Shades of Summer

The 7th Graders have finished their "Shades of Summer" self portraits this week and I think they are amazing! Before we began the project, students did a pre-drawing of themselves by looking in a mirror. Here are a few examples of those drawings:












The next step of the project was to use the grid method on a photograph to create a map for drawing their features and outlines. This method helped students to stop drawing symbols of lips, eyes, hair, etc. like in the examples above, and actually draw their correctly proportioned and uniquely shaped features. They added value (shading) with various graphit pencils to make their portraits appear three dimensional, had an art critique, and then used watercolor pencils to create a reflection depicting a summer memory in their sunglasses... I hope these artists are proud of the work- I sure am!

Warm and Cool Portraits with Tesselations

In this “classic” Calvert project, sixth graders first created their backgrounds by making tessellations- a special kind of design made from different patterns of repeating shapes called polygons (closed shapes that have three or more sides). In tessellation designs, congruent polygons fit together like jigsaw puzzle pieces that repeat again and again- they could go on forever! Students painted their tessellation designs using either a warm or cool color scheme.

To create the portrait, students traced the light and dark areas of their faces using a projected digital photograph. Using the opposite warm or cool color scheme from their background, they painted their portrait, making sure their light and dark areas were highly contrasting... Looking good!:

Flora and Fauna Prints

In their first project of the quarter, fifth grade girls created stylized (simplified) animal or flower designs. They transferred their designs to a cool rubber-like carving material and used a special tool called a gouge to carve out their designs, making sure to create a balanced amount of positive and negative space. They then used traditional printmaking techniques to make a series of colorful prints. They also created their own handmade dyed paper to print on. The prints are mounted as a series of four- here they are on dispay:

I took a close-up photo of one print from each artist to show the details:

Art Appreciation At Its Finest!

This week in Art History, we read about the genius Renaissance sculptor and painter, Michelangelo Buonarroti. After sketching a portion of the Creation of Adam from Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling, students were challenged to lay on their backs under their tables to paint their piece. The point was so that students could begin to understand the challenges Michelangelo faced while he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel high up on a scaffolding (bending, reaching, aching neck, strained eyes, paint splattering down on him)... I think they really appreciate how TALENTED and patient he was- they painted for all of 20 minutes with non-stop complaining about the process. It took Michelangelo four and a half years- plus he had the added challenges of making his own paints, applying fresh plaster and painting the entire ceiling using the fresco technique, and a screaming angry Pope Julius to contend with down below!!