Skeleton in the Classroom

This friendly fellow (seems male to me, don't know why) is part of a still life that is set up for my AP Studio Art Students.  I decided to work alongside the students.

What I re-learned....Sketetons are hard to draw!!

The one on the top is done in watercolor and oil pastel on gessoed backing board and the Smiling Fellow  is done in waterbased oils and oil pastel.

The Eternal Collage

An eternal collage and I think I like it............
This piece (12 x 12 masonite panel) was started at least two years ago. Over time it has gone through several changes some subtle, some drastic.
It started as a demo piece for one of my AP Studio Art classes. I was messin' around with surface textures by using gesso in various ways; along with incorporating fabric and plastic wrap to show ways to build up a surface. From there we began collaging.
There was a point when I absolutely loved this piece, then I decided to make some changes. Ha. It went downhill.
I set it aside for a long while.
Picked it up a few months ago, worked back into it. Kept it around the studio, stared at it.
A few nights ago I added color and pattern. Its brighter than it was and I think I like it.

Portraits

Recently I taught a unit on portraits to my AP Studio Art class. It's fun when I get the chance to work alongside the kids. It's a symbiotic experience, they love to see their teacher create and I love creating with them. These are a few of the sketches I did, they're colored pencil on backing board.


This student is a highly expressive, messy artist. She produces works that use many media and are textural with phenomonal points of view. I envy her compositional sensibility that is incredibly strong.


This student is a lover of poetry,(e.e. cummings) music and LIFE. She looks older than 18 yrs old here. Her hair is thick and curly, and she has a strong beautiful nose. She works in oil pastel and has them mastered. Her concentration portfolio for the AP Exam is all self portrait. I'm intriqued with how she has nailed herSELF. Each piece she does truly speaks of her inner self.


Last we have this lovely student. She loves to paint flowers. She works wonderfully in pastels and she's getting a nice handle on oils. She recently finished a self portrait that is excellent. Below is her hand, she was holding a palette as she was painting a still life.


I hope to attend some portaiture sessions this summer. I want to do more!!