How to draw hands

 

 

There are parts of the figure that are know to be trouble for most people to draw. Hands being one of them. Sometimes I'll have the figure I'm drawing put their hands in their pockets just to avoid having to draw them. So I know the best way to fight this is to practice. The 8th grade watched a video and followed along to draw two styles of hands. It starts by breaking it down into shapes then gradually add details. The video is online here .

Modern sculpture

The second graders made their own custom modern abstract sculpture. I'm not sure what was more fun for them, painting or building the sculpture. The great thing about this is that it can be changed anytime into a different looking sculpture.

Leaf sculpture

 

The 6th grade asked if they could do something to bring home for Thanksgiving. So for this lesson they picked either a maple or an oak leaf shape and cut it out of cardboard. Then they added the veins of the leaf with yarn to add dimension. Next paper towels where paper mached on the whole thing. Once it was dry the student painted it in fall colors. Each leaf was dried in a bowl so it's bowed and could be used to hold objects.

Snakes on a tree branch

 

I had a drawing lesson for the 4th grade class on how to draw a snake on a branch. The focus of the lesson was how to make the snake look like it is twisted around by erasing the parts of the snake and tree to make it look correct. It also teaches the student how to critique their own work and know when they have it right.

Kandinsky Cirlcles

 

The 2nd grade class used oil pastels to make their own version of Wassily Kandinsky circles.

Patterns on a tepee

 

The K2 class got a lesson on following my direction on making various patters of lines

on craft paper. Then they used their cutting skills to make it into a tepee.

After they then made a whole scene with cactus and puffy clouds for the bulletin board.

Mosaic sunflowers

Influenced by Van Gogh Sunflowers the 3rd and 4th graders made mini mosaics made

from colorful pieces of cardboard. The cardboard tiles are from a recycling center

that were colored with paint. From far away they look like ceramic tiles.

Canoes

 

With Thanksgiving coming the 1st grade talked about the Native Americans and how

they would hollow out trees to make canoes. I added that they could view a real "tree

canoe" at the Tufts Library.

Using paper towel tubes the students made their own

canoes and add a passenger. Once they were dry they made a whole scene with a river

and a forest. 

Artist of the Month

 

 

I would like to share this great dragon drawing by John McGovern in the 7th grade.

Scratch Board

 

 

This is a new technique for the art class. The 6th and 7th grade got to give scratch board a try.

Each student got a real feather as reference and a piece of scratch board. It's a thick paper covered with a layer of black ink. When you use a shard tool you can scratch away the black and reveal white. It's drawing in reverse and can be challenging to do. I think the class did quite well with the project. At the time they might not agree, but I bet when they see how they look on display they will be pleased. I think it will be worth giving scratch board another try in the future.

Pop Art Sneakers

 

This is a favorite project for the students. The 7th grade students first did a pencil rough of their sneaker. Then finishing by making a "contour" drawing using black maker.

Next they got inspiration from the shoe to make an interesting graphic pattern for the background.

That was created with paint using only shades of black, grey and white.

Collaborative Circles

Each 5th grader got a quarter of a circle to design with markers.

Once done each quarter is fit together to form an interesting circle pattern.

Big Eyes Mask

The K2 class was in the Halloween spirit when they made these crazy big eyed mask. Notice that they made them the same color of their real eyes. They got to work on painting and cutting skills too.

100 years of Sacred Heart School project

The 5th grade have been working on this large scale "stain glass window" with 100 Sacred Heart School logos. It will be quite impressive when it's done.