Middle School Art-color pencil junk food still lifes.

Every once in awhile, there is a surge to introduce healthy food at your school's canteen...it makes sense on many levels. Ideally we want to raise awareness and advocate for healthy eating and create less waste with packaging. Sadly, the idea falls dead to the will of our school's and perhaps country's cravings for packaged processed synthetic material we stuff into our bellies.

During open house I displayed the junk food drawings, one parent commented that it was cool the kids were drawing food they eat and not "old time-y still lifes of fruits and vegetables!" One of the buzz ideas floating around education is to make teaching relevant to the child's life. Here in Egypt there are little shops selling junk food every few meters...you can't walk far without tripping over boxes of chips stacked outside of one. It is relevant for sure-one only needs to look at the spike in diabetes and other diseases caused by what we subject our bodies to.

High School still life oil paintings

Pulled out the cloth, bought some fruit from right outside the school, gathered paper and pencil and had the students make two timed drawings of the still life. The next step was to transfer one of the images to a larger paper. Only one student in the group had experience using oil paints, for the rest it was a new gig.

I was happy with the results. A lot of challenges presented itself and the kids had to apply some new problem solving skills.

Below is the process and results.

Action photo.

Learning to blend details.

I always advise painting the background first, some kids just don't listen.

I liked that everyone had a different idea for colors.

Teacher example.

 

Grade 8 line drawing with color pencils

A simple project with nice results. Just put a flower with leaves and stem in an old pasta jar, fill it with water and you're ready to go. Have the students add a baseline through the jar and have them observe that it changes when looking at it through glass it water. Make the initial drawing with a pencil on black construction paper then add white lines on top. Add two other colors (generally a complimentary scheme works better than an analogous one) that lay next to each other to give lines and composition energy.

Fruit Still Life Middle School

I was traveling with students so I needed a project that would be stress free for a sub and a fruit still life fit the bill nicely. Prior to my absence we discussed and built upon previous concepts such as overlapping, form, shape, and rendering. I bought the fruit from the produce man down the street from our school. A funny observation is that there was no pineapple or cherries that were purchased but some student decided to include them in their drawings.

  

Color Pencil Skull Drawing

Assignment:

Color pencil skull drawing  

Objectives:

The student will use observational skills to draw a skull/skulls using color pencils. The student will apply color theory concepts and are highly encouraged to experiment with different types of lines. The student will demonstrate principles (unity, harmony, variety, contrast, proportion, and balance) and elements (line, texture, color, form, shape, and value) of art. 

Supplies:

Black paper, Prismacolor pencil, 2 real skulls from the Science department.  

Vocabulary:

observation, arrangement, balance, color, form, proportion, line, 

The Process
Step 1
The skulls will be set up on the table the student will choose the angle they wish to draw. The student will use a white pencil to create the initial line drawing. 
Step 2
After the student has made the  initial drawing they will choose what types of line and color combination they wish to add. Again, they are encouraged to experiment using lines and color combinations. 

Example

Farida's

Merna's

Amina's

Jomana's

Nouca's

Post project essential questions:
What was successful about your project?
What part of the project did you find challenging?
What do skulls and/or skeletons symbolize in the Egyptian society?
Did you feel uneasy sitting at a table with a real skull?

Please answer and e-mail your responses to:bmedina@schutzschool.org.eg

Skeleton Ink Drawing

Assignment:

Draw a section of a skeleton and render it with brush and ink.  

Objectives:

The student will use observational skills to draw a section of the skeleton model. They are to think in the terms of shape and form. The student will use a water base marker to outline then apply a wet brush to render the bones.

The student will demonstrate principles (unity, contrast, proportion, and balance) and elements (line, form, shape, and value) of art. 

Supplies:

Paper, eraser, pencil, skeleton model, water base marker, brush, water 

Vocabulary:

observation, arrangement, balance, color, form, proportion, line, rendering (shading), value (light-medium-dark) 

The Process
Step 1
The skeleton model will be set up on the table in a certain position. The student will choose the section they wish to draw. The student will use a pencil to create the initial line drawing. 

Step 2
The student will use the water based marker to outline the bones. 

Step 3

The final step will be to use a brush and water to dilute the inked lines for shading. NOTE: The more water applied and thiner the line the lighter the value. The less water applied and thicker the line the darker the value. 

Making the initial drawing

Step 2 and 3-adding the lines and rendering with brush and water. I encourage my students to work in sections as not to smear the lines form the marker. 

When I presented the project many felt overwhelmed by the task, but as you can see they are doing just fine.

Farida's ready to add some more lines.Working on a project upside down proved to be an abstract concept for a couple of students.  

Jomana drawing some large ribs.

Example

Nouca's

Amina's

Farida's

Post project essential questions:
What was successful about your project?

What areas of your project could you improve in?

Did you find it difficult controlling the the amount of water applied to the marker lines

What does a skeleton mean to you?

Please answer and e-mail your responses to:bmedina@schutzschool.org.eg

Apple Painting with Tempera Paints

Assignment:

You will be making two enlarged detailed drawings of popcorn.  

Objectives:

The student will use observational skills and learn to render objects with tempera paints. The student will learn to mix certain combinations of colors to make brown, darker values, and lighter values of colors.
The student will demonstrate principles (unity, harmony, variety, contrast, proportion, and balance) and elements (line, texture, color, form, shape, and value) of art. 

Supplies:

Paper, eraser, pencil, apples (green and red), tempera paints, pallet, brushes, water 

Vocabulary:

observation, arrangement, balance, color, form, proportion, line, rendering (shading), value (light-medium-dark), cast shadow, highlights, mid-tones, tints, shades, mixing 

The Process
Step 1
Take one or two apples and cut them into quarter, half, and three-quarter wedges. Arrange the cut apple pieces along with a whole apple and knife on the table. The student will use a pencil to sketch the arrangement.
Step 2
After the student has drawn the initial arrangement they will pour red, yellow, orange, blue, green, and white on to a pallet. The student will paint the background and the cast shadows first. 
a. The background will be a mixture of white/orange/blue and the cast shadows will have more blue added. 
b. The inside of the apple will be a mixture of white/yellow/blue/orange. 
c. The skin of the apple will be a mixture of red/orange/yellow/green. 
d. The blade of the knife will be a mixture of white/blue.
e. The handle of the knife will be a mixture of red/yellow/blue to make brown.   

Examples form the Internet:

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Student Work: 

Merna

Farida

Ahmed

Amina

Post project essential questions:

What was successful about your project?

What areas of your project could you improve in?

Did you find it difficult to mix colors together to make brown or gray without using a pre-mixed brown or black?

Between classes what eventually became of the apple physically?

Please answer and e-mail your responses to:bmedina@schutzschool.org.eg