Forced Perspecitve Photography

Perspective changes everything.  I thought it might be fun to try something different this week.  The kids have been working on their realism drawings for the past 2 weeks, I thought we'd try something else. Inspired by Ian Sand's post earlier this year we took a shot at forced perspective.  

I introduced forced perspective photography as art that incorporates an opitcle illusion based on perspecitve.  Students even watched a video on how they used this method in Lord of The Rings. If you'd like to see how they were introduced check them out here. 

What's The Point??

This first Art Two project's principle is Contrast. Each work was to show strong contrast. We also provide a theme as a prompt to help generate ideas. Our first theme is "What's the Point?" Art Two has a third constraint, medium. This first project is limited to charcoal, pen or pencil...

Like I said, this first project is limited to charcoal, pen or pencil... ( unless you can talk Mr Sands into letting you try something else which isn't too hard to do :)

Spock has pointy ear... lol!

SchoolArts Magazine Article : Interactive Murals

 

The digital edition of the SchoolArts Magazine article written by Apex students Sarah Muzzillo and John Michael Santos is now online. The article covers the work of Art One students who filled the courtyard of our school with interactive murals. 

Each mural left an empty spot where someone could pose with the work while their friends snapped some photos. In this way the person taking the photo becomes the artists and the photo becomes the work of art. Mind-blowing, I know!  

Read the article to find out more!!

Below, are a few more pics on the interactive chalk murals...

Check out more Interactive Chalk Murals, click here!

Read the SchoolArts article here!

Pinterest In the Classroom

I (Ms. Sudkamp) have had a Pinterest addiction for quite some time. It is a GREAT resource for inspiration, finding artist, and my favorite: tutorials.  This week the Sculpture/Ceramics class completed their own boards for their next project.  

 Each student had to complete a board on Pinterest based on relief work (their next project).   Each board included inspiration, reference photos, and tutorials. The kids had a blast. Want to see their upcoming project on relief work?  Check it out here! Ha ha, you'll even see my boards for the project.

X-ray Vision!

For this first Computer Art project, students combined three photos and used a few new tricks. The objective was to create a self portrait holding an x-ray frame that reveals their bones. Good thing they had the x-ray because there is something else lodged in there! What is it? Take a look!

To create the X-ray look:

Take photo on a white background

Go to Image/adjustments/invert  

Go to Image/adjustment/Hue Saturation to colorize

The New Art Two

If you read the blog post about the new Art Three class than this post is going to seem rather familiar.  Both posts begin with a Mr. Sands (that's me) epiphany . I realized that, although I could come up with some creative lessons, the way I was teaching art was more about the outcome I wanted to see then what the students wanted to create. With this in mind, the Art Two teachers sat down over the summer and developed the following model for teaching Art Two.

Both Art Two and the Art Three classes now follow a four phase process; Initiation, Design, Production and Presentation.

The initiation phase begins  with a topic and a theme. This project's topic is based on a principle. This first projects principle is Contrast. We also provide a theme as a prompt to help generate ideas. Our first theme is "What's the point?" Unlike Art Three, Art Two has a third constraint, medium. This first project is limited to charcoal, pen or pencil ( unless you can talk Mr Sands into letting you try something else which isn't too hard to do :)

During the design phase, students are tasked with creating a list of 20 items related to there theme. From this list, they design 10 thumbnails of possible art projects. The class also partakes in daily warm-ups where students are encourage to explore the different mediums.

From there, students make their final  decisions about composition and media and get to work on their final piece.

For the final phase, presentation, the students will post their work to their blogs along with their personal reflection of the piece. The actual piece will then be presented to the class on Feel Good Friday where students will write comments for their fellow artists to read later.

The Four Step Process

Well this is different. Mr. Sands (that's me) has moved from Art One and started teaching Art Three. Before putting together the lesson plans for my new found class, I took a long, hard look at how I was teaching. I realized that, although I could come up with some creative lessons, the projects were more about the outcome I wanted to see then what the students wanted to create. I decided to revamp my entire teaching style. Here's what we're doing now.

Each project now follows a four phase process; Initiation, Design, Production and Presentation. During the initiation phase, I present the student's with a topic and a theme. This project's topic is text as an element (check out our Pinterest page for example) and the theme is culture.

Next, during the design phase, the students were tasked with creating a list of 20 items related to culture. From this list, they designed 10 thumbnails of possible art projects. Depending on their design, they selected the medium and based on the medium, they explored techniques they would need to accomplish the project.

 This is where we are today...

Once the design is solid, the student's will be ready to begin creation of their work.

For the final phase, presentation, the students will post their work to their blogs along with their personal reflection of the piece. The actual piece will then be presented to the class on Feel Good Friday where students will write comments for their fellow artists to read later.

Meet Kim Sudkamp

My brother & I

New Art Teacher : Kim Sudkamp

I am from Apex, North Carolina though I did not attend Apex High.  I earned a BFA in Art Education and a BFA in Studio Arts Ceramics at East Carolina University - School of Art and Design. I've taught for a semester in another county, but this will be my first full year of teaching.  I am looking forward to working at Apex High School.  I've heard many wonderful things about the school and I'm so happy to be a part of it.

Sudkamp Art Website

Meet Melissa Purtee

New Art Teacher : Melissa Purtee

I believe that students have great ideas and that they should be able to use them to make art that expresses what they think is important. I was born in Kansas and grew up in Michigan, where I earned a BFA from Kendall College of Art and Design. Shortly after graduating I moved to North Carolina to accept my first teaching job.

This year will be my ninth year teaching and my first year teaching high school. I’m so excited to be a part of the Apex High School Art Department!

Purtee Art One Website