Portraits

Well, here is another portrait assignment. If you know me, you know that I have to change things up a bit each year. It is a matter of professional desire: I desire to better my lessons year after year. I also do this to prevent boredom. I don't want to be one of those teachers that re-use the same plans year after year. How dull must that be?

So, here are a few of the results of this year's Art 1 students. I really wish I could have my kids for more than one year. Oh... how wonderful would that be???

Long Time, No Blog....

I have not been maintaining this blog like I should. So, here are a few images from my classes!
These are eraser prints we created using a plain white vinyl eraser and Crayola markers.
Some turned out really nice!
I particularly like this one. The students were impressed with how different patterns were created when they rotated the eraser consistently.
This is a Black History Month printmaking project. Once again, some turned out pretty well. The students enjoyed the cutting of the print a lot.



This is the first project of the 2009-10 school year. Students used sign language and fun fonts to create an original representation of their names. Then they used colored pencil and color theory to create a visual representation of ther personality. We studied color meanings using a great website and our new Smart Board. All in all a very fun exploration in color and sign language!



A few images of my students working on their projects. If the tables are brown, the student is a high school student; black tables are junior high students. Joey (above) really showed what he could do with the fencing he drew as his background.

Joseph and Joel working on their hands.

Abby, a junior high student, recently submitted this piece to the Arkansas Art Educators East Region student exhibit.

Brandon really excelled in the drawing portion of this assignment.

Blane used a very creative composition for his piece.

Ashley always works very hard on her pieces and demonstrates wonderful craft in every project. It was apparent from the beginnng that she truly cares how her pieces look.


Use of colored pencils can look almost like markers, as Tevin demonstrates here.


Erin getting frustrated with her pointillism piece. Next time I will really limit the size paper I allow the kids to use! Modify as needed, right?

Sara's baby portrait really impressed a few faculty. One has even approached me to see if it would be okay to pay Sara to draw her children. OF COURSE!!!

Marshall worked really hard on this piece as we worked equally as hard on our student/teacher relationship. Both have turned out really nice!


Sarah has told me that she has learned so much in my class. Hmmm.... raw talent and a maturity not often seen in a junior high student makes Sarah an amazing art student and I know she will go far. This piece was also entered in the East Region exhibit.

We are all wrapped up...

This year I opted to handle the packing tape sculptures (which were ever so popular two years ago) as an after-school activity. We have only just started, so no pictures of any finished pieces just yet. Hope you will enjoy these images of the process in the meantime!

Self Portraits with Text

These are a lot like last year's Black History project. Unfortunately I didn't keep the background simple enough in the photos that the students worked from so... well... these don't quite have the impact that last year's portraits had. Oh well. There were still a few that had that "wow" factor (in my opinion). Have a look and let me know what you think!

Art I 2008-09 Pencil Drawings

Here are a few images of some of my students' recent work. The assignment was a value study of an animal from a photograph. I would have loved to bring my dog in to have them draw from life, but I doubt that would have gone over very well! I hope that you enjoy the pics. My kids worked really hard on these.