Shortened Schedule

Class was only a half hour today because of the pep assembly and float building. Students turned in their homework drawings and worked on their enlarged view of the skeleton. On Monday we will start the next project.

implied line- line that is suggested by a change in color or value.

Taste the Rainbow

It was fun seeing the attire many of you came up with for today's Homecoming dress up day. Tomorrow ought to be even more interesting. You can either wear candy logos or dress up like your favorite candy. This afternoon Mrs. Kapraun stopped in for a visit. I showed her some of your drawings. She was impressed by your creative solutions. She did mention that some of you could use a bit more shading on the bones to make them appear more three dimensional.

hatching - drawing a series of parallel lines at any angle to indicate shadow areas. Lines that are thicker or closer together represent areas of the shadow that are more dense.

Drawing Contests

Those students who have finished their skeleton set of drawings may also complete some drawings for a variety of contests. The Steffan's Jewelers and Pioneer Center contest is due for homework on Wednesday. There is a link to many other contests on the front page of my website. I wish I could put up ALL of these final skeleton drawings. They are amazing!

fixative - a substance sprayed onto drawings made in soft media such as charcoal, chalk and soft pastels to prevent them from smudging.

Finishing First

Those who are finishing their project first may work on their homework drawings or they may challenge themselves to completing some sketchbook pages. I will provide some ideas for these pages. While several students are done with this first drawing, many are not. Self motivation is key for those who finish first.

stippling - a pattern of closely spaced dots or small marks used to create a sense of three-dimensionality on a flat surface, especially in drawing and printmaking.

Helping Others

Today I assigned our next homework drawing, which is due Wednesday, Sept. 30. The students are to complete a drawing with the theme "Helping Others" for a contest sponsored by Stephan's Jewelers and Pioneer Center. Stephan's will be creating and selling a charm to sell this holiday season that will also benefit the Pioneer Center. The charm design will be taken from a drawing completed by a McHenry County student. Read more about the contest on my website, listed under ART CONTESTS, Design a Charm to Benefit Pioneer Center. Today Danielle, Nick, Liz and Phil finished their final drawings. Nick's drawing is red and black, bold, simple, and well designed. Danielle's view is up close, purple and aesthetically pleasing. Phil has a cool fiery shape radiating from his circular enlargement of the skeleton. Liz's is deep and insightful. Her original circle took some interesting turns and her abstractions are intriguing. Students who finish first are working on some shading exercises and may work on their homework assignment.

aesthetic- pertaining to that which arouses sensitivity to beauty and emotion.

Homecoming Festivities Begin

It was great to see some of you at the Homecoming Window Painting festivities after school today. Of course, this activity and float building are dear to this art teacher's heart. It is great to see the students using their creative abilities OUTSIDE of the classroom as well. In the classroom today, Adeeb and Kelly finished their close ups of the skeleton. Adeeb thought his looked celestial so he leaned toward an outer space theme. Kelly used bright pink and yellow green oil pastels to highlight her drawing. Haley finished the day before yesterday and was one of very few who opted to not use the circle. She completed a full sheet, enlarged view and beautifully colored the negative space with greens and oranges. The quiz went well. I offered one extra credit point for a fill-in-the-blank question. I wanted to see if the students could remember a word from the first quiz. Many of them did!

abstraction - simplification and/or alteration of forms, derived from actual observation or experience to present the essence of the objects, people or places.

Quiz tomorrow

Today we completed our crossword puzzles to review for the vocabulary quiz tomorrow. Everyone should spend a little time studying tonight. The enlarged views of the skeleton parts are coming along. A couple students have finished and some still have not started. Students who finish early will may enlarge another view of their skeleton or work on sketchbook assignments. I will be giving out another homework assignment tomorrow or on Thursday.

stump - a tightly rolled coil of leather or paper used to rub a chalk or charcoal, graphite or pastel drawing in order to create subtle shading and tonal effects by blurring the medium.

Vocabulary Quiz Wednesday

Tomorrow the students will be getting a crossword puzzle to quiz them on ten more vocabulary words. I highly suggest they study this evening. Then when they complete the puzzle tomorrow they can see if they know the words and if they need to study more. I can go over the words with anyone who would like extra help. There also will be extra credit on the quiz based on the first ten words. Look them over as well if you would like some extra points.

unity - a harmonious balance in a painting or drawing when all the parts equal a whole. The work should not appear disjointed or confusing.

Sparking ideas

I can almost see the sparks flying as the ideas are being generated for this final of three drawings for the skeleton project. I am encouraging each student to come up with a very unique solution for this enlargement drawing. Any type of drawing medium may be used. Some have started with charcoal pencil, ebony pencil, vine charcoal and markers. The students must think about the space around their enlargement. Perhaps contrasting colors, textures, or shapes would help make the enlargement stand out. Another idea could be to draw a new environment where you think it might belong. Or, put some skin and clothes on the area extending from the skeletal part you are drawing, as if we are getting a peak at what is inside. Let your imagination be energized and create a solution of your own.

pattern - repetition of shapes and colors to create a design.

JHS Online Art Gallery is ready for viewers

Check out the Johnsburg High School Art Gallery. Here is the web address. There also is a link on the front page of my website.

http://sites.google.com/site/johnsburghighschoolartgallery/

I love showcasing our students' work--probably because I LOVE ART. Today in class several of the students began the final drawing in our series of three. I am looking for interesting and unique solutions to this assignment and color may be used. Think about your principles of art as you compose this drawing.

chiaroscuro - an Italian word designating the relative contrast of dark and light in a drawing, painting or print. Artists use chiaroscuro to create spatial depth and volumetric forms through slight gradations in the intensity of light and shadow.

Shading takes time

I think Nick was aspiring to look like a skeleton today. Or maybe he was just expressing his creativity with tape. Anyways, it made me chuckle and I just had to take a picture so we can remember this one. A full realistic view of the skeleton takes time. Only a few of the students finished. I explained the next step would be to draw three circles around the most interesting spots on their drawing. Next they will choose one of them to enlarge. We talked about positive and negative space because in this next project it will be important to consider both carefully.

negative space - the space around and between the subject(s) of an image.

The real thing

Today we started drawing the skeleton realistically. We tried to get proportions correct and added shading. This will probably take a couple of days. The students were very focused and are producing some quality drawings. For these drawings we are using charcoal or ebony pencils. It is the student's choice.

movement - artwork is more exciting if it shows action and directs the viewer's eye throughout the picture plane.

Critiques and Contours

Today we critiqued some of the candy collages. I should have them all graded by tomorrow or Wednesday. After that we did some contour drawings of our friendly skeleton. At least he wasn't in a bad mood today--a bit disfigured but cooperative. We are starting a three part series of drawings of this old guy. Tomorrow we will do some realistic drawings of his bony structure. Don't forget that your homework drawings are due Wednesday.

Proportion - a measurement of the size and quantity of elements within a composition.

Candy collages are finished!

GREAT effort on the collages! I can tell that most of you really worked at making your compositions follow the art principles. We made sure we had a focal point and other points of emphasis. We also worked on achieving balance, contrast, proportion, movement, rhythm/pattern and UNITY. I am looking forward to adorning the display cases with them, especially since this year's Homecoming theme is CANDY LAND.

Hopefully over the weekend you will all get started on your still life homework that is due Wednesday, Sept. 16th.

Contrast -shows difference, diversity and variety in an artwork by combining elements to create interest. Contrast is to provide an artwork with something interesting to break the repetitions.

Homework Assignments Begin

As I said at the beginning of the semester, you will have homework in this class and I expect you to put a considerable amount of time into it. Your first homework still life drawing requires at least two hours of your time using a fine line black marker. If you don't have one, check one out from me. I will post the handout under assignments. Your homework is due next Wednesday, Sept. 16. You also have a homework assignment tonight. I want you to print off any page (besides the front page) of my website. This is due tomorrow, FRIDAY. The collages are coming together very well and I am happy with your efforts to make them unique. That is a challenge when we are all drawing the same thing on the same paper. Tomorrow, some of you will be starting a new project while others finish up their collages.

balance - a sense of stability in a piece of artwork. This can be created by repeating identical or similar shapes and by creating a feeling of equal weight.

Meet and beat the challenge

Today was our first vocabulary quiz. For some it was easy and for others it was a challenge. If you truly took the time to study and are frustrated with your grade, please come talk to me. I will guarantee that you will do better the next time, if you spend a little time studying with me. My goal for presenting these words to you is to expand your vocabulary. If that isn't the outcome, we need to figure out together a new way to make it happen. After the quiz we worked on our collages. It appears that most of you will be done with them tomorrow. They are looking good! Make sure you review your Art Principles handout to see if you are considering all of the principles in your composition.

emphasis - this art principle in a composition refers to developing points of interest to pull the viewer's eye to a focal point and then to important parts of the artwork.

Beginning of Collage Project

Tomorrow is the vocabulary quiz over our first ten words of the day. We reviewed the words today by doing a quick crossword puzzle. Students should be bringing them home to study. They are due tomorrow. I have posted a copy of the crossword puzzle under "drawing I assignments" if you need one. Next, we looked at ten different collage compositions and talked about how the principles of art are used to make our artwork creative, yet cohesive. We will be using our small candy drawings to begin our collage project. A variety of other materials can be combined to add color and interest to your collages. Students began planning their compositions. Tomorrow after the quiz we will begin assembling the collages.

collage - a form of art in which various materials are arranged and stuck to a backing. An artistic composition made from various things.

Last day for candy still life drawing

We started class by someone else making a random line in our sketchbook. Next we had to turn that line into something. Some students let their creativity fly and others opted for some very simple solutions. It is fun to see how each person reacts to such challenges. Remember, everything you do is a reflection of you. We always should try to put our best out there. We were given talents to use and develop. Maximize your efforts. This was our last day of just drawing candy. I can't wait to see what ideas are presented next week when we combine our drawings into a collage.

Tint - a hue produced by the addition of white to make the color lighter.

Smarties and Tootsie Rolls

The enthusiasm for candy is waning. I think that is a good thing. Candy really is not very beneficial to any of us except to satisfy a sweet tooth or two. However, we did explore the shapes of Smarties and Tootsie Rolls today. Everyone in class was given a 4B and 6B charcoal pencil. The students should be bringing them home to use on drawings produced there. We practiced making lines of varying weights and values. We did more blind contours, contours and realistic pictures. Soon we will be combining our miniature drawings and wrappers to create a collage of our work.

shade - a hue produced by the addition of black or a complementary color (color opposite on the color wheel) to make the color darker.

Sticks and Vines

Pixy Sticks and Red Vines were the candies of the day. Today we did a variety of drawings of our very own candy still life. A couple more days of drawing candy and we may get our fill for awhile. I do want to apologize for not being at the open house last night. I was still feeling a little under the weather today. I felt really bad that I wasn't able to meet all of the parents that attended. Please feel free to contact me through email any time.

Value - varying degree of lightness or darkness in a color.

Tempted by the candy's contour

Who wants candy? You can look but don't eat it... until you are done drawing it, of course! Today we are starting a project that will take a few days. We will be spending a lot of time with candy. Studying its shape, drawing its contours and learning various ways to realistically shade and color our drawings. It should be a lot of fun, but be careful not to drool on your papers! Today each student took two pieces of candy and was required to do a series of five 3”x3” drawings. 1. Blind contour, 2. Contour, 3. Realistic using dots or lines to shade, 4. Open candy – contour and 5. Take a bite contour or crumpled package realistic – using side of pencil to shade. One of each of the five was colored with colored pencils.

Contour – an outline, especially one representing or bounding the shape or form of something.