Two-Faced!

The Advanced Art students just finished a half and half face drawing. They took a black and white photo of themselves, cut it in half, glued down one side, and then drew the other. This is a challenging task! They needed to match the shapes and proportions of the face, and also the values or shading to make it look realistic. As always, the students worked hard and it paid off. Here's just a few of the finished pieces. More can be seen on our Artsonia page.

The Holidays are Here!

The Holidays are upon us and we are well under way in our new 12 weeks of art class. So far, I've seen some pretty great work coming out of this group of students! We are currently working on a color theory project, exploring different color blends, warm and cool color contrast and emphasis. Final projects will be uploaded on to Artsonia soon!

Advanced Art Nature Studies

The Advanced classes are working hard on Nature Studies in colored pencil. We reviewed value scales in both ebony pencil as well as colored pencil and learned blending and shading techniques to make their drawings look three-dimensional. After selecting their subject and putting together a photo collage, the students drew their compositions. A 2" border was added. Everything inside will be in full color and everything in the border will be grayscale. The studies are great examples of contrast and emphasis in art. The coloring phase has just begun. (Everyone is figuring out how awesome Prismacolor pencils are!) The final pieces are going to be amazing!

Sketchbooks in Advanced Art

The Advanced Art students blew me away with their first sketchbook assignment! They selected an artist they liked, researched a bit about their life, and created a lay out in their sketchbook with drawings and information. The students took off with the assignment and really made some fabulous pieces.

And We're Off. . .

We're off to a great start this year! I love the beginning of the year when everyone is eager to jump in and make some art again! The regular art classes reviewed the Elements of Art from last year, and began a very colorful Kaleidoscope Colorwheel project. They are learning to blend the colors of the color wheel and to use values in their designs. Here are a few in progress photos. Completed works will all be uploaded on the Artsonia site.

Welcome Back!

Ready or not, it's time to get back in the groove! I have many exciting projects planned for this year and am eager to get started. I will post photographs of everything we are doing in the classroom on this blog, as well as announcements or even things I think are just fun. Be sure to click follow so you will always be alerted when I post something new. Here's to a great year!

Jewelry Making in Art Club

The 8th grade students in the Art Club, had a unique opportunity to make their own copper pendants. I instructed them on beginning metalsmithing techniques including piercing, sawing and finishing. The kids will tell you the tiny saw blades can be quite challenging! The students are loving the experience using tools and producing some very nice pieces.

 

 

 Sidney proudly wearing her finished piece.

Battle of the Brush

On Friday, March 6, JMMS had 5 teams of students compete in the Juilliard Arts Center's Battle of the Brush Contest at Timken High School. This was the first time we have participated in this event. Although we did not win, the kids had a great time! The teams were given a theme, then 45 minutes to brainstorm and sketch out their ideas, then 2 hours to cooperatively paint a large canvas. All our teams did an amazing job! The finished work was then auctioned off and will be on display at the middle school.

Here's some in-progress photos from the event. The theme was "Invisible Thread".

 

And the finished pieces! Not bad for only 2 hours! It was fun to see all the unique interpretations of the theme.

Maddie Schmid, Isabella Hellman, Zoey Ziegler

Megan Shoop, Avery Freels, Emily McKinney

Jessica Westphal, Madyson Bostic, Mary Visco

Angela Tu, Jailei Maas, Elizabeth Lowe

Quincy Powers, Lilly Mertes, Maria Rozenek

Love is OWL You Need

The art classes just finished these adorable oil pastel owls. These guys would look great printed on a gift item for Valentine's Day! Visit www.artsonia.com to view all the owls. Orders must be placed by February 4th to guarantee delivery for Valentine's Day. Thank you for all your support of our young artists!