texture and animals

7th graders created realistic pen drawings of animals. The focus was on achieving visual textures. Amazing results!

Patriotic collaboration

Students in Art 8 were given a 1.5" x 1.5" square from a photograph. They were to enlarge that small square to an 8" x 8" drawing copying shapes and values as exact as possible.

CAN YOU GUESS WHO??

contours and patterns

6th graders created drawings of still life items. Next they added two intersecting lines and filled in the resulting composition with different patterns. The results were beautiful!

Shoes, Shoes....glorious shoes

Shoes are an excellent thing to teach basic contour drawing skills. Students in 8th grade drew their shoes realistically and then used view finders to zero in on one part of the composition. They then created a warm or cool color scheme painting of the design.

Sculpture installations

In 3-D art, 8th graders created tape casts specifically designed for certain areas of the school. They created a message that was to be communicated through sculpture. Students communicated the joy of music, anti-bullying campaigns and school rules. These sculptures have caused quite the reaction!

2011-12

I had an amazing summer! I had the opportunity to go on a missions trip to Baja, Mexico. It was a life changing experience that I hope to incorporate into my classroom this year.


We are off to a great start in the art room. As we finish up portfolios, we are looking to move on to learning the basic building blocks of art: the elements and principles of design.


8th graders: Sketchbook assignments will be posted soon. We are going to be creating a combination of sketchbook and visual journal. Don't forget to begin saving your "fodder"!

Welcome Ms. Castrodale!

We welcome Ms. Castrodale to our classroom. She will be with us for the next 8 weeks sharing her passion for art. I am excited to be working with her as we plan interesting new ideas.

collaborative art work

20 different students from 2-d art class collaborated to create this portrait of our assistant principal. Each student received several 1" squares that they enlarged to a 5" square. Their goal was to try to recreate the values as exact as possible. When they were finished, we put all the squares together and to their surprise, they recognized who they had created.

sketchbook due 3-14

OH NO...EARTH HAS BEEN INVADED!
• But you are the only human on earth who has met them! It is up to you to tell their story! Make a full page, color composition and tell the world the news that everyone is waiting breathlessly to hear: What do they look like? What can they do? Where are they from? What language do they speak? Why are they here? What are their names? How did they get here?
• Ok to include words, descriptions, or labels with your drawings. Make them attractive, as part of your page layout.
• Plan the whole page of your color composition-- You can include backgrounds and you can use more than 1 picture - like snapshots, closeups, families

sketchbook 3-7

Letter people:
Use Color ----- Fill the Page
Make a six letter word (or more). Your word can have repeat letters (like: Betty B.) but you can't use repeat letter people. Each letter is a new solution. Plan it first so the drawings will all fit!

Sketchbook Due 2-28

"Everybody's Junk Drawer"
1.
I think every household has a
"junk drawer" - that drawer that's filled with all the "stuff" no one knows what to do with. Open the drawer, don't move anything, and draw what you see as a modified contour drawing.
--Do the drawing very lightly in pencil- no black marker
--You can make the drawing in a 7" x 9" rectangle.
--Don't be obsessed with realism! Let the drawing be loose! Fill the page! (or the rectangle.)

2.
After completing the pencil drawing, now outline in felt tip marker.
Then layer colored pencil in interesting ways.
What color scheme/approach can you invent?

Flying the coop....

With spring approaching....(hopefully), 7th graders studied the work of James Audubon and then created watercolor paintings of a chosen bird. Check out this example; isn't it amazing?!

2 pt. perspective names

Year long art 8 classes have been learning about perspective. They created their names in 2 point perspective and are now working on creating cityscapes.

contour & charcoal drawings

As the new semester begins, 2-D art students are studying basic drawing skills. Check out their amazing talents. This is going to be a great semester.

sketchbook Due 2-21

"Full of Contours Page"
• Do a page full (20 to 25) of "mini" blind and modified blind contour drawings. (May take 2 facing pages.)
• These are quick studies of people/children in different positions doing things.
• Perhaps --- go to a park or a sporting event of some kind. Observe and Quickly draw people being active
Do this in pen please!!
After the contour drawings are done:
Add some color accents
Finish the page in an interesting way.

JMU art Show

On Sunday, February 13th, JMU will be hosting the opening to a year long art show. 5 students from Hillyard will be exhibiting their work at Memorial Hall on the JMU campus along with other students from around the county.
The opening is from 2 - 3:30 on Sunday, but you may go by Memorial Hall anytime between 8 am and 8 pm, Monday through Friday to check out our students' work.
Please come out and support the following students as they are honored for their talents:
Dorothy Alliata-Shipp
Natasha Shenk
Cody Shifflett
Megan Miller
Lily McMichael

sketchbook Due 2-14

- - - - S k e t c h b o o k - - - A s s i g n m e n t - - - -
DUE: FEBRUARY 14TH OR 15TH

Two techniques to practice that make objects in your drawing look closer or further away:
1. Overlapping
2. Change in baseline "Bottle Landscapes"
Everyone knows that things that are further away from us look smaller. But what if you can't rely on size to tell the story? This assignment uses plastic bottles, which can be any size. How do you make a big detergent bottle look like it's sitting behind a little eyedrops bottle?
• Things that are partially covered by another object are seen as being behind the object: (overlapping)
• Things that are further away are drawn higher on the picture plane. Their bases (bottoms) will be placed higher on the page than the bottles that are supposed to be closer.
Assignment: Draw one bottle at a time, and do a contour line drawing of it, starting anywhere on your page. Then do the same thing with another bottle. Fill your page with overlapping bottle shapes. Bottles that are meant to be in front must have a base that is lower on the page than the object that is behind it.
Warning: If the bottom of your front object is higher than the one behind it, your front object will appear to be floating in the air!

For a EXTRA CREDIT: shade EACH BOTTLE with smooth pencil gradations to create the appearance of
volume.

sketchbook guidelines

8^TH GRADE SKETCHBOOK ASSIGNMENTS

What am I looking for in a sketchbook assignment?

Students should spend one to two hours on each sketchbook assignment. You will have an opportunity to do some of the work in class, but any work not completed during class is HOMEWORK.

Usually, sketchbook assignments are worth 100 points. You don't want to blow them off. A zero is hard to recover from if you don't turn in a sketchbook assignment.

Tips: Use the entire page... don't draw little in the middle. Fill the picture plane in an interesting and beautiful way. That's what makes a good composition.

Think about your drawing as you plan it... have you used several of the elements of art (line, shape, form, space, value, color, and texture) in a special way?

"Grading Procedures"

Sketchbooks are due at the beginning of class on the assigned day. Assignments are due on the first day of the week that you have class, either Monday or Tuesday. PLEASE PAPER CLIP THE PAGE THAT IS TO BE GRADED! The minimum time investment expected is one hour. Sketchbooks are evaluated with the chart which follows. Categories are adjusted each week to match the learning objective in the assignment. Late sketchbooks are accepted 1 day late (10 points off), 2 days late (30 points off), and 3 days late (40 points off). Late work is scored zero after the 4th late day. When a student is absent on the grading day, the sketchbook is due the first day back. That is the only grace day. If the assignment is not available on the first day back, all late grades apply on the later days. (Assignments and Guidelines adapted from "The Incredible Art Department.")
Grading Categories	Category Scores (1-20 points)
Fulfilled all points of assignment	1-25
Used entire page	1-25
Page is well designed / interesting composition	1-25
Time and effort (1 & 1/2 hours) is evident in craftsmanship and detail.	1-25
minus late deduction
Total score:	sum of above

8th grade sketchbook assignment: Due Feb. 7 or 8

- - - - S k e t c h b o o k - - - A s s i g n m e n t - - - -

DUE FEBRUARY 7^TH OR 8^TH

"Pen & Ink Shading" There are seven basic strokes used to shade with pen and ink. In your sketchbook, use a minimum of five different types of strokes to shade from black to white. Fill the page.Try to go from light to dark in the sections. The areas can be any shape; they don't have to be rectangles. PEN & INK STROKES Contour Lines: Contour lines are marks that precisely follow the curves and planes of an object. Parallel Lines: Parallel lines are straight marks that extend in the same direction. Sketched free-hand, the lines need not have ruler straight perfection. Crosshatching: Crosshatching consists of two or more sets of contour or parallel lines that are stroked in different directions and intersect. Stippling: Stippling is a grouping of dots. Scribble: A scribble line is a free flowing (but controlled) mark that loops and twists in a sketchy manner. Wavy Lines: Wavy lines are drawn side by side in a repetitive pattern Crisscross Lines: Crisscross lines flow with the contour of an object and are arranged in a staggered, randomly crossing manner.