Sign Hands Project
In honor of Deaf Awareness month, I had my students create a project based on sign language. They were to create a drawing of their own hands creating their initials. Their hands were incorporated within the border and the background has block letters of their initials. They finished the project with outlining and coloring with value.
Name Creation Project
The students made large block letters or a word or their name. For each letter they were only aloud to draw things that started with that letter. It was a simple project, but it helped practice drawing a collage with overlapping and layering drawings.
M.C.Escher Metamorphosis Project
My students were to bring in two real images that would be book ends to this drawing. They were then challenged to create two transformation drawings in the middle of the paper. The final product shows 4 drawings transforming.
Dr. Seuss Project
We studied the artwork used in famous Dr. Seuss story books. The students practiced re-drawing his characters and were also challenged to create their own Seuss-like character. We focused on hatching, cross-hatching, color, value and balance. Upon completion we compared the Lorax original book with the new Lorax film.
Blind Contour Self Portraits
This was a simple idea of having my students create a self portrait without the fear of it looking "ugly" or "messy" because that is exactly how I wanted it to turn out. It was really great to see the transformation from pencil, to ink, to color and value. This is one of my favorites to date.
Student Journal Covers
During the first week of class I have my students create an art journal. There is a grading rubric to go along with the cover that helps them understand exactly how they will be getting graded throughout the course. The journals are used for notes, practice drawings, and storage in the class.
Elements and Principles of Design Posters
This is the first project of the class. I place the students into random groups and assign them an element or a principle. They need to give the poster a definition, written example, and drawn example. The students present their poster to the class defending why they designed it they way they did.
Student Color Wheels
In the color unit I try to get the students to learn a little bit about color theory. When I was student teaching I learned a fun way to create a color wheel with spikes instead of a plain circle. This is a good way for the students to use a little math in the art room. The spiked color wheel focuses on using only the primary colors along with learning how to tint and shade.
Student Shoe Drawings
This is a display example of my students Shoe Drawings. The purpose of this project was to show depth, emphasis, and negative space along with drawing contour lines. The students found this project very fun and I think it is one that they will remember for years to come.
Animal Collage
Based on the collage work of Samuel Price, my 7th grade students were challenged to create an animal collage. The project focused on overlapping, drawing, shapes, and forms. Just like anything else, when they really put forth the effort, the final product is something to smile about.
Student Pop Can Value Colored Pencil Drawings
This project focuses on contour line, value shading, color pencil value shading, and depth. The students had the chance to bring in a pop can of their choice to make the project more personable. I wanted the students to focus on their value shading the most. By the time we get to this project the students are focused on filling the white space. An easy way for them to do that is by adding a second color layer. By adding the second color, the cans become bolder and really make the drawing a lot more appealing.
Student Pointillism Project
The students were to create a image using pointillism. I let them pick any image they wanted. This was a way for me to learn the students' interests. The theme of the project was to color their their image using all dots. The foreground was in all warm colors and the background was in all cool colors (or the opposite). This was just a simple way for the students to learn a new technique along with learning some color theory.
Student Ceramic Masks
In our clay unit, I have the students create ceramic masks. We go over basic clay vocabulary and hand building techniques necessary for the students to become comfortable with working with clay. I use a power point slide show to give several examples of masks and explain why masks would be used (different cultures, ceremonial, spirtual, etc). I think they have a fun time working with the clay and take advantage of being creative with the glaze and/or paint..
Student Wrapped Hand Drawings
This project is an easy and fun way to incorporate value in art. I have the students trace thier hands (I know everyone is capable of doing this) and then I instruct them on how to draw ribbon. The students focus on value, depth, space, and emphasis in this project.
Student Cubism Projects
This project was based off of one of the most famous artists of all time, Pablo Picasso. I wanted the students to do some sort of cubism project and i wanted it to be personal, so I decided on a cubism hat project. The students are allowed to bring in a hat the week we are working on the project. They were to create several shapes on thier paper and then draw a hat over those shapes. The color scheme for the project was warm colors for the hat and cool colors for the background.
Student Ink Pen Drawings
When I was student teaching, it was my cooperating teachers idea to have the advanced students work with ink and texture. They were to search for random pictures with texture and re-create them in an ink pen collage. The picture below is the work of a senior girl with some amazing talent.