1,000 Paper Cranes

Tuesday's class time was spent learning about the 1,000 Paper Cranes project and the story of Sadako, as well as learning to make origami paper cranes. After watching a brief video on the Sadako Story found online, students watched a step-by-step tutorial video showing each fold in making a paper crane. Along with my demonstration, students were able to feel comfortable with the steps and technique by the second crane they made.

Students must make 10 cranes each by Friday (regardless of absences, field trips, etc). Five origami cranes can be plain white paper, but AT LEAST five must be colored paper (watercolored, colored w/ pencils, etc).

As part of our 1,000 Paper Cranes project, a few students will be volunteering to teach visitors to our i-Fest celebration how to fold cranes and help us in our pursuit of making 1,000.

Wiki work

Students used Monday's class time in the computer lab adding new wiki pages to the site. Based on their work from Friday on the Voting for Public Art at the Hunter Museum Website, students transferred their ideas from their sketchbooks to finished wiki pages. All students created their own new pages in their class folder to present their work.

Check out the wiki page here to see the work they did in the Student Responses folders.

Voting on Public Art

Students participated in the voting for Public Art in Chattanooga today. We spent the class in the computer lab looking at the Hunter Museum's Website. The site has a section on the art now under review for the public to choose for placement in Miller Plaza downtown. That link is here. Chattanooga has a great history of supporting Public Art, and this opportunity to participate in choosing the work is a fantastic learning opportunity for students.


After researching a little about each piece of art and the three artists, students wrote a paragraph about each piece of art being proposed. Students then wrote a fourth paragraph describing their choice and why it's the best piece of art for that spot.


One of the proposed works of art above:
LET'S GIVE CHATTANOOGA A BIG HAND, A COMMISSION BY DONALD LIPSKI
Stainless steel, 36 feet high x 12 feet wide x 6 inches deep

Finishing Self Portraits

Students spent their class time finishing the realistic self portraits they began yesterday. Students worked quietly throughout the period, allowing them to focus more clearly on observation and detail and excercise their right brains a bit more. Students continued applying their new knowledge of facial proportions to guide them in creating these drawings.

The students' work from today was quite impressive. I know these portraits will be a source of pride for many of the students. It is easy to tell the effort and skills students applied to their work by the outcome and beauty of these drawings!

Self Portrait by Nathan L.

Applying our knowledge

Today students finished their guided instruction on facial proportions and drawing the human face. I was really amazed with the quality of drawings the students created on their first attempt this quarter at this tight, realistic drawing style. Students finished up their drawings by adding ears and necks to their faces and learning to draw hair. Students noted that the neck is usually the width from outside of the eye straight down, and that the hair line generally starts half way from the eyebrow to the top of the head.

Students also began a self portrait today based on their new knowledge of facial proportions. Students were challenged to adapt their knowledge of general placement of features while observing and recording the specifics of their own faces. Students, although very wary, are beginning the best self portraits most of them will have ever drawn!


(Shout out to the student who is making me an Oreo Ball dessert; here is a recipe!)

Drawing the Face

Students learned the general proportions of the human face today. Following a step-by-step video, students analyzed features and their relationships in creating their own realistic drawings. Students learned that the head is generally an upside-down egg shape, and that the "Eye line" is half way down the head. Students also learned the placement of the "mouth line" at 1/3 up from the chin, and the "nose line" 1/3 up from the mouth line. Students learned the general max width of a nose is the width from tear duct to tear duct, and that the mouth is generally as wide as the distance from pupil to pupil.






Although difficult, students were encouraged to erase and correct at all times in order to prefect their drawings. We noted that many features on the face can be created by shading to look more 3-D rather than drawing harsh outlines. Students got through the features of the face today and will move on to adding ears and hair to their portraits tomorrow. The drawings are going to be great, even if they are just practice!

Printing blocks

Students spent Thursday and Monday making prints of their personal logos from the carved blocks the created. Students turned in both a single black print on small paper and a large sheet with a series of 5 prints in color. We plan on mounting the strips into a large collaborative piece of art!

PROGRESS REPORTS went home today! Please sign and return the report by Wed (4/15) to earn an extra credit!

Carving Day

Students carved their personal logo designs into small cork blocks today and began printing. After addressing safety, process, and watching a demonstration, students went to work. Students must turn in one clean print of their personal logo.

Personal Logos

Today students studied logo design and a sampling of historic and current logos. Aspects such as simplicity, boldness and ease of recognition were discussed, noting the primary function of the logo being to indentify and make an introductory statement about the person/business/organization the logo represents. Notable logos we discussed were Nike and Apple among others.

We also looked at the well-known German artist Albrecht Dürer, part of the Northern Renaissance, who had a distinctive monogram. Using his initials AD, he created an interesting logo which he included in most of his artwork.

In addition to this historic artist, we also looked at a current graphic designer's sketches in creating his own personal logo which I found online.

Students spent the period creating at least 9 different personal logo design ideas before selecting one final design. Students used initials, numbers, and images which meant something to them in creating their own logo to identify themselves.

Altered Art research

Students spent today's class time in the computer lab researching two different art forms: Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) and Altered Books. Students gathered information in their sketchbooks based on questions I gave them. Students were encouraged to look at lots of images of both Altered art forms and get plenty of ideas, as they will get to choose which one of these projects they want to do.

Oil pastel study

On April 2 & 3, students explored oil pastels in a simple project using geometric shapes.

On a 12x18 piece of paper, students used a ruler to draw 7 lines anywhere that touched two sides. After drawing the lines, students used the cropping squares to trace 5 perfect squares anywhere on the paper. Using oil pastels, students first colored in the 5 squares different colors. Next, looking only at the rectilinear shapes made by the lines, students colored in each shape with a different color of oil pastel, blending with any colored square the shape may encompass.

Student noted the specific way oil pastels are applied and can be mixed and layered with other colors, so that they may understand the properties of that medium for use in later projects.

The resulting projects are bold, non-objective, beautifully simple works of art.

Georgia O'Keeffe studies

Students spent March 30-April 1 learning about the artist Georgia O'Keeffe and exploring chalk pastels. After viewing O'Keeffe's work and noting the major characteristics of her style, students spent their time creating their own masterpieces.

After a short hike in the woods, students selected natural objects to bring back in the room and draw. Using a cropping square as a tool for dynamic compositions, students drew close up views of their leaves, flowers, branches, and grasses in pencil on 18x18" paper. Focusing on interesting negative space, sharp details, and bold, blended color, students created beautiful pieces using chalk pastels inspired by the work of O'Keeffe.

Water for Wotera Posters

Students spent the week of March 23-27 creating posters for our Talent Show/Prom fair. 

After looking at a sampling of poster design history, including everything from WWII propaganda posters to 1960's psychedelic concert posters, students noted the fundamental issues of graphic design: creating interesting art while serving a specific purpose. In the case of our project, students had to create an interesting design for the event poster while including all the necessary information for the audience. Students were asked to not only give date/time/place type information, but also to give a feel for the atmosphere and purpose of the event.

The proceeds from the event were to benefit our school-wide effort called Water for Wotera. One of our exchange students, Desta Bume, is an extraordinary young man from a village near Wotera, Ethiopia who, although facing immeasurable odds, has excelled in his education. See our school Website for more information.  

Sophomore student Baxter Whittenberg's poster design was chosen for the cover of the Talent Show/Prom Fair program and posters!

Spring Break '09

My hiatus from the site is due in part to our taking Spring Break March 13-22.

I took a group of students, parents, and teachers to Greece this year for an outstanding tour of Athens and the Greek Isles, even stopping in one port in Turkey. It was an amazing trip, with far too much beauty and history to absorb in one week!

I will continue my Spring Break trips with a tour of London and Paris next year!