graders!  So most of our days were spent on the "less messy" arts, like drawing and using computers!

6th Grade:


6th grade students are working on their second sketchbook assignment (we're taking a hiatus from our letter sculptures, but we'll get back to them next week!) - a "dream room" design that uses our knowledge of 1-point perspective from our first sketchbook assignment.  These drawings will be due on Monday, March 18th (so there's still another week to work on them!).  The photo above is the display of this same assignment from last term's sixth grade art classes.  Don't they look great?

7th Grade:


Seventh grade is also working on their second sketchbook assignment: a drawing inspired by Op Art and Zentangles!  These black and white drawings are intricately patterned and use drawing techniques that we previously learned in 6th grade: hatching, cross-hatching, stippling, and doodle techniques.  We also learned some cool new contour line tricks for giving our work a 3-D effect!  These drawings are due March 18th.

8th Grade:


Eighth grade students are using the computers and iPads to create Papercritter sculptures as part of our paper sculpture unit!  We have 15 laptops in the classroom that use the Papercritters website to design and print out our creations.  We also use our three iPads and the Papercritters app to do the same thing!  Because the iPads are so popular in art class, we had a "raffle" to pick which three students would get to use the iPads to make their Papercritters.

Each student is required to design, print out, and assemble one Papercritter for this assignment.  If students finish early, they are allowed to make additional Papercritters just for fun!  These paper sculptures are due this Monday, March 11.

Students are also working on sketchbook assignment #4, which is a design for the cover of the program for our 8th grade promotion ceremony!  Not only is this an assignment for a grade, but the winning design (as voted on by 8th grade teachers) is used for the 8th grade program cover!  Whee!  This drawing is due next Wednesday, March 13th.

In other news...

March is Youth Art Month!  Celebrate by doing something art-minded!


Thanks for another great week!
-Mrs. L.

Week in Review: February 25-28

6th Grade:


This was another short 4-day week!  We finished the instructions for our 1-point perspective name design drawings and had a good chunk of work time to make a lot of progress on it!  These drawings are due this Monday, March 4th.

On Thursday, we began the first steps of our paper mache sculpture project.  Next week, we'll finish up the basic cardboard construction even though it's ISAT week and classes will be very short!

7th Grade:


This week, seventh grade classes had a bunch of time to make progress on their first sketchbook assignment - a 2-point perspective surreal landscape.  We even watched a fun video all about Surrealism to help inspire us!  Students took their drawings home over the weekend to finish up, since they're due this Monday, March 4th.

Students also used Adobe Photoshop software to alter photographs of themselves that will later be used for our painting project (see sneak peek above)!  We'll continue more on this project next week...

8th Grade:


8th grade students are doing (what feels like) a million things at one time!  Our mugs are currently awaiting glaze firing in the kiln, and we've started painting our plaster animal heads.  We also just started our final sketchbook assignment - a design for the 8th grade promotion ceremony cover! (Side note: I "made up" the promotion ceremony date above as a placeholder for the actual date once it's decided.  This may not be the actual date!)

FYI - Sketchbook #4 will be due on Monday, March 11th for 8th grade students.

Thanks for another great week!
- Mrs. L.

Week in Review: February 18-22

6th Grade:


Welcome new 6th grade students!  On the first day of art, we watched a special first day presentation all about art class.  Students were sent home with a permission slip for Artsonia (our first art assignment worth 5 points!), which was due this week!  If you still haven't turned yours in, you can print out a new form here and turn it in next week.

We also worked on TWO drawing assignments this week!  The first drawing (a "getting to know you" activity) was to draw ourselves as LEGO minifigures and answer some questions about ourselves on the back of our drawing. (Need a new copy? Get it here!)  These drawings were turned in on Friday.

On Friday, we started our first Sketchbook assignment, which is a 1-point perspective block letter drawing. Most students are drawing their name as the design, but some students are opting for nicknames, adjectives, or the name of a friend or loved one to give as a gift!  These drawings won't be due until March 4th, and we'll continue working on them next week!  Want to see some examples of past drawings like this?  Visit our exhibit on Artsonia!



7th Grade:



Seventh grade students also watched a special first day presentation about art class, and were sent home with a permission slip for Artsonia.  Even though students may have turned these in last year, I always update my records for the new year by having students fill out the form again.  If you still haven't turned yours in, you can print out a new form here and turn it in next week.

Above, you can see some student examples from our first drawing assignment, where students drew themselves as LEGO minifigures. These drawings were turned in on Friday. (Need a new copy? Get it here!)

On Friday, we started our first Sketchbook assignment, which is a 2-point perspective drawing. Next week, we'll be getting into the surreal subject matter for these images - should be super fun to make some crazy, creative landscapes!


8th Grade:


It's POTTERY WHEEL WEEK in the art room!  On Tuesday, we all watched a video about how to use the pottery wheel, and some basic throwing advice.  Similar videos can be found on YouTube (I even made a playlist featuring Danielle the Clay Lady!), if you're interested in finding out more about the process.

The classes were split into three groups, and each day a different group had a chance to try and throw on the wheels.  On days that students were not on the wheel, they were working on our sketchbook assignment #3 - a drawing of a fear, using charcoal, conte crayon, and colored pencil.  These drawings will be due THIS MONDAY, February 25th!

Thanks for another great week!
-Mrs. L.

This week in art: Feb 11-15

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY OF ART FOR TERM D 6th & 7th GRADE CLASSES!  Starting on Tuesday, there will be all new 6th & 7th grade students in class.  If your student is currently in art, please find out which Unified Arts class they're going to next!

6th Grade:
We ran out of time on our pen & ink animal drawings; therefore, we were unable to cut them out and glue them to colored paper.  Instead, we used the final couple of days to really concentrate on our pen & ink use to make our drawings really nice and neat and detailed!  Finished drawings will be up on Artsonia soon - probably next week!



7th Grade:
Our last week of class was spent creating circular weavings on old CDs!  We love finding ways to create art out of materials that have been re-used and/or recycled.  The finished weavings will be joined together to create a large panel, which will be put on display here at school!



Our third sketchbook assignment (a comic strip panel enlargement) was due today, our last day of class.  These projects have already been graded, but will take about a week or so to show up on Artsonia - so be on the lookout!

8th Grade:
On Monday, Ms. Best played an art game with us all about art vocabulary, then introduced sketchbook assignment #3: a drawing of a fear.  This assignment is inspired by Expressionism, which tries to convey emotion through the artwork.

On Tuesday, we attempted to finish our plaster application on our faux animal head sculptures.  We'll be taking a short hiatus on this project, but we'll be coming back to it eventually...



Wednesday through Friday, we worked on glazing our clay mugs!  After painting our bisque-fired mugs, we apply the glaze with paintbrushes.  These mugs will go BACK into the kiln, where the glaze will turn vibrant and shiny after firing.

Next week is POTTERY WHEEL WEEK!  So exciting!

Thanks for another great week!
-Mrs. L

Weekly Update: February 4-8

This week in art... 
This is the 5th week of classes for 6th & 7th graders, which means that next week is the LAST WEEK OF ART for them!  So, be sure to check your grade via Powerschool and turn in any missing work, because all late/missing work is accepted up until our last day (Feb 15th), but after that, it's too late!

6th Grade:
This week, we read all about African textiles and became inspired by the patterns and textures featured on traditional fabrics.  We're going to use these patterns and textures to create animal outlines filled with pattern and drawn using pen and ink.  This week, we started choosing our animal subject matter, researching photos online, and sketching out our shapes.  Next week, we'll pull out the ink and finish them up!

Also next week is the due date for sketchbook assignment #3, which is a wooden manikin drawing.  Find full details on the 6th grade art webpage.  Due Wednesday, February 13th!

Lastly, our paper mache letter sculptures and our 1-point perspective rooms are all up on Artsonia to view!  Please leave comments and join the fanclubs of your favorites!

7th Grade:
We finished our pop can drawings this week!  I'm in the process of grading/photographing/uploading our drawings right now, but I'm super excited about how well they turned out!  I'm also planning a bulletin board display for them here in the school!

Our third sketchbook drawing was started this week, and will be due on the last day of class: Friday, February 15th.  It's a grid enlargement of a comic book panel!  We worked on them Thursday and Friday this week, so students should have a really great start to this assignment already!

Lastly, our Op-Art inspired sketchbooks and some awesome iPad altered paintings are up on Artsonia to view!  Please leave comments and join the fanclubs of your favorites!

8th Grade:
This week we made a ton of progress on our faux taxidermy animal head sculptures!  Monday and Tuesday were spent forming the armature (underlying support structure) from masking tape, newspaper, and cardboard.  Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were all spent cutting and applying plaster to create the animal head forms!  Check out our progress above!

Our sketchbook #2/master work copies are up on Artsonia to view!  Please leave comments and join the fanclubs of your favorites!

In other news...
Grace7660, a 7th grader here at Sandburg, is a finalist for artist of the week on Artsonia!  Please vote for her today and tomorrow (voting ends Saturday) - if we win, she'll get a $50 Blick gift card, and Sandburg will win $100 Blick gift card!  This takes A LOT of votes to win, so please help by voting and by spreading the word on social media!




Thanks for another great week!
- Mrs. L.