November Doodle Calendars

I did not send students home with a December Doodle Calendar for homework this month, so I am sharing a few examples of the 8th grade November Doodle Calendars. My 8th grade artists work hard every day in and out of the art room to practice skills and improve their talent, so I was so happy to receive 22 fantastic calendars. Here are a few in which the artists filled the space and came up with such creative ideas:

In case you didn't already know, you can click on each picture to enlarge it. Happy Wednesday!

Happy Monday!

Today marks the first day of the 15th week of school! 6th and 8th grade artists were so productive today that I just wanted to brag about them a little bit. 😀

6th grade weavings have finally begun! After demonstrating patience while slowly learning several weaving techniques, artists are chosing to use three within their composition in order to convey a specific theme. Students are chosing to either convey their theme through a literal representation (e.g. weaving a picture) or through color that represents their theme. I'll post more pictures right before Winter Break when students are sure to have nearly half of their weavings complete.

Last week, 8th graders glued their magazine cutouts to scratch art paper and started adding their zentangles. This project, Gustav Klimt Scratch Art, is borrowed from a great mentor of mine, Ms. Neel; students were creating this project while I was student teaching and I loved the outcome so much that I brought it to FCCS. Artists are putting their magazine cutout within a space, creating foreground, middleground, and background, and drawing with mostly contour lines so they can fill their empty space with a variety of zentangles, a form of soothing dooding. To set the mood, we are listening to relaxing music, which really seems to be inspiring the artists - take a look for yourself!

Each day my artists surprise me with more and more talented, creative ideas!

5th Grade

5th grade has been doing a tremendous job working on their assignments both in and out of the classroom. During the month of November, students were given another Doodle Calendar to complete; this time, the calendar was predominantly comprised of depictions of the Greek gods or goddesses we discussed in class. Creating a drawing of a symbol or pyhsical representation of each god or goddess helped students practice for the subject matter of their two Ancient Greek projects as well as help them to remember the significance of each god or goddess in Greek mythology. Here are a few of the outstanding Doodle Calendars:

Students have been using Chromebooks in class to access the Ancient Greek Symbaloo I put together in order to plan their Greek Vase compositions. Students had to chose any vase shape to draw and fill with either a scene, a character, or a symbol from Greek mythology, and complete it with a variety of Greek-inspired patterns. Students planned the drawings out in their sketchbooks first and have been working on transferring their ideas to their handmade scratch art paper. I am so pleased with the outcome of this project! I have never tried using scratch art for this project, and as it is more difficult because students must work slowly and have a secure plan, the final product is beautiful! The last update I posted including rough draft drawings from 5A, so here are a few I snapped from 5B today:

You will just have to wait to see the final artwork when I update the Virtual Art Show next week!

Impressionism Landscapes

I wanted to share the final Impressionism Landscapes by the 8th grade artists. The 8th Grade Virtual Art Show has details of all of the artworks, but I wanted to show the entire display. I am so incredibly proud of the diligence and patience these artists showed while they worked on their landscapes. Each one captured the Impressionistic technique perfectly. This is one of my favorite projects and this group of artists did an outstanding job!

Term II Update

Good morning artists & families!

The start of Term II brings forth new projects for every class. Fifth grade started Greek Vase Painting, but with a twist! In the past I have taught this project where students are using Sharpies to draw a traditional looking Greek vase depicting a scene from mythology, but this year, students created their own scratch art paper and will etch their designs in the paper. The Element focus of this project is space and etching away from the surface will be a great way for artists to understand negative space. Below are some examples of the artist's rough drafts. They have been using Chromebooks to access links on a Symbaloo (on the 5th grade page) to help them with their depiction of mythology. Once their entire rough draft is drawn, they will then color in the areas they want to keep black and the areas that are going to be etched to reveal the red.

   

Sixth grade artists just started Medieval Weavings. So far, students have learned the key words loom, warp, weft, and shuttle and have created their looms. Next, students will practice various weaving techniques so they are prepared to create a tapestry weaving incorporating at least three different techniques. Seventh grade was introduced to Stained Glass Windows last week and have been working diligently on rough drafts. Students were given choice in the subject matter of their artwork, the only requirement is that the image is broken up by window panes to simulate the intricate designs of actual stained glass. Artists will be using acrylic paint to create their designs on a piece of glass that will sit inside a small picture frame. Here are examples of a few rough drafts:

Ultimately, this is what the project will look like:

Teacher Sample

Eighth grade artists viewed a presentation on Art Nouveau and the artist Gustav Klimt. Their next project is to create a Klimt-inspired composition by surrounding a human figure with a scene filled with Zentangles. So far, students have found an image from a magazine, cut it out, and are working on a rough draft. They will access a Symbaloo on my website (under the 8th grade tab) that provides them with several examples on Zentangles and ideas from past student artwork. Below is an example from an artists in 2015:

As always, continue to check back on my blog to read about what is happening in the art room. I try to write a post at least once a week, so for more frequent updates follow me on Twitter and Instagram at @MsStrasserArt. I can't wait to see the masterpieces these young artists will create!

Doodle Calendars

I am so pleased with the results of the October Doodle Calendars! The feedback that I received from students is that they enjoyed working on them and liked drawing a small image for homework each week (instead of full-page, full-color assignments in previous years). If my young artists are going to improve their skills, they should certainly be drawing a little bit each day. This does not mean they need to be working on giant artworks, but if they are at least doodling a small amount, they will improve their artistic skills over time.

Here are a few of the exceptional Doodle Calendars I received from students:

 I look forward to seeing my students complete more Doodle Calendars in the future. October consisted of a variety of the Elements of Art and Principles of Design for all of the students, but future calendars will be different for each grade level and correspond to the projects and techniques students are practicing. If a student ever loses their Doodle Calendar they must ask for a new one.

Happy doodling!