This first trimester involved a lot of the student's and I getting to know each other, and settling into new routines and expectations. In my class, I expect students to be work hard and be self directed, push themselves creatively, and be kind and respectful to themselves, peers, me as well as the materials.
I am really impressed with the seventh grade classes on the whole!
As far as what we've been working on:
Every class recreated an artist's masterwork using oil pastels. Each student was given one piece of the work to copy and enlarge, and, once finished, we put it them together like a large puzzle. We had three different works by VanGogh, Rivera, and Hopper represented in the style of each student.
We then did a mixed media piece entitled "Walking in your Own Shoes." Students completed contour drawings of their shoes, adding in a variety of colorful patterns using sharpie or colored pencils. These were glued down to a watercolor wash, and we finished by adding in symbols that said something about who we are or reflected our personalities.
Next, we began the process of becoming an "expert" artist working in the traditional way (in conjunction with the Alpha Team becoming "an expert" in something). We created nature journals (in collaboration with Ms. Harris on Winton) in which we sketched, rendered, and planned for a final artwork, a pastel based on the work of Wolf Kahn. For this process, we went outside, closely observing and studying nature, in a manner similar to how the Old Masters would have worked. We are finishing up the pastel now, as well as faux leather folios, another "traditional" artist's tool, which will store our journals.
Our next unit will be be a combination of new technologies and old technologies: photography, the computer, popular culture, gridding and painting to create some fun self portraits! I look forward to see what the student's come up with!
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