Drawing - Figure Sketching

Students warmed up their drawing skills recently by trying their hand at some figure drawing.  After testing out different graphite drawing pencils, they took turns modeling for each other while I provided directions and gave pointers.

Students were reminded to look at their subject frequently.

  For example, for some drawings, students had several minutes to complete the drawing and were encouraged to include a lot of details.  Others, however, were speedy sketches with only a few seconds to get down the essence of the figure they were trying to capture.  

 












Students were not given erasers, so they were forced to turn mistakes into "happy accidents."  It became a fun game to see what kinds of poses the models could hold and how fast the artists could sketch it!

Fimo Creations

Time to sculpt and mold with Fimo and Sculpey clay!  Fimo and Sculpey are both brightly colored polymer clays that come in tiny blocks.  Art Club students dug into another art teacher's collection of clays when we were looking for something fun to do.  (Thank you Mrs. Arris!)

 













Students warmed the clay by working it with their hands until it was pliable, then shaped it into various forms for their creations.  They even borrowed Mrs. Arris' pasta press to experiment with creating layers and blended stripes for flat layers.

A student made these disks by layering different colors of clay
and pressing them in a pasta maker, then spraying them with
clear finishing spray.  Earring wires were then attached.

Polymer clays can be used to make decorative items, functional things, or jewelry.  It does not require any firing in a kiln, in fact, it is baked in a regular oven at low temperatures.  To get the gloss you see here, spray finished pieces with clear spray paint or fixative.

Felt Flower Pins

I love to have what I call "visiting artists" come to Art Club and do a demonstration or teach the club a new skill.  I feel that this is important to do from time to time to show students not only different kinds of art, but it is a great way to showcase the skills of other teachers in the school or people in the community.  

For this project, one of our very talented and crafty history teachers, Miss Rush, demonstrated how to make flower pins out of felt.  She lead students through the project step-by-step, and when they were finished, the students sold the pins to raise funds for new supplies.  Thank you Miss Rush! 

Even the boys had fun!

   

Making Buttons

One of the first projects this year was creating pin-on buttons.  Students drew whatever they were personally interested in using pencils and colored pencils.  They then used their drawings and a heavy, metal button maker to press their buttons together to make wearable art!

Designing the Art Club Bulletin Board

To start the year off, new art club members designed the art club bulletin board that gets updated throughout the year with their work.  With an eye towards the fall foliage and encouraging more new members, they put up a tree with a leaves they created. 

I'm so excited you're here!!!

Welcome to my very first posting on my very first blog!  My motivation for putting this blog out there into the wide, wide world o' web is to first, learn how to do it, and second, to share all of the ups and downs and cool projects of my high school art club.  So fans of art, listen up!

I work at a high school in Maine, where I am an educational technician by day and an art club advisor by night (or, really, late afternoon.)  I am, in actuality, a K-12 certified art teacher and the subject of this blog, my art club, is a lifeline to my true passion: teaching students and making art.

In the not too distant future, look for posts on the adventures we have in art club, pictures of my students' work, and even how-to tutorials and lesson plans for our projects.  

May you have a colorful day!!!
-Mrs. C