Still-Life Unit ends and Pop Art Unit Begins for 7th Grade

This week students put their final touches on their realistic still-life drawings.

Students created a variety of compositions using both geometric solids as well as fruits,vegetables,and other household objects made of diverse textures and materials.

Also, this week we began a major unit on Pop Art and the use of a grid in layout and design.
For our art history unit we have studied the work of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein who were two very important Pop artists of the Modern Period of art history.

Students will be creating a blow-up or enlargement of a small comic and will transpose the image on to a much larger scale in the style of the Pop art movement of the l960's.

Students are learning about type,guidelines,lettering styles, and composition formats as they transpose their comic into a Pop Art work of art.

Still-Life unit coming to a close soon and Pop Art Unit begins this week

This week the 7th grade artists continued with their still-life drawings and their study of realism,in additon to light and shadow.

For our art history unit students have studied the work of three Post Impressionists who worked with value and color in their work. We have explored the interesting life and artwork of Paul Cezanne,Paul Seurat,and Vincent Van Gogh who worked during the 19th -20th century in France.

Also, near the end of this week we have begun a unit on Pop Art and the relationship to the comic and comic strip in advertising. Students will be transposing small full-color comics into large blow-up images much like the work of Pop artist Andy Warhol and the Pop artist named Roy Lichtenstein of the l960s.

Still-Life Compositions come to life and artist Caravaggio

This week the 7th grade is working on their shading techniques on their Still- Life compositions.

Students are selecting still life objects to draw or working from a still-life set-up in the art room. Each student is using a full range of values from black to pale gray to enhance their work.

Students have explored the concept of both "additive drawing" and "subtractive drawing." In addition, students have been using various erasers to practice the subtractive technique of drawing to create both sharp and soft highlights on their objects. Also, students are starting to show texture or surface quality of the objects in their still-life.

We are also studying the life and work of the famous Italian Baroque artist named Caravaggio from the 17th-18th century who as a master of dramatic lighting,deep shadows and compositions that emotionally involve the viewer in the work.

This week the 7th grade will practice and review pastel shading techniques that can be used in renderings or still-life drawings as well.

Still-Life and Realism unit continues

This week students continued to work on their still-life layouts and finished drawings. Students have been using various shading techniques and have incorported the concept of overlap and linear perspective in their work.

The 7th grade artists have practiced shading geometric forms with several gradations in value.
Students have also used the elements of line,shape,form,space and texture in their artistic compositions. Also, in conjunction with this unit on realism and value we have explored the life and work of the 20th century American artist named Norman Rockwell. He is best known for his realistic illustrations and covers for The Saturday Evening Post. He frequently created compositions with props and photographs and incorporated a still-life about everyday life in his work which had universal appeal to his audience.

Still-Life,Color Layering,and special effects in shading

This week the 7th grade artists have reviewed and created a value scale in a color and shades of gray to be used in the creation of a finished still-life drawing. We have also reviewed the basic geometric solids and shapes,in addition to their relationship to blocking in a form for a still-life composition.

Students are drawing from still-life set-ups of wooden geometric solids,everyday objects,and organic forms such as fruits and vegetables. Students also learned the technique of color layering with colored pencils which lends itself to the rendering of still-life organic forms.

Also, the 7th grade artists have studied the life and work of the 17th century Dutch artist known as Rembrandt. This artist was a master of realism plus light and dark in his artwork. Rembrandt also created mood and emotion with his use of "hidden lighting" which had the effect of a spotlight on the subject or focal point of a painting.