Advanced Art - Watercolor Landscapes

After an initial painting to get used to the unique attributes of watercolor, the Art II students tackled a landscape. Since everyone's painting was unique, they each had their own set of challenges but overall I think that the finished projects were pretty great. You be the judge...

Annual Middle School Art Show at the PDC

February marks the biggest event for middle school art in the district. Artwork from each middle school is on display at Mesquite's Professional Development Center. The work will be on display for February's School Board meeting and afterwards each middle school principal will choose one artwork from his or her school to receive the prestigious Principal's Award. Check back in early March to see which work was selected. 22 of our 28 Advanced Art students have work on display.

Our 2012 Principals Award winner with her self portrait

Low-relief Rhythmic Sculptures: Art II

A few months back I ran across a lesson plan that I had been wanting to try so I decided that it might be a good way to start off the new semester. After showing some examples from the lesson plan, the Art II students were eager to take on the challenge. To create a rhythmic feeling in art the artist must repeat certain lines, shapes, colors, patterns, etc. These examples of the final projects show that they really grasped the concept of rhythm in art.

Finished Slab Bowls: Art II

The Art II slab bowls are finally finished (as well as several other projects that I have failed to post lately). Some students followed the original assignment to create a "Bowl Creature" while others went a bit in another direction and came up with their own design. Regardless of how they designed their bowl, all students had to include addition pieces added to the original bowl.

Slab Bowls - Art II

The Art II classes have been working on a clay project: Slab Bowls. The original plan was to create a "face" bowl, which some students did, but others opted for their own project ideas. Students used our slab roller to create a flat slab of clay and then cut out a shape to lay over a paper form they had created. One of the bowls created is below... waiting to be fired and then glazed.

Art II - Self Portraits

One of my favorite projects each year is self-portraits. Maybe it's because students try so hard because they know it's supposed to look like them, I'm not sure, but they always turn out great. In order to draw their portrait, students first took a picture of themselves and then used a grid technique to proportionally enlarge the portrait. In order to show value, students could choose pencil, colored pencil, or a combination of the two. 

Value Study: Pasta - Art II

In order to focus on the element of Value, the Art II students created mini-still life pieces out of pasta and used a view finder to create an interesting composition. Student projects had to include both value with pencil as well as with colored pencil.