Zentangle

4th grade students showed their skill in the art of Zentangle with nothing more then a Sharpie Permanent Marker and their imagination. 

 

Weaving [[]]=[[]]=[[]]=[[]]=[[]]

My students have always loved weaving projects.  I've seen multiple art blogs share examples of projects that used a wire hanger as it's base because it already has a well formed hook to hang the finished work of art for presentation.  This is a photo of a weaving project that was created by a 5th grade student with multicolored yarn.  The lesson is great because no matter how large or small the diameter of the circle each student's work looks amazing once the yarn is wrapped around the rim and unused space inside the frame of the hanger. 

-GRich

Summer Learning: Beginning Concepts in Commercial Arts

For the last several summers I have had the good fortune to be a summer school mentor to middle school and high school students through Education 2020. 

 This summer along with being an ED2020 mentor I took advantage of an opportunity to teach Beginning Concepts in Commercial Arts. 

Over the course of two weeks, I had four shortened session with students entering the 6th, 7th, or 8th grade.

The two main programs I introduced to the students during the sessions were Adobe Illustrator CS5 and Adobe Photoshop CS5. 


  
Even though many of the students had never worked with the software before it was exciting to see how quickly they began to pick up the program's secrets and shortcuts. Here are a few of their favorite projects created during the different sessions.
  
The middle school students focused on learning how to manipulate digital photography and create works of art with a strong composition through the Adobe software.

I have personally enjoyed experimenting with the Adobe Design Premium programs on my own for a few years now and it made me happy to have the chance to expose adolescents to an art related field that they could pursue when deciding their career path in the years to come.

The students learned about the history of Commerical and Graphic Arts during the sessions and began to understand just how present these two career fields are in their life each day even down to the advertising designs in the magazines they love to read.
  





Using pages from magazines students created a paper pot with scotch tape and mod podge.

The students loved learning about how to recycle such a common item in their household and also reflected on the designs of the advertisements and layout of the articles in the magazines while they were folding their pages. 




Many of the students found a favorite page and kept it safe in their pile to finish the rim of their pot with style.


The two weeks were full of fun, laughter, and learning about Commercial Arts.  I couldn't have asked for better students and I hope I get the opportunity again next year to instruct Beginning Concepts in Commercial Arts.


-GRich

Keep Searching For Who I Am...

This project is based off a "Where's Waldo?" concept that offers the students a chance to reflect on their interests and personality, along with drawing images that symbolize those traits.  The project lends great to teaching the definition of a monochromatic color scheme and practicing several of the Principals of Design and Elements of Art.





The best part of this assignment though by far is the excitement during its development.  The students are eager to show their classmates how they are progressing and ask them if they can locate certain items within their composition. 


-GRich

Long Overdue...



I frequently look at other art educator blogs and I always enjoy seeing images of the school wide art exhibits.  A few months ago now the school system I instruct in had their annual K-12 student art exhibit.  I would not say it is an elaborate affair but the students are pleased to see their artwork on display and their excitement makes the time spent coordinating the exhibit and its setup and take down worth it.

-GRich

EEE! It's a One Eyed, Blue Hair Felt Monster!

The felt monster project allows students to learn how to sew and stitch with yarn and embroidery thread while constructing their own unique stuffed creatures.  The project is time consuming and can be frustrating; the students have to anticipate how their pieces of felt can be stitched together best.  I suggested to many of my students that they take the time to really work out on paper how they want to create their monster form before they begin to cut and sew.  Once the students began working on their monsters many of them found they loved to add beads while they were stitching their separate pieces of felt together.  Personally, I love how the colored yarn and embroidery thread emphasis the hand sewn stitching.  One student commented that seeing the stitching made him more proud of his work because he knew just how much time it took to sew each piece of felt on his monster; another student commented that the stitching was like a textured pencil line.  (Hearing these comments made me smile ♥)  All my students did an amazing job!!  And this One Eyed, Blue Hair creature was given to me as a gift.  How could I say no?


-GRich 

Cray♥la

Finding these made me smile ♥

Celebrating Summertime!