CD Covers

Sixth grade students were lead through an incredible painting/portrait lesson by our very talented student teacher, Ms. Richardson. 

Ms. Richardson showed the students many examples of artistic album covers, and pop art portraits.  Students were limited to four colors, with black being the final addition.  Composition, symbolism, and color placement were all important consideration in these fantastic paintings.

At the end of the project, the class participated in a positive peer critique, or "gallery walk" as we call it.  It's always encouraging to see and hear kids at this age be able to appreciate eachother's talents. 

Pop Art Prints

The 7th graders worked hard on creating styrofoam prints based on popular brands that are marketed directly to their age demographic.  They researched logos and created simple, eye-catching designs.  We studied pop artists, including the famous Andy Warhol, and their use of bold-flat color and repetition.  Students had learn correct printing craftsmanship, were allowed to explore with many different colors of ink and paper.  We mounted the works in groups of four and labeled our work.  The last step was the addition of oil pastels, for an extra *pop* of color.  Extra credit was offered to students who wanted to create their own product and logo. 

The Eyes say it all...7th grade Close-up Drawing

Long time, no blog!  Holy cats is second semester flying by!  7th graders just finished their close-up, animal eye drawings.  The main focus of this art project was to look closely, and draw what you see and not what you know.  The students worked on enlargement and proportions.  In addition, they tried really hard to blend colors by overlapping colored pencils.  Great work 7th graders!

6th Grade Contour Shoe Drawings

The 6th graders learned about descriptive, contour line drawings.  They practiced drawing their own shoes from life.  They gained a lot of confidence in their drawing abilities by drawing directly what they saw.  Many commented that they didn't know they could draw as well as they did.  They then turned their realistic controur line drawings, into surreal fantasies. 

6th Grade Value Snowman

This was a very fast lesson on value (lights to darks) on colored construction paper.  The students caught on very fast as to how to make "realistic" snowmen/women.   We started by drawing in the basic shape of our snowpeople and background.  Then, the students worked from the darkest shade, blue, to the lightest, white. 

Playing Catch-Up!

  Agghh!!! I'm so tardy in posting some of the great stuff we've been doing in Art!!  Time is slipping away.  Before break, the Adaptive Art classes made these adorable slab ornaments for gifts to give to their families:

8th Grade Scratch Art

The 8th graders just finished their cropped, nature-inspired, scratch art projects.  This may be one of the most impressive projects I've seen so far.  I knew the project would be challenging for the kids, because it requires them to think almost backwards.  They are reductively scratching away at black to reveal white.  Prior to starting the project, we worked on cross-hatching and using lines to create value.  We also discussed cropping and it's use in composition.  I am absoloutely blown away by the quality of work the 8th graders created.

6th graders donate Dia de los Muertos Art to the VA

Here at West, we are only a few blocks from the midwest's largest and oldest Veteran Affair's hospitals.  On occasion, we have the honor of lending our artworks to them for special celebrations.  This year, the VA is hosting  a "Day of the Dead" or "Dia de los Muertos" for the veterans.  The 6th grade art students were more than happy to permenantly donate some of their "Dia" skull prints to such deserving neighbors.

 

 

West's First Craft Club

West's first Craft Club meeting took place on Friday, October 19th.  Eighteen students showed up for the "Spooky" Halloween themed craft afternoon.  We made bats out of miniature pumpkins, spiders out of suckers, monster bookmarks, and a really delicious Halloween Bark dessert.

All the students (and adults) had a blast, and we can't wait for next month's Thanksgiving themed Craft Club.  If anyone is interested in joining, please see Ms. Valentine for a permission slip. 

Empty Bowls Milwaukee

This Saturday there is a fantastic, family-friendly fundraising event.
Local artists and students contribute handmade and glazed ceramic bowls. You can purchase one for ten or twenty dollars. Many fabulous local restaurants donate soup for the event that you may sample in your one of a kind bowl! All profits go directly to area food pantries.

For hours and directions visit their website

Craft Club

A new and exciting club is starting at West! Once a month on a Friday, I'll be hosting an after school Craft Club.  We will focus on fun, seasonal and holiday related crafts.  Students must have their permission slip into me before the first one, in order to particpate.  There is a small fee of $3.00 per session, but if any student is unable to pay that, they should come speak to me.  Our first meeting will be Friday, October 19th, from 3:05-4:30 for a spooky, Halloween themed crafting experience!  I'm looking forward to seeing all you boys and ghouls there!

6th grade Symmetrical Name Mandalas

The 6th graders learned about symmetry and radial design.  They also studied different Mandalas from around the world.  They used this new knowledge to create symmetrical name mandalas. Repeating their names in mirror images, they connected their design and created a challenge for the viewer to find their names.  Fantastic job 6th grade!

8th grade graffiti

The 8th graders once again learned about Urban Street Art and graffiti. As always, we discuss at length the legalities of graffiti, and art versus vandalism. After viewing many examples, the students spent a couple of classes brainstorming and sketching ideas. This year we used the idea of Introduction Labels to be the format for the graffiti names.  Many students thought of new "tagger" names and created a graphic theme for their names.

 I know this lesson can sometimes be viewed as controversial, but their are many positive reasons for the kids to learn about graffiti.  It's an artform that many can relate to (and get really excited about) as it is a solely urban, youth driven art.  We take time to look at color, form, and composition of reputable graffiti artists' work, and it really influences the student's artmaking process.

 

For students interested in learning more about graffiti and Urban Art Mr. Neils hosts a Monday after school club called "Urban Arts", please see him.  Locally, there is an organization I've mentioned before:  Milwaukee's True Skool.  They offer many exciting art enrichment programs, including graffiti classes.  Visit their website here.

Making sketchbooks

This year I have  a self-contained EBD class of all boys.  They're very energetic and I'm excited to be working with them.  Art can often be a very important class to all students, but especially for those with exceptional needs.

To begin the semester, I wanted the students to have something they could have ownership of and keep with them to sketch or journal when the mood struck.  I decided to use our school's binder maker to create budget-friendly sketchbooks.  The boys were shown how to create a collage of (school-appropriate) images that represented things that they liked.  They also had to spell their names out with letters from magazines.  I laminated the front and back cover, and we used the binder maker to put it all together.  When they were completed, the kids were very excited to take their sketchbooks with them.

8th grade Asymmetrical Folders

For our first project this year, the 8th graders played with the idea of "two sides" to create asymmetrical designs on their Art folders. The variety seen in their work is outstanding! Some students chose nature themes, others humor, while others tackled very deep issues. I'm excited to see what the rest of the semester will produce. There is A LOT of talent in our Panther Artists!