Lars - The Lethargic Viking

Lars the Lethargic Viking

by Andrew "Prez" Jackson

Our Drawing & Painting class have created their own cartoon characters. Each student is drawing a one-page comic featuring their character. I like how this viking walks through a battle to take a nap!

Caricatures

Eighth grade students drew caricatures. These are humorous drawings that exaggerate the features of a person.

Obama by Ethan Aiosa

More Grid Portraits

Albert Einstein
by Basti Sayed

More portraits done using the Grid Technique by our Art I class.

Miles Davis
by Teddy Greene

Gandhi
by Meghan Kelley

George Harrison
by Danielle Cole

Surrealistic Drawings

In our Drawing & Painting class, we discussed some paintings by Salvador Dali. We then composed surrealistic collages and used those as references while drawing with colored pencil.

Dreams in Motion

by Logan Anthony

Animal House

by Andrew "Prez" Jackson

Home Invasion

by Heylin Douglas

Miscellaneous Visions (Gaga)

by Levi Mathers

Oldenburg Style Sculptures

Marcel & the Big Green Lego
by Haley Priester, Sarah Slocum & Aerotine MacWhinnie

Chicken Robot Soup
by Levi Mathers, Tracy Keener, & Drew Shaffer

The Big Shoe

There's some great activity afoot in the art room. These four students just completed this sculpture as an assignment for Sculpture & Pottery class. They did it as an assignment while learning about the sculpture of Claes Oldenburg. However, that was not their "sole" purpose.

A it turns out, it makes a good work of art to commemorate our anti-bullying theme this year -- "Making Strides Against Bullying." You might say that when it comes to bullying, we're putting our foot down.

First, the students made an armature out of cardboard. Harley is just the right size to make sure the interior has been sufficiently taped.

The cardboard armature was shaped and some shapes needed to be cut out.

The armature was covered with strips of Pariscraft and then painted.

To make the laces, we cut a sheet into strips and the students braided it.

Unusual Drawing Materials

Eighth graders are experimenting with unusual drawing materials, such as "Action Painting in a Box." We keep the art materials within the box, and make a painting Jackson Pollack style!

We also experimented with drawing tools such as plastic spoons, tooth brushes, pallette knives, sticks and branches, etc.

Ceramic masks

Eighth graders have started ceramic masks. These will take quite a while to dry, so while we wait, we will be doing some other things.

Charcoal Portraits

George Harrison by Cassidy Shadduck

Amelia Earhart by Arianna Crawford

by Sophie Lackner

Here are a few of the drawings from our Art I class -- done using the grid.

Durer's Grid

Art I students are learning about the many ways artists achieve correct proportions in drawings. Many of our activities are taken from Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. Increasing our awareness of anatomy is one way, and students created diagrams that illustrate the general proportions of the human head.

Another method is the use of the grid. Albrecht Durer is well-known for using this device. In his day, it was a wooden frame with wires running through it. Today, it's easier to draw the grid right on a photographic reference.

Below is the first finished drawing from the class. The photographic reference is on the left. Using this method is a good way to learn to look for specific shapes, and to avoid drawing stereotyped symbols.Amelia Earhart (charcoal) by Arianna Crawford

Cartoonist Club

Every fifth day at Rowe, we have an Activities Period. Today was the first meeting of the Cartoonist Club. Step One: Create a Character! Oh, there are some characters in this picture, let me tell you... :)

Drawing from Life

Above: Courtyard Sketches by Mr. Wales

During the first week of school, art classes made drawings from life, based on things they observed in the courtyard outside the artroom. On the first day, we drew plants and structures that we saw. On the second day we set up a still life of boxes, containers and a deer skull. The art students at Rowe showed a lot of creativity and analytical skills as they looked for shapes, shadow and texture in their surroundings. Below are just a few of the sketches students made.

Courtyard photo

Justin McCarty

Erin Moore

Arianna Crawford

Colton Roan

Art Classes begin at Rowe Junior High

A new school year has begun at Rowe Junior High School. In many classes, we began with a unit on sketching. I have a whole bin of my own sketchbooks -- I've been keeping them for over thirty years. Some of the students found it interesting to look through them. The oldest one I began when I was twelve. Students did sketches of their own.
A sketch, of course, can be defined as "a simply or hastily executed drawing or painting, esp. a preliminary one, giving the essential features without the details" (Random House, 2010). In other words, it may be an idea more than a finished work of art. Some of those ideas we might take further, and some we may abandon. Sketching is like brainstorming on paper.
Another kind of sketching is a type of practicing. We did some sketching outdoors. The assignment was to draw something we could see. Just outside the art room is a courtyard. The vision for this space is for it to be an outdoor classroom. Currently there are benches, a bird bath, and flowers. Eventually it could be our own Giverny!
In addition to classwork, each unit of study will conclude with a portfolio check. Students can earn extra points by working on sketches outside of class. It is not a requirement, but students might enjoy keeping a sketchbook of their own. You can get a pretty good one at Walmart for just under four bucks. Eventually, they will be available in the school store.

The class with the largest enrollment is Sculpture & Pottery. We discussed different types of sculpture including additive and subtractive sculpture. As a warm-up exercise, we experimented with both additive and subtractive techniques of sculpting with clay.