Finishing Up for the Term

I have mixed feelings about this time of year. I am excited that we are half way through the school year and that my students have grown so much in such a short time, but I am sad that our time together is over. 

As a part of our final exams today, I had students answer questions about concepts they learned over the semester, create a video reflection, and make a piece of work that represents what they learned and know. 

Below are some of the images created by students that reflect on their learning from the semester:

Corrinne: In art class this year, I have learned SO MUCH! It was such a big change (in a good way) from what we did in previous art classes by far, and I just learned so many new skills because of that. First of all, I learned about how to properly mix colors (with a white colored pencil), so I used that skill with the bird. Then, I learned a bit of perspective which I used for drawing the house and some of the ground. Also, something very simple, but very important that I learned was how to properly draw mountains and trees which I showed in this piece. One last thing that I thought if in this work is a meaning or story in your work. I never knew how important it was to tell a story or have a meaning in your work. So in this piece, The bird is looking down from a high perch down to the semi-empty beach and the abandoned island, he may be thinking of going down there. Then, the lonely sunburned man on the beach scared everyone away because he was so red! I learned so much more than just these techniques and I am looking forward to learning more next semester.

Damien: In this piece of art I used pencils to create a shading effect with a bunch of things in the art. I used rule of thirds with the hill, the two trees near the top and a bit of the weeping willow. This art in my opinion is no more than a sketch, but I think that if I had the time it would be really fun to finish this piece. I've learned a lot about art since the beginning of the year. I tried to include everything I learned into this one artwork, and I think it isn't that bad.

Mwansa: I learned this year that every art piece you make should have meaning. So for this work, I remembered that my dad sometimes feels like he left a part of him back in Zambia, and so In this work I portrayed the plane leaving, but my dad is still in the airport.

Josh: 2 things I learned this year or improved in is the way I place my objects in an art piece and shading. In this piece, I used the rule of thirds for placing the center of these knots, which previously I used very rarely. For the shading, I placed shadows under the knots to make it seem as if it is a 3D image popping out, and also added some shading to the center to seem as if the light source is coming from the left side.

Alexis: In this art piece, I made a water color and sharpie drawing of what i've learned this year in art. In my drawing, I drew a hand, a jar of paint, glue, pastels, pencils, tape, and scissors. However, I added a twist with my drawings. instead of drawing a realistic picture, I added wings and crazy designs on everything. In this piece, I made all of these for a reason, and it is because of what I've learned. In art this year, I learned primary colors, secondary colors and complementary colors, so I used water color in my art and I used many colors to represent how much I learned. I then added a twist to my art by adding some abstract things, because this year I learned about surrealism and abstract art and I wanted to incorporate a little of this into my art. Also, this year, I learned how to put meaning into my art and I think this was the most important thing I have learned.

Sarah: I created this piece with water color pencils because i wanted to showcase how i have learned to use water color, however i didn't get to do as much as i want with it. I also blended other warm colors to show what i have learned about color. I would've used sponges and salt, and added water, but i didn't work fast enough to have time for that. I still think i had a pretty cool idea though. I decided to make the word Art as a tree because i wanted to illustrate how i have grown as an artist, and how i will continue to grow. For example, the unhatched eggs show that i have a lot left to learn about art, and the small amount of leaves show that the tree is still growing as i am in skill.

Eli: Over the past few months in art class, we have learned many things. The thing I tried to focus on was with pencil drawing and using a water color blowing technique. I created an image of two eyes that had shading and other techniques. I then took watercolor paint and added it to the image. I used cool colors for the foreground image and warm colors for the background image. I did this so that they contrasted each other.

Because Monday is a fresh start with a new batch of kids, I spent some of my time this week organizing my classroom and getting ready for that new crew!

I will post pictures shortly. I especially want to thank Cassie Stephens for getting me in an organizational mode so my students and I can better maximize our learning time in the classroom!