Shadow Art

Did your teacher ever give you a box of junk and a strong light source and tell you to make some art? I'm sure he or she did. It happens all the time. In fact, it happened today in Sands Art One class. Here are the results...

They create a giant monster and...

The monster is looming over a small child's bed. Scary!

I like this tree. it is part of...

This recreation of the movie poster for E.T.

Cool how the bottles taped together make ET and the boy on the bike.

They are making an amusement park including..

A rollercoaster and a ferris wheel.

This bird is flying in the sky of clouds.

Working on a water scene.

We didn't start the fire. Incorporating a little Photoshop and projecting it on the wall.

A B movie about a guy walking a plank...

Aliens abducting an innocent victim.

Space, the final frontier... and the final shadow art of the day.



Digital Grading : SchoolArts Magazine : Blogging

Today, the Art One classes spent the day in the computer lab creating thieir blogs. Students use these blogs to post images of their work, to write about their progress, and to comment on other student's art.

I use these blogs to grade...

Yes, that's right. I grade digitally. No more stacks of artwork or piles of paintings. 

I could tell you all about it but while we were in the computer lab, setting up our blogs, a funny thing happened. I received an email from Schoolarts Magazine. The October issue is out.. and guess what?

There is an article in it by me! And not just any article but one about... wait for it... digital grading!

What great timing!

So check out the article! Here is a link! -->
http://www.schoolartsdigital.com/schoolarts/201210#pg17

Moss Graffiti : Part One

Ill! A big bucket of gross, nasty moss! What can we do with that? Well, moss graffiti, of course!

Creating moss graffiti starts off with the right ingredients. Buttermilk, a little sugar, corn syrup and of course, moss. We mixed all that together in the blender and filled our cups with moss paint. Then we hit the streets..

Actually, we hit the long, cinderblock wall that is protected from the sun most of the day by the other buildings. The lack of direct sun and the amount of humidity in the NC summer air should be the perfect environment for our moss to grow.

Everyone got a cup and a brush and created graffiti on the wall. Now we'll just have to sit back and wait to see if it grows. Stay tuned!

Below is a Prezi we watched in class all about moss grafitti. Check it out!

Moss Graffiti on Prezi

Computer Art : Week One

Frog Tongue tutorial completed by Katelynn

Week one in Computer Art starts with two (rather long and boring) tutorials.. the Frog Tongue (seen above with a horse instead of a frog) and Angry Pancakes (below). 

I didn't create the idea behind either of these tutorials but I did create the tutorials (if that makes sense.) So, if you would like an introduction to the world of Photoshop, feel free to check out the videos (links below). 

Pancake Tutorial completed by Cookie

The Frog Tongue video tutorial can be found here!

The Angry Pancake video tutorial can be located here!

Art History 2013

While you're making those last minute schedule changes, let me ask you one question...

Are You In?

Spray Paint Alternatives

Everyone loves a good stencil but lets be honest, not everyone loves spray paint. So here at the Apex Institute for Spray Paint Alternatives, we are exploring other stencil creating options.

Option One: Sunlight

At the end of last year, we covered a large sheet of black paper with a stencil. Then we hung the paper on the window so the summer sun could shine down on it all day long...

This morning, we took the paper off the wall, removed the stencil and ... behold! Sunlight Stencil! The sun faded the black paper where it was exposed, but kept the dark color where it was covered. On the down side, this took slightly longer to create than spray paint but it was still cool!

Option Two: Birdseed

A bag of top soil, a stencil and some birdseed and you're ready to go. Here you see a frame filled with dirt.

Next, we placed our stencil on top of the top soil. 

We sprinkled birdseed on top of the stencil. Now all we have to do is water and wait.

Stayed Tuned!



Cartoon Skeletons

The first week of Art One we do a lot of observational drawing. One of my favorite assignments is to have everyone draw Chick, the skeleton (see above). They draw her twice. Once at the beginning of the week and once again at the end of the week. I guarantee my students will see a 743% improvement from one to the other.

In order to ensure their success, I believe having them understand the bones of the body is rather helpful. In order to do this, I have each student select a cartoon character and then draw what they believe to be the cartoon's skeletal structure. Here are some of the results....

Drawing Cupcake

Today, in Art One we drew Cupcake. This is Cupcake. She is a snapping turtle and one of several turtles we drew in class today.

 

We set up 5 drawing excursions and the students switched tables every 12 minutes.
When it was time to switch tables we played Switch by Will Smith.
Turn around now...



At table one we drew Cupcake. At table two we drew bugs. Please don't open the cases or the Africanized killer bees will fly out.



Table three had shells and a lobster. Table four had more turtles and table five had pinecones.



One of the drawings of Cupcake and a butterfly.




Drawing the other turtles. These turtles are un-named.




Another sketch of Cupcake.



A shell from table three.



Are we watching Cupcake or is Cupcake watching we?



Stuck at the stinky pinecone table while everyone else is drawing turtles :(

Prang Markers Arrive at Apex

Sands posing with the winning box of Prang markers

Sands entered a lesson plan for the Teaching Palette June Lesson Plan Collaboration and Prang Giveaway and guess what..... it won!