Art 1 students at Old Orchard Beach High School are given a weekly sketchbook assignment that they are required to complete as homework, or in class if they are caught up with the current project. I have taken over the role of giving the sketchbook assignment each week during my placement. Its been fun experimenting with small drawing, painting, and design projects. I alternate between relaxed experimental lessons and more traditional drawing assignments. Here are some examples from my two Art 1 classes:
Scientific illustration was the first sketchbook assignment I gave. Students were required to draw at least three natural specimens from life, and label their sketches.
I like how this student wrote about the significance of his subjects.
This student invented his own latin names for his specimens- notice the bolducitus plant which is one of Mrs. Bolduc's classroom plants.
I was inspired by Amy Cousins in the creation of my Donald Evans themed postage stamp sketchbook assignment. Students were required to invent a country and design a stamp for it. The name of the country, the price of the stamp, and a perforated border were to be included in the designs.
This student was inspired by her upcoming trip to Costa Rica.
Two weeks ago, I gave an assignment entitled Painting on Pages; students were required to choose a page from an old encyclopedia that contained a word they would like to illustrate. Students then had to tear the page out, glue it into their sketchbook, and complete a watercolor painting of their chosen word on top of the page. I am really impressed with the results of the assignment.
This was my example. I had a lot of fun with this assignment.
Currently students are working on an observational drawing assignment in their sketchbooks. I am excited to see how they do. I can't believe it is my last week here. I don't want to leave!
Art 1 students at Old Orchard Beach High School are working on a literacy themed printmaking project! Last week I gave a slide show and lecture on the history of printmaking and then introduced the criteria for the assignment:
1. Choose a school-appropriate quote from a book that means something to you.
2. Choose at least one word from your quote to incorporate into your relief or monotype.
3. Design and carve a relief block that reflects the ideas, themes, or imagery present in your quote.
4. Design and create a gelatin monoprint that reflects your chosen quote and incorporates your relief print.
After students finished sketches inspired by their chosen quotes they transferred them onto the Easy Cut blocks.
Once the image was transferred, students began using gouges to carve their relief blocks.
After students finished carving their relief blocks they prepared brayers and water soluble block printing ink.
They then added the prepared ink to their blocks.
And they made beautiful prints!
Here is my example. It was a lot of fun! I hadn't carved with Easy Cut since I was in middle school.
I started to teach some of my own lessons this week at Old Orchard Beach High School. I gave my first sketchbook assignment for the Art 1 classes, and introduced a Calder style mobile lesson with my sculpture students.
Scientific Illustration was the first weekly sketchbook assignment I gave at OOB. I can't wait to see what they choose to draw.
On Tuesday I gave a lecture and slide show to my sculpture students about Calder and his mobiles.
I then outlined the criteria for the mobile assignment:
1. Construct an original Calder inspired mobile with at least 9 colored shape elements.
2. Use balance, spacing, size, color, and shape to create a dynamic moving composition.
3.Demonstrate craftsmanship:
No unwanted kinks in the wire
Paper is well attached, not falling off, and no unwanted holes.
Students painted sumi paper with watercolors to use for the colored shape elements.
Students started bending wire to create their balanced mobiles.
Next week students will start to add their sumi paper!
Here is one of the two sample mobiles I created for the project.
Stay tuned for more mobiles from the sculpture students!!
Click on the button below to download my Calder Style Mobile lesson:
This week my High School mentor Piper Bolduc and I were busy setting up the district K-12 art show at the Saco Museum. This year the title is "Hungry for Art", and much of the work in the show reflected upon that theme.
It was a wonderful to get to experience setting up a district art show, to meet many other art educators, and to see countless examples of amazing lessons I could potentially teach in the future.
"The Big Chill" was the pride and joy of the advanced art students from Old Orchard Beach High School.
Inside of "The Big Chill", all of the food was made larger than life out of paper mache
Inspired by Andy Warhol's Pop Art prints, this Campbell's soup can was made entirely out of candy by Old Orchard Beach High School students.
Sections were divided by theme, this is the Mexican Cantina.
The museum is filled with SO much art! Here are some of the projects that I really enjoyed:
Paper mache letters by Loranger Middle School 7th grade students, Giacometti figures by 8th grade Saco Middle School students, and Nevelson studies by 1st grade Young Elementary School students.
"Living Letters", a digital design project by Saco Middle School 7th grade students.
Collapsable paper lanterns by Saco Middle School 8th grade students.
Baskets by 5th grade Loranger Middle School students and sandwiches by 1st grade students at Young Elementary School.
We brought some humor to the show by giving captions to the cardboard portraits by 1st grade students at Fairfield Elementary School.
The show is up until April 20th at the Saco Museum located at 371 Main St. Route 1, Saco, ME.
Hours at the museum are:
Tuesday-Thursday- 12:00-4:00PM
Friday- 12:00-8:00PM
Saturday- 10:00AM-4:00PM
RSS Feed