General Midterm Information for my RMHS Art students

Here is some general information about the mid-terms for my classes:

Art 1: You have a project and a test. 

• The test will be approximately 20 questions, a combination of multiple choice and short answer. We will be reviewing in class and I will provide a study guide. The test will be administered during the scheduled Mid-Term Exam period.
• Your project is the Creative Value Scale. It is due by the end of your exam period.

Art 3: You have a packet and a project.

• The "Colored Pencil Packet" is being graded in place of a test -- make sure you put in your best effort and fully answer all the short-answer questions in the packet.
• Your project is an Artist Trading Card in colored pencil. 
• Both items are due by the end of your exam period.

Advanced Art: You have a written critique and a project.

• You will be completing a Guided Written Critique Packet in place of a test. You will complete this during the scheduled Mid-Term Exam period. I will be giving you a sample and review on January 21st.
• Your project is the Negative Space assignment. It is due by the end of your exam period, along with all Marking Period 2 projects.
• The Negative Space PowerPoint is available for download on our class page: http://www.ridgefieldschools.com/Page/3866

All students will be required to complete a Self-Assessment Matrix and Reflection Questions for their Mid-Term project. This handout will count towards your project grade, so please put effort into it!

Happy Winter Break!

Ahhhhh... winter break. A time to catch up on sleep, catch up with family, and (for many of us) spend way more time than we'd like doing homework (students) or lesson plans (teachers). Whatever the case may be for you, I hope you have a joyful winter break, and if you are celebrating anything, happy holidays!

Artist: Ed Wheeler, based on Monet

And my holiday gift to you is this fun collection in which artist Ed Wheeler placed Santa into famous works of art:

http://honestlywtf.com/art/santa-classics/

Art 1 - Grid Self Portrait in Colored Pencil: Resources & Options

If you are in Art 1, and looking for the post with information about our Grid Self Portrait project, then you have come to the right place!

We began our unit by learning and practicing three different skill sets:

• Colored pencil blending and shading (worksheet)
• Using the grid method (your choice of worksheet)
• Value mapping (your choice of sample photo sheet)

Make sure you have handed in all three of your pages (plus any extra credit practice) to Ms. Walker before you start working on your self portrait.

As you plan your project, take a look at some options and inspiration...

Create a portrait with traditional color and shading:

Artist: Mercedes Helnwein

If you want to learn to do realistic color blending for skin, I recommend you view some tutorials!

Video tutorial (specifically focuses on the nose, but shows use of pencils):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q63z6GIPm0

Photo/Text tutorial:
http://bklh362.deviantart.com/art/Coloring-Skin-Color-pencils-tutorial-304256819

Intensify or change the colors:

This is a digital painting, but something similar could be done with colored pencils

Reduce the number of different values to "cartoonify" or posterize yourself:

Draw inspiration from the famous grid portrait artist Chuck Close...

Chuck Close in front of one of his self-portraits

(we will learn more about him soon)

Or use the grid as an element of your design in some other way...

"For Susie Bieber" as requested

There is also something neat called a "Calligram"

...in which an artists write words in different sizes/spacing/colors to create different values (similar to spacing and pressure when cross hatching)... here is an example that I personally think needs to show a wider range of values, but it's set up well:

You really have a world of options for this project! 

For even more inspiration and resources, visit Ms. Walker's Pinterest board for this project here: 

https://www.pinterest.com/cwalkerart/grid-self-portrait-in-colored-pencil/

#colortheoryparty results

At the end of October, my Art III classes took part in an activity which I called "#ColorTheoryParty (#itsnotarealparty)" -- you can check out the original post with instructions for my students here.

We are now transitioning out of our Color Theory unit and into Post-Impressionism (impasto paintings are coming!), but I wanted to post some results from our activity.

Here is just a small handful of the pictures my students submitted:

Considering hosting a #ColorTheoryParty in your classroom? 
Some notes for teachers:

This activity will work best if your school has a BYODevice policy or makes allowances for use of mobile devices in the classroom for educational purposes. It's pretty much crucial that students be able to use their phones in order to get engaged.

Make sure you have at least one digital camera available for students who don't have a phone (or don't have it with them, have a dead battery, etc.). Some of my students borrowed their friends' phones to complete the activity, but just as many asked to use my personal camera instead (I don't know if we have a classroom camera).

Students REALLY enjoyed being able to use SnapChat to take their photos (although they had to email them to me... I don't Snap with my students!). SnapChat is ideal for this activity, because students were able to label their photos digitally, with no need to use a post-it note or remember to include each color scheme name in the email subject line. If they liked what they were learning and photographing enough to actually send it to their friends or their story, that seems like a bonus to me!

I initially listed 4 options for how students could submit their photos to me -- one was through social media by using the hashtag #colortheoryparty *if they had a public account, but all of my students chose to use my camera or email the photos directly to me. But do what works for you! I had also looked into an app called BlendIt (www.blendit.us) which I think would work well, but nobody wanted to install a new app on their phones.

If you use this activity (or a variation), please let me know! I would love to see it in action other places!

-Ms. Walker

Post-Impressionism (or Neo-Impressionism)

For our Post-Impressionism research today you will need to a read a brief article and view several paintings by the following 4 post-impressionist masters:

• Vincent van Gogh
• Paul Cezanne
• Georges Seurat
• Paul Gauguin

Reading Options:

A.  Read pages 371-373 in the ArtTalk textbook, then flip through some of the provided library books to see more paintings

B.  Read this article from Eyecon Art: http://robinurton.com/history/postimpressionism.htm

C.  Visit "Olga's Gallery" to read 1-2 paragraphs about each artist (and look at their paintings!) on separate web pages:

• Vincent van Gogh: http://www.abcgallery.com/V/vangogh/vangogh.html
• Paul Cezanne: http://www.abcgallery.com/C/cezanne/cezanne.html
• Georges Seurat: http://www.abcgallery.com/S/seurat/seurat.html
• Paul Gauguin: http://www.abcgallery.com/G/gauguin/gauguin.html

D.  Read the Metropolitain Museum of Art's timeline summary here


As you read and view, fill out the two-sided worksheet that Ms. Walker handed out. You can work with a partner. This worksheet will be collected and graded.

A Meat Lover's Masterpiece

Want to learn more?
If you are interested in learning more about specific paintings, check out this website, which has videos and short articles about several famous paintings by Post-Impressionist painters:

• http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/post-impressionism.html (the menu is on the left side of the screen)

Name that Color Scheme!

UPDATE: I have made changes to the quiz -- it should be less confusing now.

_____

Hello, class!

During our Color Theory and Post-Impressionism unit, you MUST complete the 2 activities in this post.

*You need to show Ms. Walker your results (and watch her write them down) or email a screenshot of your results to CWalker @ ridgefieldschools.com in order to receive credit.*

THESE ACTIVITIES MUST BE COMPLETED BEFORE THANKSGIVING.



First, review your knowledge of Color Theory and Color Schemes using these digital flash cards:

https://www.examtime.com/en-US/p/1627614-Color-Theory-Review-flash_card_decks

Second, complete the "Name That Color Scheme" quiz at the link below:

https://www.examtime.com/en-US/p/1613986-Name-That-Color-Scheme--quizzes

You MAY work with a partner, as discussing the colors you see can help some people learn better!

Have fun!

-Ms. Walker



P.S. I found this while searching for "color schemes" in Google images... hahaha

"Your colors are so basic..."

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

I'm really just posting because I LOVE this image:

I don't know the original source; he's all over the internet.