Now that our school year has come to a close, I finally have time to brag a bit about the amazing success of my classes final exam. Each student was given the task of designing their own projects for themselves, setting goals, and sketching out a plan for action. They were asked to draw from... Continue Reading →
In Foundations of Studio Art we have started our portrait studies in collage. The main objective behind this project is to teach my students the importance of value in creating depth, basic proportions of the human face, and creating thoughtful artwork from observation. The idea was that this would make their future painting endeavors easier. I... Continue Reading →
This past month my fantastic students focused on composition in photography. This was a basic introduction to using an SLR digital camera, importing photos, and correcting/altering photos on Adobe Photoshop. We started out with our cell phones as a warm up, because lets be honest, they really are just small computers with cameras attached. And... Continue Reading →
Let the figure drawings begin!
This year I decided to amp up the one point perspective room drawing and add another level of design. While reflecting on last year's "dream bedrooms" I realized that there was a lot of untapped potential in the assignment. I hadn't thought about what a real interior designer might bring to a pitch in order... Continue Reading →
Fall has finally really begun, and the leaves are beginning to change. In Foundations of Studio Art, for the past two weeks, and the next two weeks, we are dedicating our time to creating sound art. We defined sound art as "a term for a diverse set of art practices which utilize sound and listening as the... Continue Reading →
Here is a prieview of the single object still life paintings we have been working on in class these past two weeks. With only two more classes to finish them I'm getting excited to see our final results. In these paintings students were challenged to use only the primary colors: magenta, cyan and yellow, along... Continue Reading →
As I continue to explore the many ways in which art can enrich my students lives I have been able to open this experience up with my new found access to a school gallery. When I taught in Philadelphia there were six bulletin boards. One of which contained my advisories winning attendance stats, another with... Continue Reading →
“Landscape is nothing but an impression, and an instantaneous one, hence this label that was given us... because of me. I had sent a thing done in Le Havre, from my window, sun in the mist and a few masts of boats sticking up in the foreground. ... They asked me for a title for... Continue Reading →
Expressionism was the name of the game for this unit. It was an exciting week, because it was time to paint bold bright colorful paintings. Below are some of our experiments with expressionistic themes. First we looked at Kandinsky: We then moved on to August Macke, my favorite German expressionist. Then, we were on to... Continue Reading →
