Final Days of Drawing

5/6's ended the year loosely applying Linear Perspective rules to outdoor landscapes. We focused on drawing what we see, from our specific vantage point, thinking about composition and adding interest with texture and shading – then we critiqued our work.






















Collage Gallery

Our collage works came out strong and the students were pleased with the results of their efforts. Each student worked for multiple classes on their individual collage compositions, participated in class critiques and considered or actually took big risks with their nearly finished works, to try and better communicate their initial ideas. 
























One and Two Point Perspective

All middle school students are working now on Linear Perspective – a graphic system for representing depth and volume on a flat surface by means of lines converging at a vanishing point or points on a horizon line.







The 7/8's have been inspired by their visit to the CCS Transportation Design Center for Education and are now developing their own designs. These design drawings require the students to use linear perspective and orthographic projection – a means of representing and correctly communicating a three-dimensional object in two dimensions. 

The 5/6's are experimenting with basic one or two point perspective drawings, depending on their level of interest. They are required to practice outside of class time by picking a room in their home and drawing multiple objects in linear perspective. The 5/6's are viewing what the 7/8's are designing and how they are putting their linear perspective skill set to use! Here are online resources for One Point Perspective and Two Point Perspective. 

Collage and Composition

After having looked at how a few professional artists, such as Elliott Hundley and Ellen Gallagher, approach collage, the 5/6's have been working on Narrative Portraits. We had a visit from artist and SK parent Jan Bogart who generously described her working techniques as well and loaned us her collage to reference.  We have had class discussions about classic composition and have explored different techniques to change and control our collages. The kids are focusing their efforts on building a strong composition and creating depth – to do so they use paint for fading areas, mixed media and multiple layers until they are satisfied with their results.















Clay Update



All of these beauties (clay works) are now being bisque fired and will be ready for glaze or alternative surfaces next week.

cats by Bora and Ellie
Margaret



snake by Emma




A Glimpse at the Design Process, CCS


We took the 7/8's on a field trip to the Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education; an original Albert Khan structure built for General Motors in the 1920's recently donated to the College for Creative Studies (CCS) in Detroit. We were lucky to have James Adair, a 25 year veteran in designing and sculpting for General Motors, as our tour guide. The kids came away with an a glimpse of what design school looks like, as well as a good sense of what can be created and expressed in clay and how detailed the process of design is.


















FoolMoon 2016

We managed to get nearly all of our luminaries out for the FoolMoon parade, as well as get a few of the kids talking about their pieces on the Creative Voice Youtube station. It was fun to participate in this Ann Arbor event and exciting to have a unique venue for our beautiful collaborative creations. Thank you for all of the parent participation and support!







Final Touches, Adding Color

Dedicated students put the finishing touches on their luminary sculptures–and it is Pajama Day! We hope to see you out downtown Ann Arbor tomorrow night for FoolMoon festivities.


















Individual Projects

After learning and building on basic clay work techniques, the 7/8's requested to have their Independent Projects in this medium. Students were challenged to each create an clay object that communicates what "home" is to them. We looked at the contemporary ceramic artwork of Jack Earl for reference and are now creating our own narrative sculptures.













Elaborate Luminary... FoolMoon is coming


Complete 2-part beaver with suspended pancreas

Both 5/6 classes have been extremely focused on completing their elaborate luminary sculptures. Many of them have become proficient in developing a large scale three-dimensional form using challenging materials, starting very simply from a profile sketch of the idea. It has been exciting to see all these forms come to life with only wire and tape. Most of the pieces are ready for color and lights–save the date to parade these luminaries with us at FoolMoon, April 1st! 

Lemur parts including ball to play with 
Carrot


Tentacle for Cthulhu






beginning of the beaver

Specific design by Kaz. Ask him about it!


Cthulhu's head


Wing design for Cthulhu

4th graders visit and help with original ideas for luminaries
Research





Winter Sculpture Collaborative, looking at Andy Goldsworthy



The 7/8's learned about artist Andy Goldsworthy–a photographer and environmentalist who creates sculpture outdoors with natural materials. We had a class brainstorm session, which the 5th graders participated in, then came up with ideas for our own outdoor Winter Art Installation. We voted for the best idea–we have made multiple tests and have come up with some fantastic results bringing forth even more ideas and additions. We hope to install this piece for our Music and Art Cafe, weather permitting!













Luminary Preparations



Adventures in luminary making have begun! We are building sculptures that will light up the night for the FoolMoon parade April 1st. Sam's class is making one giant collaborative piece, a mythical creature that is their class mascot–the Cthulhu.  There were many drawings of Cthulhu initially, but now all have agreed to use the stuffed classroom Cthulhu as a reference point.





Description of how the wings will be constructed


30 Americans

Glenn Ligon
The 7/8's went to the Detroit Institute of Art to see the much talked about exhibit 30 Americans. The exhibit was expansive, showing colossal works from painter Kehinde Wiley to the innovative Soundsuit by Nick Cave. A poignant piece titled America by Glenn Ligon was one of many works discussed and journaled on, post-tour during lunch and on our bus return home.

Detail of neon work by Glenn Ligon



Mark Bradford
 Iona Rozeal Brown


Emma in front of a piece by Xaviera Simmons




Untitled cotton and wax, Leonardo Drew


5/6's Explore Wet Sgraffito

Using the technique we learned from our visiting artist Yiu Keung Lee, wet on wet sgraffito, the 5/6's took a turn carving directly into very malleable slip and clay. Learning to work with clay at various stages of hardness is the key to becoming comfortable manipulating this material!














7/8's Still Life

In need of some serious down time, 7/8's first practiced shading a sphere then spent the class working on one area of a still life made up of Summers-Knoll attic objects... with lovely results. The time students get to spend observing and describing something they see into two-dimensions, not only increases their drawing and sculpting skills, it also helps them move through the world with more accuracy and precision! And it is relaxing.











ISS


In relation to our US Map project for the school play, Rushil suggested we include the International Space Station. In a quick burst, students came together and built a model of the ISS using cardboard, wire and tape–a nice addition to the school play scenery.




Visiting Artist: Yiu Keung Lee


Famous local ceramic artist Yiu Keung Lee came to SK and gave a quick demonstration of his sgraffito technique for the 7/8 graders. Almost every student was able to follow the steps to create a very simple vessel form with imagery etched into the surface. Yiu Keung Lee (he goes by the name "Lee") is a teacher at Eastern Michigan University. Lee also runs the Clay Work Studio in Ann Arbor where he is offering a Winter Break Clay Camp.

The students got to see and hear about some of Lee's art work; you may see more of it here: http://www.yiukeunglee.com/my-work/