For those of you that come to class in the afternoons the week of ITBS testing, I thought we would create some relaxing colorful Mandalas. Most of you have done these before. A Mandala is like a visual meditation, usually within a circular format. Pick a small plate to trace around and then draw your designs inside. They can be symmetrical or asymmetrical. Then use colors of your choice to finish up your design.

Here is a short video on creating a Mandala:

Due to ITBS testing next week you will have a homework holiday in art for this week. Get some rest and have some fun after school.

For this third week, by special request, I would like you choose a mythical creature to draw in your sketchbook. You can look for one that inspires you, or better yet, invent your own. Have fun and do your best!

For this week we are working from a still life to create a composition that incorporates color using watercolors. Fill your composition with shapes and see if you can mix the warm and cool colors that you perceive. Have fun and do your best! For those of you at home you can use these photographs to see the still life we were using in the classroom. You can zoom in on a part of the still life to create your composition.

Here is a zoom in close up of part of the still life:

For this week I would like you to focus on depicting volume by using Value or light and shade in your composition.

For this first homework assignment I would like you to set up a still life with some toys to create an interesting composition in your sketchbook. Concentrate on the Countours and then add Value to create volume. Have fun and do your best!

For today I would like you to draw this image in your sketchbook with a pencil. Try to start at the top of the page and include every line that you see. Don’t worry about what the image is, just copy the lines you see, how it curves or angles this way and that. Pretend that the box is the edge of your sketchbook page and fill the complete page.

I hope you all had a safe summer break and that you had a chance to do some fun things with your family and close friends. Well, we are embarking on a new and unusual adventure in the Art room this year, with a blending of Remote and In-school learners. We will get through this with humility and grace and hopefully make it fun and enriching for all of us.

This class blog will be your go to source to keep up with what we are doing in class and a link that you can open during Zoom distance sessions in case you can’t see or hear the presentations from in the classroom.

I have sent home a simple art kit with all the distance learners, so that you will have some materials to work with. I expect that you will be doing most of your assignments in the sketchbook that we provided so that everyone will have the same size paper to work with.

If you are doing experimental work in addition to the work we do in class, it would probably be best if you get some additional paper or an extra sketchbook so that you don’t run out of pages for the class assignments.

We will discuss all of this when I see you the first time in class or on Zoom next week.

I’m glad you are back or joining my art class for the first time and look forward to seeing your creativity unfold this school year.

Art student appreciation week. For this last week of remote Zoom classes you have a choice of anything that you like to draw or paint. Some ideas…your favorite Singer, Athlete, Video Game Character, Actor, Cartoon Character, Book Character, Flower, Landscape, Vacation Spot, Dessert, Saint, Bible Verse….you choose and have some fun with it! I appreciate all the effort you put into your work this year, and especially this last Quarter when we have had the challenge of working on-line. Maybe I will see you next week when you come to pick up your things or at the graduation this week. All the best and have a creative and fun Summer!