ART CANOE

The sixth graders are finishing their watercolors. They are combining wet into wet, dry brush, and wash, etc. techniques in order to create dynamic, rich color hues within their seascapes and landscapes.

This student used leading lines in the background and macro focus to highlight the ant on the tree.     8th Graders just finished their photography unit. The West campus provided a gorgeous backdrop for this project. Their photos pictured here were using shutter speed to either capture action or blur it. The last requirement was to focus on leading lines and repetition within one of their compositions.      

A Hoffmann Advisory Haiku page was created to help students remember what we have covered and as a resource for review or help. Homework tips, Google Keep, multiple intelligences, and learning styles are some of the topics we have covered. Hoffmann Advisory Haiku Page Set homework to do lists, project deadline pop up reminders, and audio notes with Google Keep.

We discussed and reviewed Van Gogh's color theory (within the Yellow House  painting below) after watch two short videos (via Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam). Van Gogh used warm/cool colors and complimentary colors to create highly intense, vibrant paintings. Rather than using the value of color, Van Gogh used warm colors (visually pop forward) for in the foreground and cool colors(visually recede to the background) in the shadows and background. Van Gogh was also influenced by Japanese prints; he started to create more shapes and outlines in his paintings after doing copies of Japanese woodblock prints. The Yellow House (The Street) Arles, September 1888 Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890) oil on canvas, 72 cm x 91.5 cm  Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

After learning about Pop art, students tooks self portrait photos and edited the photos with Pixlr Express. They used Pop art effects, cartoon type stickers, and other filter to create pop art stylistoc photos. The photos were then uploaded to a gif creator.  

Students will start on their final watercolors the next time we meet. We will also be looking at artist examples. See below: Winslow Homer Henry Ossawa Tanner By Henry Ossawa Tanner - Smithsonian American Art Museum, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16929867 You tube tutorial available on the 6th gr. Haiku page for review and guidance. Students practice watercolor techniques after watching a live demo. A Youtube water tutorial also helps as guide/review after the teacher demo. Watercolor technique samples help assess what students understand about the technique.  

Art Curriculum Handout 4th-8th Grade Art Photo Album 2015-2016

Fourth graders finished their Japanese book binding on their sketchbooks. They are starting the bug's life project. The project will combine their photos from the West Campus prairie flowers and their own bug drawings. Hopefully, the weather will improve over the next week or so. Students enjoyed personalizing their sketchbooks with collages and the special binding.

The Hoffmann Advisees worked on taking a Myers Briggs type personality type of test. They saved their results. The information will help students set goals and reflect on strength and challenges within learning styles. Ms. Hoffmann's results from: https://www.16personalities.com/enfj-personality

Using rough sketches, photos, and objets as references, students draw their still life composition on canvas. 7th graders are sketching out their still lifes  on canvas. We talked about Van Gogh's impasto technique of thick brush strokes. The students will use modeling paste to add texture and to create the impasto brushstrokes. J. adding modeling paste for impasto texture.

The 8th grade is working on photo assignments. The students learned how to control the fstop setting with affects how much light is allowed through the aperture. They changed this setting several time to see the change in focus/blurring in the background and exposure.

Pop Art Gif a href="https://imgflip.com/gif/1a4jxw"> This week students will be using their web cams and Pixlr Express to create animated gifs. One of the photos will then be used to create a Pop Art self portrait.

Gif created from 4 webcam photos edited in Pixlr. I've been experimenting with gifs. Gifs are a great way to generate very quick stop motion animations. As an art teacher, experimentation with new media, techniques, and materials allows for new project ideas and tweaking of old projects. It will take a bit more time to decide how or when I will use gifs in art class, but I'm excited about playing with something new.