The Art Room: observation drawings

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Fall Wrap up and Update

October is such an exciting month in the art room that it's hard to keep up with everything that is happening, while it's happening! I thought I would take a few minutes to post a round-up of October and fill everyone in on what is coming up!

Studio Art 1 has been hard at work since the beginning of the school year. Their first assignment was a collage piece that required them to learn about two very famous collage artists- Romare Bearden and Faith Ringgold. To see some of Bearden's work and learn a bit about him click: HERE. To see some of Faith Ringgold's work and learn about her life click here: HERE Students enjoyed working in the medium of collage and were challenged by creating a work of art that needed to be a self portrait without drawing themselves or taking a photograph. Take a look at some of the creative works of art they produced!

Molly White

Ashley Sanchez

Kevin Plante

David SanPaolo

Students in my Studio 1 class have since moved on to learning about the color wheel, tinting and shading scales and are now finishing up their painting projects. I will be sure to post those next month when they are all completed!

Drawing 1 students have been hard at work learning the basics looking and observing. We completed our unit on contour line, which teaches our students how to really look at what we are drawing. It is the difference between drawing what you actually see and drawing what you think you see. We talk a great deal about line quality in this unit. Contour line drawings are my favorite because the line is a very slow detailed line. It sometimes appears exaggerated and can be described as yarn-like. Take a look at the some of the amazing drawings from this unit.

Elizabeth Arias

Marisa Enes

Haley Blanchette

Haille Glaser

Jacqueline Wonson

Jessica Oliver

Kayla Saltonstall

Fulton Cunha

Julia Demarijan

Katey Latassa

Drawing 1 students have now moved on to learning about shading and how to use value. They all received a set of drawing pencils and will soon be working on how to make flat shapes look three dimensional with just a few pencils!

Stay tuned!

Friday, October 9, 2015

Cabinet of Death Observations

Sharks by Rachel Nearis

Thanks to Mr. Enos and his infamous Cabinet of Death our Honors Art students got a special spooky and creepy treat for their observation unit in September. Jars used in the science department for various studies in Marine Biology and Oceanography were borrowed by the Visual Arts department for our students to use as observational drawings. Sometimes drawing a still life, or folded fabric- although very useful as visual exercises- can become trite but a a fresh (or not so fresh) baby shark fetus... well you don't get to see that every day. I think you will enjoy what our students did with these drawings. I think they exceeded everyone's expectations! We had a representative from New Hampshire Institute of Art, Matt Smigiel, come visit our class on October 1 and he was thrilled with the results of this assignment. In his presentation to the class on portfolio preparation he emphasized the importance of observational drawings. He explained to the class why they are so important and how many the college looks for in a portfolio. (at least 5) We have 2 more college representatives coming this month. Hartford Art School will visit us after this long weekend on Tuesday, October 13th and we are going to visit Mass Art as a class on Tuesday, October 20th.

If any parent would like to join us on this trip PLEASE let me know! I would love to have you join

us!

Photo of the actual jar used for Rachel,
Sara, & Greer's drawings

Portfolio Day Information

In addition I wanted to remind everyone of some important dates for National Portfolio Day.
The closest one to us is in Boston at the Hynes Convention Center on Sunday, November 1st. from noon to 4. You can get more information from their website at: http://www.smfa.edu/portfolio-day

Hartford Art School is also hosting a Portfolio Day on Saturday, October 31st from noon to 4.
You can find out what venues are hosting Portfolio Days across the country here: http://portfolioday.net/ If you have specific questions regarding your own portfolio come see me. Going to a portfolio day is an excellent way to get feedback on what colleges think you may need to add into your portfolio to make it stronger and secure a spot at the college of your choice. It is an excellent experience. I wholeheartedly recommend going.