gumballs.

Today I had the pleasure of meeting with Ms. Smart's k-1 combo class again. They're a group that has interesting personality and good focus. I meet with them in my kindergarten rotation, but I gear the lessons to 1st grade standards.

I did a lesson that revisited the use light and dark to create volume. We created cylinders and spheres with line, shape, and value.

I was looking for something that would be a little fun and I turned to Mr. Thiebaud. Wayne Thiebaud, he of the paintings of pies, cakes, ice cream, and gumballs.

We looked at this one and I talked about Wayne's use of light and dark to make the painting look so real.

After this we did a directed drawing to create the cylinder and sphere. We added smaller circles to the inside. Some wanted their machines full, and some wanted them to look like pieces were already eaten.

I demonstrated hard and soft on a few gumballs to show how to make light and shadow and they were off...

We then added value to the cylinder and table.

The kids did a great job altering hand pressure to make light and dark colors. This is such a difficult skill to master and they rocked it!

martha and me.

I have to hand it to Martha Stewart and her merry band of craftsters because they do come up with some pretty cool stuff.

I found this one online from one of their wedding magazines. Simple cut and folded backdrop that creates a striking visual field of color, light, and shadow. Those of you who follow this blog know how much I love this kind of decorative work. Since our school is so big, when I do these projects with a grade level it means I have 9 or 10 class sets to display. I love to see them all together!

I did this with the kinders this week. It worked well with their art standards- cutting paper to create a 3d work of art. We added an element of pattern to ours. Each of the kids contributed an 8 X 8" square to the larger classroom work of art.

Students got practice folding and we revisited different types of geometric shapes. Folding the small squares on the diagonal was tricky for some, but overall, the kids did a great job with it.

surfing with jolby.

The design duo of Josh Kenyon and Colby Nichols, aka Jolby, recently had a show of new work in San Diego. Lots of cool designs and paintings filled the walls of Subtext Gallery.

I did a project based on a couple of their works last year and was looking forward to doing a couple more this year. I love the playfulness of their designs as well as the intricate patterning that fills up many a shape in their images. The kids enjoy Jolby's work a lot because may of their images are silly. Not all art has to be serious...

The 3rd graders and I checked out a few images from Jolby's website, specifically from the section devoted to the show they had at Subtext. We discussed the use of contour lines and patterns in Jolby designs.

In the end we focused on a painting titled "Ride the Weird". Cool pic to focus on anywhere, but especially here in San Diego because we have got some of the best surf around! (Not that I know this from direct experience, mind you, because I have a "little" fear of the mighty big blue:)

Next to this image on their site Colby offered this interesting background about the image-

“When Josh and I sit down to create our first step is brainstorming and most of the time those ideas start out pretty strange. ‘Ride the Weird’ is an expression we have for when one of us comes up with a strange idea, but then we ‘ride it out’ to see where it goes instead of squashing it and moving on.”

I loved this.

In that design we noticed that motion is implied through the position of the wave and through the wavy shapes of the surfer's arms. Take that, 3rd grade art standard!

I informed the class that we would be using styrofoam plates to create relief prints based on this design. One of the things you can not do when drawing on styrofoam is erase, so I told the class that if they made a mistake or something didn't look right they would have to "ride the weird" and see where that misstep took them.

We drew the design directly onto the styrofoam. Contour lines first followed by patterns. Then we added color with washable markers. Once that was done, I misted paper wet and the students and I transfered their marker images to the damp paper with hand pressure.

If an image came out too light, students could go back in with marker to define those shapes more.

After students printed they were required to do a compare and contrast exercise with their image and the original one that Jolby created. Take that ELA standards!

Great job 3rd graders and great job Jolby for continuing to put together super fun work!

the slip. the pink one.

Stay positive young (er, middle aged) man...

Our school board met last night to vote on sending out preliminary layoff notices to over 1600 teachers due to a major budget deficit. They voted 5-0 to send those pink slips out by March 15. They get "finalized" 2 months after that.

Ugh.

Last year I was fortunate enough to not receive one, but I'm pretty darn certain that I'm getting one this year. Looking over specifics, there are 20 art positions being cut. Only 20, but that is double the number from last year, and there just aren't many of us left in the district, even one that has close to 10,000 educators.

It's hard to stay even keeled, let alone positive about the situation for myself and all the other younger educators going through this same thing.

I love my job. I love sharing the language of visual art with children and seeing what they do with it, how they develop a unique voice through their use of line, shape, and color. Not only do I love doing it, but I'm pretty darn good at it.

The rich and varied art program we have built up at my site could be effectively wiped out next year due to the drastic budget cuts heading our way.

Stay positive...

It's SO HARD on days like today.

all star artist

The all star boy for the month of February is Keoni Saberon, who is a 4th grader in Ms. Wagner and Ms. Miller's class.

Keoni does a great job in the art room every time his class comes in for a lesson. He is focused on the task at hand, and goes about his creative work in a very professional manner. One of the exceptional things I have noticed about Keoni's work this year is his great use of light and dark to make flat shapes come alive and appear 3d.

Keoni was kind enough to share his thoughts about art and life with me, and in turn, you:)

What do you like most about making art?
I like making creative art because I can make anything I want.

Is there a media (paint, crayon, collage, etc.) that you enjoy most? Why?
I like to paint because I get to draw a picture and make it stand out.

Is there a cartoon or animated movie that when you watch it, you think "wow, that just looks so cool"? What do you like about it?
I like to draw Phineas and Ferb because they create different ideas like me.


I know what you mean Keoni. My son and I LOVE Phineas and Ferb because they are so inventive.

Are there any people that inspire you to make the art you do?
Yes, Mr. Masse inspires me.


Thanks dude, that's really cool to hear, especially from such a talented artist like yourself.

Out of the art pieces you have made, which is your favorite and why.
My favorite art piece is the one that we used the construction paper crayons on because it was put on display at the San Diego Art Institute.

Keoni was one of 35 students to have work displayed at the museum in Balboa Park this year as part of our annual student exhibit there!

What do you want to be when you grow up? Why?
I want to be a firefighter because if there is a fire I would put it out and rescue people.


Very noble of you, Keoni. Firefighters do so many different things to help people in need. If you put your mind to it, I'm sure you will be a great firefighter and role model to others. As of now, you are a great role model of creativity and on task behavior in the art room.

Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions and congratulations Keoni!


This is part of a series of twice monthly posts that features the work and words of one of our many talented student artists at Zamorano Fine Arts Academy. To be selected, students must be models of respect, engagement, and creativity in the art room. A boy and a girl will be showcased each month.

happy birthday!

Today is the birthday of two special guys. My super cool boy, who turns 6 today, and Dr. Seuss.

Woo hoo!

Time to bust out one of my Dr. Seuss favorites for the kids at school, the Lorax. I'll do a "theatrical" reading of it and then we will do a drawing afterwards.

Now, I have a question for you. Who has the bushiest mustache?

I'll post pics of the lesson later:)

5th grade Pearls.

I did a project inspired by the topiaries of Pearl Fryar a couple weeks back with my 2nd graders and the drawings came out pretty cool. I decided to try the same project with one class of 5th graders, so I could see the project done with a bit more refinement. Below are some of the dynamite projects that Ms. Bazan's class completed.