still life drawing and painting– end of semester assignments

Still life chalk pastel drawings created by 6th graders.. all drawn from observation.  Insect watercolor/acrylic paintings created by 8th graders..drawn from plastic insect models from observation.

finished fiber projects

finished toilet paper food sculptures

collaged self portraits: 6th, 7th, and 8th graders

finished clay animals- 6th grade

VSA arts of Kentucky entries

The artworks below were selected from Ms. Neumayer’s classes to participate in the state-wide VSA arts of Kentucky contest.  Congratulations!

6th grade paper mache masks

This is one of my favorite lessons to teach, and is generally one of the lessons that former students tell me was one of their favorite projects they did in art class all semester.  We start off viewing “Masks from Many Cultures” an excellent video which touches on masks made by all cultures.  Next students receive a premade paper mache mask form, and are required to alter the masks’ form in at least two ways by adding to it with cardboard or newspaper forms.  Next, students add five layers of paper mache to the form in order to make it smooth and sturdy (demonstrating excellent craftsmanship!) Next, students come up with a plan to paint their forms and a plan for embellishing the forms with other items.. Then, students carefully paint the mask.  Finally, hot glue is used to embellish the mask with items such as beads, fake hair, fake fur, feathers, etc.  It really is a lot of fun!

All of the finished masks in the photos below were modeled by my super awesome 6th period aide, Malcolm!!

8th grade sculptures in the style of claes oldenburg

8th grade students studied the larger than life sculptural installations of artist Claes Oldenburg. Many of Oldenburg’s sculptures were replicas of mass produced, ordinary objects from consumer culture. Many of the sculptures he made were as tall as buildings! Students chose an everyday household item and were to enlarge it 5 times larger (or more) than the actual item. Students first constructed the armature from cardboard, then added layers of paper mache to their sculptures. Eventually, the sculptures were painted and other embellishments were added if necessary. Finally, the sculptures were displayed in a common area– the school library.

pointillism landscapes

8th graders created landscapes in the style of pointillists like Seurat using tempera paint and qtips:

Chinese silk painting

Students in the advanced 7th grade class studied the tradition of silk painting in China and learned to use gutta (resist) and paint with dye onto silk circles to create artwork that has a look similar to stained glass.  The theme of the students’ silk paintings was supposed to be inspired by nature, as most Chinese silk paintings were.