Art of Apex High School

Newimals

2012-02-02T14:23:00.006-05:00

The first official project in Computer Art, use your newly acquired PhotoShop skills to create a Newimal. Considering this project was given after only 5 classes, I think they came out incredible!

Masking Tape Murals

2012-01-31T15:13:00.005-05:00

The new Art One class spent the day creating masking tape murals around the school. Take a look at the process we went through to get to this point.

First, we talked about hatching and cross hatching. We tried out some hatching techniques in out sketchbooks.

Next we talked and made a list of different topics that were important to us.

We formed teams based on topics we selected and talked about symbols and words that would relate to our topic.. Each team created sketches based on those ideas.

We even practiced with the tape on the table to get used to working with this medium. Then we went to work... Here are the results.

For the Blogs

2012-01-30T11:38:00.007-05:00

For the Blog

1. Click the link below
2. Click on the image you want to post to your blog to make it larger.
3. click the save button. It is at the bottom on the picture. It is small and hard to see.

Masking Tape

http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/49932312/1/masking%20tape?h=0c6f99

Along with the photos, please write about your experience working on each project. The following questions can be used as a guide. You don't need to answer all the questions...

1. Describe your overall thoughts on the final piece.
2. if this was a group project, what was your contribution?
3. How successful do you feel this piece is and why?
4. What worked about this project? What didn’t work?
5. If you were to do this project over again, what changes would you consider making?
6. What was the most difficult part about completing this piece and why?
7. What did you learn from this piece?

The following images are for our Skittles project.

Expressive photos

http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/49932312/1/expressions?h=c5dcf9

Drawing Chick

2012-01-28T09:57:00.010-05:00

Chick is the name of the skeleton in my art room. On Monday, the first day of the new semester, I had my Art One students take 20 minutes to draw chick. I told them at the end of the week, Friday, they would draw her again and I promised them their drawing skills would improve.

During the week we tried out a series of "learning to see" techniques. As a homework assignment, they had to draw the bones of a cartoon character of their choosing. Here are a few of the cartoon bones..

below that are a few examples of Monday next to Friday Chick drawings...

Chick drawings.. Monday on the left, Friday on the right...

Students sat in the same seat for both drawings and had the same amount of time (20 minutes)

The two major improvements here, and in the images below...

1. On Monday, the student drew what she thought she saw, a head on view. On Friday, she drew what she actually saw, 3/4 view.

2. Taking time to draw each bone individually. Notice the difference in the rib cage. On Monday the student drew the ribs as one piece. On Friday, she drew each rib separately.

Art History Googles

2012-01-27T09:11:00.002-05:00

First homework assignment was to create the Google logo for an artist. Can you name each artist below?

A Few More Apples...

2012-01-18T13:44:00.004-05:00

At the beginning of the semester I told my Art One students that as part of their final exam they would have to draw one apple a day, every day... They wouldn't have to draw on weekends, holidays or half days. The grand total came to 75 apples...

Next semester I plan to have the artists tackle this project again but with a slightly different approach... They will draw a "thing" but they won't know it will be for this project. Shssss, don't tell them!

Walkcycle

2012-01-12T13:21:00.006-05:00

The last project we tackled in Computer Art was animating a walkcycle. Each part of the animations were hand drawn and then imported, colorized and animated in PhotoShop.

75 Apples

2012-01-11T17:08:00.005-05:00

The Best of Apex Art 2011

2011-12-31T08:58:00.002-05:00

January:

First ever Art History Toss and Remix from iansands on Vimeo.

Learn More About Our Art History Class

February:

Shake that can of spay paint and create some art.

View More Stencil Art

March:

Not only did School Arts Magazine publish our post-it note art story... we made the front cover!

View more Post It Art

April:

Another first, Apex Art tries Gyotaku (Japanese 魚拓, from gyo "fish" + taku "rubbing") is a traditional form of Japanese fish printing

Everyone hated this project! We'll never do it again but you can view more fish here

May:

Turning Bricks into Pixels

View More Bricks

June

My PLN goes beyond my school and the basic concept. My PLN helps create incredible ideas for art projects.

Read More About My Posse

July

Chris, Computer Art student, spent several weeks working on this banner. In fact, he skipped a few other projects in order to keep working on it. The banner was designed for Chris' favorite YouTube channel, a daily diary called Shaytards.

View More Summer Happenings!

August

We created line drawings using old technology.. in this case cassette tapes.

View More Cassette Tape Art

September

Created value paintings using mud.. yes, mud.

View More Mud

October

Ryan, one of my students from last year, stopped by to give the art one class a quick lesson in spray painting. And when I say quick, I mean quick! Each one of these space paintings took about 3 minutes to create.

View More Space Paintings

November

From most any direction, you can’t tell what it is supposed to be. Move to the right and things start to take focus.

Get in just the right spot and it all comes together.

View More Perspective

December

On the Twelfth Day of Photoshop My Students Made For Me.. A Holiday Art History Mash Up.

View More 12 Days

Art One: Acrylic Landscapes

2011-12-16T13:09:00.004-05:00

2011-12-14T13:23:00.007-05:00

On the Twelfth Day of Photoshop My Students Made For Me..

Holiday Art History Mash Up.

Take your favorite art history work of art and make it ready for the New Year! Swap that still life bottle with eggnog, change Napoleon’s white horse to a white stag…

Your Task: An art History Holiday Mash Up.. Be creative and have a merry PhotoShop!

2011-12-14T13:22:00.003-05:00

On the Eleventh Day of Photoshop My Students Made For Me..

What’s in the Bad Mail?

There’s a bumpy package on the doorstep with a lion’s tail hanging out the back. There’s something very wrong with that envelop. We just got a letter, the worst letter you can possibly imagine.

Your task: Show us the bad mail!

2011-12-14T13:20:00.006-05:00

On the Tenth Day of Photoshop My Students Made For Me..

Literal Interpretations!

Go look at this list of compound words. Pick five of these words and create 5 images that depict literal interpretations.

What would a fly look like if it were on fire? Firefly
What would a skate look like if it were board? Skateboard
What would the moon look like if it were made of honey? Honeymoon
You’ll have to work fast today to create all five but still quality is a must!

Compound word List:
http://www.learningdifferences.com/Main%20Page/Topics/Compound%20Word%20Lists/Compound_Word_%20Lists_complete.htm

stepson

sunglasses

Honeymoon

Horsefly

Supermarket

Meantime

Starfish

Egghead

Eyedrop

Fotnote

Footnote

Honeycomb

Backfire

Blackmail

Carpool

Cheesecake

Drawbridge!

2011-12-14T13:18:00.005-05:00

On the Ninth Day of Photoshop My Students Made For Me..

Normal Extremes!

Your task: take something everyday common normal and make it extreme! What about kitty chow for velociraptors? What if the five day forecast was Monday: asteroids. Tuesday: nuclear destruction. Wednesday: the apocalypse?

2011-12-13T13:18:00.007-05:00

On the Eighth Day of Photoshop My Students Made For Me..

An 8 Warholesque PhotoShop Filter Image!

Your Task:
Using the same image, apply 8 different filters to your image. Don’t just apply the filter but consider how it will affect the image and apply accordingly. Maybe you might only apply the texture brick filter to the background… maybe you will count out the image and only apply a lighting effect to the object… play around and have fun!

Use one filter from each of the following areas:
Artistic
Blur
Distort
Pixelate
Render/Lighting Effect
Sketch
Stylize
Texture/Texturizer

2011-12-13T09:14:00.002-05:00

On the Seventh Day of Photoshop My Students Made For Me..

Really Scary Signs!
Show us the signs we do not want to see.

Be creative, be clever, be professional (keep it PG13). Like always quality is a must! Post to your blog by day's end.

2011-12-12T09:50:00.003-05:00

On the Sixth Day of Photoshop My Students Made For Me..

Something in Motion…

Your task: show something in motion. By using the right object and just enough blur you can make sure your object in motion will tend to stay in motion.
Here area few hints:
Filter/Blur/Motion Blur
Filter/Stylize/Wind
Edit/Transform/Warp or Distort
layer Opacity can also be effective

The object and how fast it moves is up to you. Have fun, be creative and as always craftsmanship is a must! Post to your blog by class end.

2011-12-09T10:13:00.005-05:00

On the Fifth Day of Photoshop My Students Made For Me..

Some Scrambled Bodies Looking All Crazy!

A fun Phriday PhotoShop adventure… This part might not go here and that part might not go there. Be creative, be clever, be professional (keep it PG13). Like always quality is a must!

Post to your blog by days end!

For the Blogs

2011-12-08T15:07:00.001-05:00

For the Blog

This is a new file sharing site that is easier to use.

1. Click the link below
2. Click on the image you want to post to your blog to make it larger.
3. click the save button. It is at the bottom on the picture. It is small and hard to see.

Pastel Still Life Per 1

Pastel Still Life Per 3

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Ceramics Per 1

Ceramics Per 3

Along with the photos, please write about your experience working on each project. You can use the following questions as a guide:

1. Describe your overall thoughts on the final piece.
2. if this was a group project, what was your contribution?
3. How successful do you feel this piece is and why?
4. What worked about this project? What didn’t work?
5. If you were to do this project over again, what changes would you consider making?
6. What was the most difficult part about completing this piece and why?
7. What did you learn from this piece?

2011-12-08T09:40:00.005-05:00

On the Fourth Day of Photoshop My Students Made For Me..

Some Scribble Art that Almost Looks 3D!

Today, we are going to use a mask in PhotoShop to create crazy scribble line portraits. You will need to watch this very short tutorial, less than 3 minutes!

http://vimeo.com/33344753

You also might want to take your own photos. There is plenty to do today so you’ll need to get right to it!

As always, please post to your blog before the day is over.

2011-12-07T09:45:00.004-05:00

On the third day of Photoshop my students gave to me..

A funny movie poster parody

Your mission, make a movie poster for a “different” kind of movie. How is it different? That’s up to you. Be creative, be clever, be professional (keep it PG13).
Like always quality is a must! Post to your blog by days end!

2011-12-06T13:36:00.004-05:00

On the second day of Photoshop my students gave to me..

A Super Hero Mashup with Disney

Your Task: Combine any Disney or Pixar character with the super powers you just know he/she deserves. You pick the character and the power… all I ask is you pay attention to quality (do your selections look sweet? Are your colors and lighting a match?) Be creative and have fun!

Please post your mashup to your blog before the end of class today

2011-12-05T09:30:00.007-05:00

On the first day of Photoshop my students gave to me..

One Slice!

Your challenge:
You have one class period to create something sliced! What you choose and how you slice it is up to you however your best bet is to consider matching shapes, colors, textures and contours carefully. As always, take care with selections and cuts. Craftsmanship makes all the difference!

Please post "Slice" to your blog by 2:10 today
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Typography Portraits

2011-11-10T16:18:00.003-05:00

The Making of Adorable

2011-11-09T14:03:00.006-05:00

Adorable is a localized perspective work of art.

The original design was based on a project about juxtaposition.

The first design didn’t hold up too well. It needed to be sturdier.

So they took it apart and started all over again. Dedication is cool.

We used the projector to capture the image. They changed the design to fit the new horizontal layout.

From most any direction, you can’t tell what it is supposed to be.

Move to the right and things start to take focus.

Get in just the right spot and it all comes together.

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Localized Perspective : Part 1

2011-11-07T10:00:00.006-05:00

The concept behind Localized Perspective is simple. You can see the image from only one view point or perspective. If you are viewing the image from any other perspective the image will look distorted and random.

We started this project by first merging two images to show Juxtaposition. Juxtaposition is the placement of two things near each other for contrasting effect. you can see more of our juxtaposed images here.

The next step was to project the image on boxes at different depths, some close and some further away.

The boxes were then painted and set up. From most any perspective, the boxes don't make sense.

But when viewed from just the right perspective, the image comes together.

MonaBetty Project : Part One

2011-11-02T13:26:00.005-04:00

sound board with text on buttons

Sound board with rollover button

Soundboard should be 550 pixels W x 400 pixels H.

The project will be to mash up someone you know with a famous work of art. Make sure you choose a work of art that is a portrait. The following are all good examples.

Juxtaposition - Localized Perspective

2011-11-02T09:54:00.005-04:00

Juxtaposition is the placement of two things near each other for contrasting effect.

We went to the computer lab and searched the web for an image that they like. We then manipulated the colors in PhotoShop.

What the students didn't know is that I would be asking them to add to their image... Here are some of the juxtaposed results:

This is not the end of the project but only the beginning. The image above is being projected below to create a localized perspective illusion...

Stay tuned for part two: Juxtaposition - Localized Perspective

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Forced Perspective : Photography

2011-10-27T15:59:00.003-04:00

Forced perspective is a technique that employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther away, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is.

More Monsters in a Box : Part 3

2011-10-27T15:48:00.003-04:00

Three classes from two different schools all working together to complete a joint project.. Monsters in a Box.

The monster were drawn by Theresa Gillespie's kindergartener class in Illinois. The pictures went to the Ceramics class at Apex High School were they were transformed into 3D. Afterwards, the Computer Art class at Apex designed these monster boxes.

Read other Monster in a Box posts

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Monsters in a Box : Part One

2011-10-24T16:55:00.006-04:00

Three classes from two different schools all working together to complete a joint project.. Monsters in a Box

The first step was receiving the monster drawings from Theresa Gillespie's kindergartener class in the Moline School District in Illinois.

The pictures went to the Ceramics class at Apex High School were they were transformed into 3D.

Mwanwhile, the Computer Art class started work on the package design. First step, create realistic version of the monster in PhotoShop.

Next, we assembled boxes for the monsters to fit in.

Package design labels for both the front and back of the box were created and printed out.

The boxes were painted....

The labels were applied and the monsters inserted in their new homes.

There is even a cut away in the box so you can see the monster inside!

Tessa from Computer Art and Josh from Ceramics with their completed monster package.

More Monster Boxes coming soon! Stay tuned!!

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Work of Art!

2011-10-21T09:04:00.009-04:00

The sketchbook assignments just haven't been working. Some students work really hard while others rush to complete it right before class. I decided instead of having all my students work on a sketchbook assignment, I would only have a few each week.

Taking a clue from the Bravo reality art show Work of Art, I decided to make it a competition. This week's challenge, find a piece of bad art from the Museum of Bad Art website and recreate it. Your piece should still resemble the original in some way but with your changes.

Here are the results from our first Work of Art Challenge. The bad art first followed by the changes...

Brittany wrote a story to go with the art

Catherine thought the clown should look even creepier.

Caitlin thought the horse could use a neck

Meagan thought if you're going to have a monument of snow you might as well make it special

And the winner, Genna taking NO VISIBLE MEANS OF SUPPORT and giving it well, support.

Genna and her grand prize!

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Stencils.. Last Batch

2011-10-20T12:21:00.003-04:00

Beyond the Pencil - Prezi

2011-10-19T18:30:00.002-04:00

Last Saturday I gave a presentation at the North Carolina Art Education Association conference in Charlotte, NC. The presentation was titled Beyond the Pencil and it offered a look at teaching traditional concepts using non-traditional materials.

Many people asked if i would make the Prezi public so here it is.
http://prezi.com/gbq146xne2sh/beyond-the-pencil/

and even more stencils!

2011-10-19T13:13:00.004-04:00

More Stencils ...

2011-10-18T12:30:00.005-04:00

Spray Painting Space

2011-10-14T12:28:00.006-04:00

Ryan, one of my students from last year, stopped by to give the art one class a quick lesson in spray painting. And when I say quick, I mean quick! Each one of these space paintings took about 3 minutes to create.

First they spray painted where they wanted the planet to go. They would use 3 colors, like red, orange and yellow. Then, while the paint was still wet, they would pat the paint with newspaper to create the streaks in the planet.

A can or bowl was then placed over the planet and dark colors were sprayed around it to create the feeling of deep space. The final touch was spray painting white onto a finger and then flicking the finger over the painting to create the stars... remove the can and ...

Starting Stencils

2011-10-13T09:11:00.004-04:00

There are several parts to completing this project and none of them have to be completed in a linear fashion. Hence, there is a lot of stuff happening all at the same time here at the Art Cave.

Some artists manipulated photos in PhotoShop to produce black and white images that will be the base for their stencils. Here you see one artist reproducing her image at a much larger scale by projecting it on the wall.

We are making frames for the cardboard that we will be spray painting the stencils onto. So those artists who are waiting to use the projector, are outside sawing wood...

Or inside hammering their frame together.

Next step will include stapling a cardboard back onto the frames and then painting the frames and the cardboard, preparing it for the stencil work.... stay tuned!

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Bricks to Pixels: Part 1

2011-10-07T09:07:00.005-04:00

This project is about turning bricks into pixels and reproducing an image from a carefully planned out map to a large wall of chalk.

Most of the time we worked really hard.. sometimes we took a break.

It helps if you have at least one tall person in your group.

The chalk was blended using brushes..

Which was sort of messy

Some teams marked off where and what they would color

Other teams counted

International Bring a Scone to Art Class Day!

2011-10-07T08:55:00.003-04:00

The second Friday of October is International Bring a Scone to Art Class Day!

He gets it...

So does he...

They get it...

He is a bit confused!

Stop motion Animation

2011-10-06T14:12:00.003-04:00

One of the first stop motions animations create in Computer Art & Animation. They took all the photos and imported them into Flash.

Not sure how to use flash to create stop motion? Check out the tutorial: Stopmotion in Flash Part 1

T Shirt Time!

2011-09-29T12:42:00.003-04:00

Today, we created these neat textile designs by reverse dyeing the fabric using bleach.

Espressive Portraits

2011-09-29T12:37:00.005-04:00

Last week we studied drawing facial features then started work on these expressive color portraits in oil pastel...

More for the blogs

2011-09-27T14:50:00.006-04:00

Browse through these collection of photos to find images of your work. Create one blog post for each project.

You need to have both the Value Scale shading drawings, the Mud Art project and the oil pastel expressive portrait by Friday morning.

You can click on the name of the photo to view it larger. then right click on it and save the image so you can post it.

Oil pastel Expressive Portraits period 1

Oil pastel Expressive Portraits period 3

Value Shading Project per 1

Value Shading Project per 3

Mud Painting Per 1

Mud Painting Per 3

Along with the photos, please write about your experience working on each project. You can use the following questions as a guide:

1. Describe your overall thoughts on the final piece.
2. if this was a group project, what was your contribution?
3. How successful do you feel this piece is and why?
4. What worked about this project? What didn’t work?
5. If you were to do this project over again, what changes would you consider making?
6. What was the most difficult part about completing this piece and why?
7. What did you learn from this piece?

Mosiac Maps Explained

2011-09-22T10:11:00.005-04:00

The art one class soon will be creating Bricks to Pixels murals in chalk and pastels. The first step in making this art is to create a map in which to follow.

Since this can be a little confusing, I thought I would create a video that demonstrated the process step by step.

This is the same process we used when we created our post it note murals.

Mud Art: Part 2

2011-09-19T13:33:00.004-04:00

Remember this morning when I posted those photos of people painting pictures out of mud? Well, here are some more...

Diet Coke & Mentos: Part 2

2011-09-19T13:20:00.003-04:00

Remember last week when the Computer Art class went out and dropped mentos into diet coke? Well, this week we combined all those lovely photos into a nifty composition.

The official project name was What Came Out. However, only a few students stuck to the topic. Others took a more liberal approach to the project title's interpretation.

Muda Lisa: Value Scales in Mud part 1

2011-09-19T09:02:00.006-04:00

One large bag of topsoil... some white clay mixed in to lighten the value.. Let the mudslinging begin!

Along with exploring value scale though an interesting, if not difficult to work with medium, students also learned a little art history and gained a few PhotoShop skills.

Mudilyn Monroe

Mudelangelo

Color Wheels

2011-09-16T11:42:00.007-04:00

In the last two weeks we focused on using color, modes and gradients. We created a color wheel by changing the hue and saturation of various objects. The object used was decided on by the student; all I requested was that they take the photo.

As a follow up project, we photographed diet coke and mentos and combined the soda explosions with another photo to create something entirely unexpected (photos coming soon).

(The following photo was not taken in class.) Though I don't condone smoking, I thought this object in this context made for an interesting, if not controversial topic (and some might add, that is the purpose of art).

The final image is not the student’s final work. This was the piece before adding color. However, both the student and I agreed that this image was an interesting visual. The stop signs purposely resemble a fist.

Shadow Art

2011-09-13T15:43:00.008-04:00

Remember those old slide projectors that were used to put art history students to sleep? You'd be amazed at how easy it is to get your hands on them nowadays.

Today, we set up six slide projectors and tried our hand at making shadow art.

Most of the art was made by projecting the light through cut out paper, however there were a few other methods that turned out rather interesting.

The image above was created by layering cut out paper on top of paper. Instead of project the shadow, the paper was placed over the light so that the different thickness of paper created different values.

To create the shadow image of the ship, the students stacked junk till they got the shadow to look just right.

Connected Classroom Monster Project

2011-09-13T10:23:00.015-04:00

Theresa Gillespie, Leatha Koefler and I are combining forces to create a monster of a connected classrooms project, literally!

I originally saw the idea for this project posted on Google+. An elementary class drew monster pictures then a high school sculpture class created 3D ceramic versions.

One of my project ideas for my high school computer art class was going to be designing a package for a toy. When I saw this project, I had to jump on it.

I put the call out for kindergarten monsters and Theresa, elementary art teacher in the Moline School District in Illinois responded right away. Through MediaFire, she was able to share drawings by her kindergartners.

Since I don't teach sculpture, I ask Leatha Koefler, fellow Apex High School (Apex NC), sculpture teacher, if she wanted her students to participate. And off we went.

Currently, the monsters are being sculpted in the ceramic class. Once they have been fired and are complete with added feathers and what not, I'll have my computer art class design packages for them.

Eventually, the monsters will be shipped back to the kindergarten class in Illinois.

Stay tuned!

Diet Coke, Mentos & Computer Art

2011-09-12T18:25:00.002-04:00

So how is this art related at all? You'll just have to trust me ;)

Muda Lisa: The Prototype

2011-09-12T13:34:00.005-04:00

So we got this idea to explore value scale through different shades of mud. Before we decided to make it a class project we thought we might test it out once. This is the story of a few artists trying to figure out the best process for creating a value painting using mud...

First, we brought an image of the Mona Lisa into PhotoShop, converted her to black and white and broke her down into 4 shades.

Just like Leonardo would have done, we transferred the image by first poking holes in the drawing with a toothpick...

And then, applying chalk dust to the back...

so the image transferred to the sidewalk.

We created four different mud values from light to dark and applied it to the sidewalk.

The project was relatively successful and received a thumbs up to proceed as a class project.

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Creating Blogs

2011-09-09T06:59:00.006-04:00

Go to Blogger.com and create your blog

After you create your blog, email the URL to me at isands@wcpss.net

Browse through these collection of photos to find images of your work. Create one blog post for each project.

You can click on the name of the photo to view it larger. then right click on it and save the image so you can post it.

Shadow Art
Animal Hands
Cassette Art
Light Drawing
Drawing Turtles
Day One Project

Along with the photos, please write about your experienchttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife working on each project. You can use the following questions as a guide:

1. Describe your overall thoughts on the final piece.
2. How successful do you feel this piece is and why?
3. What worked about this project? What didn’t work?
4. If you were to do this project over again, what changes would you consider making?
5. What was the most difficult part about completing this piece and why?
6. What did you learn from this piece?

Next, we will create mud paintings from art history so this link -->

Art History Images

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Light Painting

2011-09-07T15:08:00.007-04:00

Crack open the glow sticks and shut off the lights, it's time for light painting!

This year we tried a few new ideas including stencils and silhouettes.

Your 2011 Newimals!

2011-09-07T13:47:00.006-04:00

Second project for our Computer Crt class. You take one animal part here and mix it with another animal part there and sooner or later you have a Newimal.

Day One Computer Art

2011-09-06T13:42:00.004-04:00

Day one computer art project; The Clone.

I gave them cameras day one and sent them out to take photos. Then on their return to class, they had to combine all the photos into one. Just look and it will all come together :)

Back by Popular Demand.. Hands!

2011-09-05T15:52:00.008-04:00

First came the contour line drawing. You know, the obligatory contour line drawing of a hand that every art teacher has every art student draw.. because it's the law... and i didn't want to be arrested.

Next, as a sketchbook assignment, I asked each student to turn their contour hand drawing into an animal.

Then, I wasn't going to have them paint their hands but someone in class stalked the FaceBook site and saw we painted hands last year so....

Cassette Art

2011-09-02T09:25:00.008-04:00

We created line drawings using old technology.. in this case cassette tapes.

We started out by creating line drawings in our sketchbooks.

We then transferred the sketches to illustration board.

We used white glue to hold down the tape and toothpicks to spread the glue.

A surprising number of our artists had never seen cassette tape before.

They didn't really understand how to get the tape out of the cassette.

Observational Drawings

2011-08-30T15:28:00.009-04:00

Let's play, Guess What's In The Bucket?

If you guessed frogs, you were correct! Good for you!

Today in class we drew animals from observation. We set up 5 stations and each station had a different life form to draw.

There were bugs...

..and shells...

.. and leaves..

and turtles.

The artists had two, five minute sessions.. the first to create a contour line drawing, the second to create a blind contour line drawing.

After the 2 sessions, the artists moved to the next station.

to draw some more.

Day One Project

2011-08-25T16:25:00.006-04:00

Opposites using plastic bags

In teams students had one class period to create a work of art using non-traditional materials. Their artwork had to represent a topic that they were given.

Broken using cereal and popcorn

How they created the art, what they created and where they created it was totally up to their group to decide.

The students were allowed to use any other art materials in the room to help with their project but the main focus of the artwork had to be on the non-traditional materials.

The materials were: plastic bags, cups, newspaper, cereal, post it notes or scantrons

The topics were: broken, grow, season, opposites, caged and shocking

Grow using scantons

If you look through the cards you can see the letters G,R,O,W

Shocking using newspaper

Season using cups

Shocking using cereal and popcorn

Grow using plastic bags

What's Going On Apex Summer 2011?

2011-07-20T21:42:00.004-04:00

Here's a quick look at what some of the Apex HS Art students are up to this summer...

Chris, Computer Art student, spent several weeks working on this banner. In fact, he skipped a few other projects in order to keep working on it. The banner was designed for Chris' favorite YouTube channel, a daily diary called Shaytards.

Chris hoped that at least the banner would be looked at , maybe commented on. Well, they did one better. They decided to use his banner on their YouTube page. Check it out --> http://www.youtube.com/SHAYTARDS

Sydney, Art History student, has become the first intern to work for the NC Museum of Art! How very exciting!

Sydney also went to Italy for the summer. She saw the Pieta, The David, and even the Peggy Guggenheim collection... So what art work did she tag me in? A photo of street artist André, know for his distinctive stick figure character. I thought that was pretty cool.

Last but not least, Apex HS graduate and former Art One student, Mark entered his self portrait in the North Carolina Museum of Art special juried exhibition Self, Observed. The exhibition celebrates the exploration of identity that occupied Rembrandt van Rijn throughout his life. We wish him well!

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Art-On-The-Move

2011-07-08T09:36:00.001-04:00

The new Art On the Move bus is out and rolling down the streets of Raleigh. The streets of Raleigh are the perfect place for it too cause that's what we wrote about for the background.

The bus contains sentences written by students that include the names of streets. They looked at a map of Raleigh, found a street and wrote a sentence that incorporated the name of the street.

Some examples of their sentences include:

I want world Peace Street.
When I get nervous I Pace Street.
Baby you can drive my Carr Street.

My Posse

2011-06-28T19:58:00.011-04:00

What's So Good About a PLN?

PLN is all the buzz in school speak. The basic concept is simple. Teachers working together to write common lesson plans. My PLN goes beyond my school and the basic concept. My PLN helps create incredible ideas for art projects.

Today, I went to my classroom to start planning ideas for next fall. I opened up my email box and looked at all the ideas I emailed myself based on ideas I stole... I mean received as tweets from my PLN. Here are just a few...

Side note: I'll try to give credit where credit is due but hope you can forgive me because there are so many great ideas, I forget where they all come from.

This is a lesson created by @Tiedemania an elementary art teacher from Jersey of all places.

I always do a unit on animation with my Art One students. What's I'd like to do is have them capture the movement of many drawings in chalk and then create a stopmotion animation of those drawings. How cool would that be?

I don't remember who posted this but I love the idea of using this as a line project.

In the past I have given my students the assignment: Create art using outdated technology. Somewhere between that idea and this one is a project I'll do next fall. The tweet was Amazing Cassette Tape Artworks by Erika Simmons.

@kellyrva started folling me on Twitter so I decided to stalk her blog. I love this assignment. It's one of those, "Why didn't I think of that!" ideas.

We always do a unit on perspective and we draw buildings... always buildings.

Games! What a refreshing idea. Will certainly be stealing.. I mean borrowing this project.

Again, not sure who originally posted it but balloon art... are you kidding me?

Here at Apex HS Art we are no stranger to balloons. We made a 40' by 46' mosaic of the Mona Lisa out of balloons.

In the past, I've given balloon sculpture as a project but it was usually a one day event. Just for fun. This fall I think i'll design a full lesson plan around the concept of balloon art... something big!

So there you have it. A glimpse into the first day of planning for next fall and the ideas generated by my PLN.. if they wanted to or not :)

For more about my Posse click here!

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That Kid Never Follows the Rubrics!

2011-06-04T11:29:00.002-04:00

I read a post this morning on having students create personal success plans.. and it got me pondering how I could incorporate something like this into my art class.

Creating a Personal Success Plan - A Sensible Alternative to Standardized Tests

There is a struggle that occurs in art classes when there is a student who wants to do a project her own way. The art teacher has created a lesson plan with a strict grading rubric and along comes the flighty art student who doesn't want to follow the rules but wants to express herself.

The teacher is bent because the student isn't following the plan. The student is bent because, after all, this is art class and you should be allowed to do whatever you want in art class. So what does the art teacher do?

This is where I think a personal success plan could come in handy. The student could create a plan on day one. This would start a dialog and hopefully uncover the student's interests and possible directions. The plans could be revisited serval time during the year to help continue the discussion.

Then, at the beginning of a new project, the plan could be used to discuss the direction the student wants to take while still keeping her work inside (or at least near) the framework of the rubrics.

ian
@iansands
http://www.zonkeystret.com

The Best of Apex Art 2011

2011-05-31T18:22:00.006-04:00

August:

This year Oakridge Secondary in London, Ontario and Apex High School became sister art schools! We worked on the same sketchbook assignments and even collaborating on projects.

September:

Working in teams, we created the first Apex HS masking tape murals throughout the school.

October:

Forced perspective is a technique that employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther away, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is.

November:

Monalloon from iansands on Vimeo.

What would you do with 190 Art One Students and 1,840 balloons? Make a giant mosaic of the Mona Lisa... of course!

December:

Computer Art class took this box for a walkcycle.

January:

First ever Art History Toss and Remix from iansands on Vimeo.

February:

Shake that can of spay paint and create some art.

March:

Not only did School Arts Magazine publish our post-it note art story... we made the front cover!

April:

Another first, Apex Art tries Gyotaku (Japanese 魚拓, from gyo "fish" + taku "rubbing") is a traditional form of Japanese fish printing

May:

Turning Bricks into Pixels

June July:

Have a great summer! See you next Year!

Ian Sands
Twitter: @iansands

Shelby and the Whale

2011-05-26T13:19:00.001-04:00

Meet Shelby from iansands on Vimeo.

Final Exam Blog Section

2011-05-26T10:00:00.001-04:00

“Recognizing that this may be the last art class my students will ever take, what do they need to know in order to begin a lifelong engagement with art?” ~Olivia Gude

Taking this quote into consideration, write a blog post that answers the following:

1. Which project do you feel you learned, grew or developed the most from? Explain why and post images of that project.

2. Which project do you feel will be the most relevant in your life? Explain why and post photos of that project.

3. Which project had the least value? Explain why and post photos of that project.

Painting
http://www.mediafire.com/?c4nb44m7xcv65

Pastel Murals
http://www.mediafire.com/?c8l7cz1fje4dc

Tetris in Cups

2011-05-24T14:03:00.002-04:00

Cup Tetris from Daniel Ghan on Vimeo.

Guess What Happens Next?? Part 1

2011-05-24T09:08:00.007-04:00

So I took Ms. Bate's Art One class to the computer lab today and gave the a quick overview of PhotoShop. After learning a few techniques, they were given the following assingment.. Guess What Happens Next? Here are their responses...

Kite Day

2011-05-19T13:49:00.002-04:00

Today was Art History Kite Flying Day!

To be honest, they might have flown well if only there had been some wind. 5 miles an hour winds out of the NW didn't really cut it. However, the kites look really good-->

Art On The Move Bus

2011-05-19T13:31:00.006-04:00

Computer Art Showcase #4

2011-05-04T14:25:00.005-04:00

Griffin from Abby Davies on Vimeo.

Cup Pong from Daniel Ghan on Vimeo.

Turning Bricks into Pixels

2011-05-02T11:54:00.008-04:00

After creating Post It Notes pixel like murals and using balloons to recreate the Mona Lisa, what could be next for Apex High School students? How about turning bricks into pixels?

Using PhotoShop, artist teams created roadmaps that helped determine what color to make each brick. The bricks were then colored one by one till the wall was completed.

The height of the wall was the biggest obstacle. Each mural could only be 32 bricks, or pixels, high. The challenge was to keep the image recognizable using so few pixels.

See more photos here

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Apex Art Student Show @ the Halle

2011-04-29T20:20:00.002-04:00

Pastel Murals: Part 1

2011-04-28T10:58:00.006-04:00

If you think about it, bricks are just fat pixels...

The plan...

Checking the map...

Brushing the pastels...

More murals coming soon!

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Cupmation Test

2011-04-27T21:28:00.001-04:00

Art History Putt Putt

2011-04-14T16:38:00.004-04:00

We set up an Art History Putt Putt course in the courtyard today.....

Banksy

Warhol

Gracie Zenz

Munch

Lautrec

Gyotaku

2011-04-14T16:34:00.003-04:00

Gyotaku (Japanese 魚拓, from gyo "fish" + taku "rubbing") is a traditional form of Japanese fish printing

Light Painting Animation

2011-04-05T11:13:00.003-04:00

Light Painting Part 1

2011-03-31T11:34:00.006-04:00

Today we are attempting something new with light painting. We are not only creating light paintings but we are going to attempt to create short, stop motion light painting animations.

I.e. the following three light paintings are for an animation of a rocket launching into space...

Today, we took the photos. Check back next week to see how the animations come along.

Gesture Drawing to Expressive Painting

2011-03-27T11:55:00.006-04:00

The photos below were taken at the halfway mark of this project. We started a lesson in figure drawing, proportion and in particular, gesture drawing.

Our first gesture drawings were charcoal on newsprint. Later we hung paper around the room and drew with markers.

From there we took a look at the paintings of German Expressionists and the tie ins between gesture drawing and expressionist paintings.

We went back to the hung paper several times. First, to create gesture drawings using only black paint. Then later, adding one expressive color to those gestures.

Later we did an expressive painting using only white paint, right over the previous paintings.

For the last part of the wall painting we reviewed Entartete Kunst "Degenerate Art". The final stage was to go back and respond in any way they wanted to.

for the final piece each student will select his or her favorite part of the wall, remove the piece and matt it. They will add a written description about the project and why they selected their chosen area.

Localized Perspective the Video

2011-03-24T22:00:00.003-04:00

Computer Art Showcase #3

2011-03-24T13:57:00.005-04:00

Hot Off The Presses

2011-03-21T12:49:00.005-04:00

This weekend I, along with more than 2,000 other art teachers, visited Seattle for the 2011 National Arts Educator Conference.

At the entrance to the exhibition hall was the SchoolArts booth. They were giving away copies of the April edition which just so happens to have Apex HS Art on the cover.

The booth looked fantastic with your art spread across the tables.

Localized Perspective 2

2011-03-17T11:10:00.007-04:00

Localized Perspective

2011-03-16T10:50:00.005-04:00

The concept behind Localized Perspective is simple. You can see the image from only one view point or perspective. If you are viewing the image from any other perspective the image will look distorted and random.

Above, a group of Apex Artists creates the words "M@ke Art". From the correct angle it is easy to read, but move slightly off center and it becomes a bunch of strange shapes.

These artists are using three walls to create a paw print.

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Each group drew the object they wanted to create on the wall by looking through a view finder. One artist would give directions while the others would place tape on the wall.

The final step is to fill in the spaces using either cut paper or sidewalk chalk.

These pieces are in the works. check back soon for the completed artwork!

Computer Art Showcase #2

2011-03-11T15:37:00.006-05:00

A showcase of works by the Computer Artists. You can view more of their work by viewing their blogs, right side menu...

Fun Photography Tricks

2011-03-09T10:57:00.006-05:00

Today, we went out of the classroom to create some fun forced perspective photography tricks.

School Arts Magazine

2011-03-07T19:20:00.002-05:00

Not only did School Arts Magazine publish our post-it note art story... we made the front cover!

To celebrate this event, here is the release of a time-lapse video titled, Apex HS Post It Mural Project

Apex HS Post It Mural Project from iansands on Vimeo.

Apex High School students created this mural of John Lennon using Post-its. This project took about a week to create but you can watch the entire process here in only minutes.