African Inspired Clay Masks

This summer program has been going great -- with only one minor snag -- no A/C during a heat wave where it reached temperatures of over 100 degrees outside the building.  But it has been good for the air dry clay we were using for our African Inspired Clay Masks. 

The 7th graders over African history in social studies class so I like to do a project or two that deals with it. This summer we worked on the basic shapes and textures used by African artists when they create their masks. 

** Warning: this is a photo heavy post! **

After the kids rolled out their slab of clay, they were able to add different textures and shapes using the clay and clay tools. 

Next post will have painted finished photos of these amazing masks. 

Fantastic Castles

6th and 7th grade students focused on both architecture and pattern for this project. This was my second time doing this lesson and I love the way it comes out every time!

Art Room Update

November! November! That was the last time I have posted! Can you believe it. Well... Since November so much has happened in Art Room 104. 

My group of 6th and 7th grade students completed landscapes in either tempera paint, colored pencils, or chalk pastels. I love the way they came out and I was so happy for my students. Two of them are below.

My group of 8th and 7th graders completed portraits using a grid method to transfer the image to their drawing paper. The kids then added zen-tangles for a decorative background. 

I was really please with the way they turned out and so were the students. 

Opening Centers: Drawing

Between Monday and today I have opened our first art center of the year. The first center to be opened is the drawing center. In this center the students get to use various drawing materials from pencils to colored pastels to ink and calligraphy pens. 

I spent the first day of the drawing center opening explaining to the students what materials were there, what they can be used for and the rules for clean up. Since we are a 1:1 iPad 2 school, once the kids receive theirs there will be qr codes also on the board that will lead the students to various google docs and youtube videos that will help them or inspire them with their artwork.

Below are some of the posters that I have on display for the students in this particular center.

This poster I created to show the students what the materials look like on paper and I even blended some of them to show the students what the materials can do.

One thing my students love the create are 3D letters. Linear Perspective is something that my students have trouble with but they love the outcomes once they are finished with their artwork. 

This particular poster was created by the art teacher that was here before me but I really like it so I had to keep it. The students always want to draw people but tend to always draw stick figures and that is one of my NO NO Rules. 

This is my NO NO Board. These are all the drawing and painting techniques that the students tend to do however they are very elementary and since we are middle school art students, these are not allowed in my room. We spend about 10 minutes going over this so that the students really understand what I am expecting of them. This year I had to add the No Tracing rule to my board since students tend to do this more then anything. 

I hope you enjoyed our little journey through this years Drawing Center.

Free Draw Chaos

I normally would never give my students a blank piece of drawing paper with the assignment to just draw. Doing so is completely out of character for me -- the art teacher who hates chaos. Free draw time or assignments are always a time for students to do what they want and be creative. I just dont like the unstructured time of it all. 

Not having a lesson plan or even a planned idea of what the artwork should look like drives me nuts. Letting the students do their own creative thing is the scariest thing I know of. But having time to be creative is a good thing and can lead of amazing results. 

During Art Club one of my 7th grade students completed an amazing drawing of a flower and asked if we could have free draw time in class this week. Knowing how I felt about this I automatically said no. Then I thought about it. Maybe it wouldnt be so bad. And it wasnt. Giving the students time to just sit and be creative was a great experience for them and myself. So much so that I have decided to let Free Draw be apart of next years project schedule. 

Below are some of the free draw artworks completed by both my 7th and 8th grade students over the past week. 

Stencils and Chalk

Today was a very creative and messy day in the art room. We studied a brief history of stenciling as both a decorative and folk art. Once that was done, the students used regular chalk pastels to create a decorative design using a pre-made stencil (found in the back of my art closet from one of the previous art teachers) in preparation for creating our own stencils next class.

I am really happy with the way they came out. The kids had fun and were really messy at the end -- something they were not happy about. :) 

Finished pictures will be posted later in the week!