Macro to Micro, Sgraffito

We took our traditional landscape paintings in watercolor and zoomed in, imagining what the "micro" view of these landscapes would be. The 5/6's started drawing with the guidelines of depicting only Michigan flora and fauna, describing in detail with texture, the look of an animal's fur or the veins on a leaf. We spent time outside drawing close up some of the leaves and seed pods in and around our natural playground. With the rules of good composition in mind, we created drawings that we then transferred onto terra cotta cups. We used a technique called "sgraffito" where we painted black slip over the clay and scratched our design through. Our sgraffito work is based off of the super cool contemporary ceramic art works of Ayumi Hori.

Field Trip to the Village Theater in Canton

Last weeks visiting artist, Leslie Sobel, invited us for a private tour of her solo exhibition at the Village Theater in Canton where her art work is on display through November. Sobel walked us through over 30 works of art made in the last 4 years – the pieces were beautiful and this experience gave us the opportunity to understand her encaustic landscape paintings more deeply. We asked many questions and got answers about what it takes to first get a solo exhibition like this, then what it takes to put such a show up. 

After seeing the exhibition, we were given a bonus tour – back stage of the Theater!

Visiting Artist: Leslie Sobel

Local artist Leslie Sobel talked about her abstracted Michigan landscape art, which gave us much to think about as we had just finished our own watercolor Michigan landscapes. Sobel works both from satellite images and from her plein air (drawing/painting outdoors) sketches. She talked with us extensively about how she looks at the landscape and works at capturing the gesture of the way a tree grows or the slope of a mountain range–she is more interested in depicting the emotion rather than the exact detail of what she sees. This was so important for us to hear! Sobel also shared with us her recent experiences as the Artist In Residence at Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and showed us her sketch journal. We learned about what encaustic painting is and got to touch and ask multiple questions about the thick layered and nuanced pieces Sobel brought in.

You may see Leslie Sobel’s work in person at her current exhibition in Canton at the Village Theater thru Novemeber 29^th, 2015. The middle school students will take a field trip to Village Theater next week. More images can be seen here: www.lesliesobel.com 

Watercolor Gallery

After Visiting Artist Valerie Mann gave an introduction in how to use watercolor and showed us some techniques, we have begun to build on that interaction and experience. We projected images of simple Michigan landscapes (city and land)–working on four at once, we changed frames as the work became too wet. The students are learning to work in a series and are developing some proficiency with the medium. They will have the opportunity to use some of these new skills on their self-portrait works.

Visiting Artist: Valerie Mann

Valerie Mann is a local artist, working the last 26 years at her craft. She is known for her deft installation art where she gives new life to old materials such as used truck tires. You will find her work online in many locations, including her website. I found this interview and recent images, which includes links to her site: http://createmi.com/valerie-mann-art/ and you may see her work in person at WSG Gallery on Main Street here in Ann Arbor: http://wsg-art.com/gallery/.

Valerie has exhibited in numerous galleries and museums. Most recently she was selected for the South Bend Museum of Art Regional Biennial. The last two summers Valerie was the Artist In Residence for two national parks: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and Homestead National Monument in Nebraska.

Valerie Mann is extremely versatile making large public art works out of welded steel, all the way to small-scale delicate watercolor painting. She came to visit Summers-Knoll to talk about her watercolors and most recent works. What a treat it was to have her time and generous spirit to inspire our works on local landscapes!

Reinforcement of Process, Alex Katz

We finished up (mostly) our initial self-portrait works on Tuesday. We completed works in two artist styles: Tyree Guyton and Alex Katz. The two artists were exciting to compare as they had some similarities such as their flatness, but also had significant contrasts such as the flowing or crispness line and color. This project was an important step in developing a familiarity with our materials without getting hung-up on having to look in the mirror and draw what you see. Students were encouraged to try conté, as well as charcoal of different compressions and colors, then mix these mediums with oil pastel and watercolor in order to build-up their surfaces. For more control they used color pencil. Challenging the students to create with multiple materials and in a style other than their own allows them more freedom to fail and to experiment! We ended with a critique, using this an an opportunity to learn from one another. They are making huge strides in their art and having very real experiences with their materials.

alex katz

alex katz

alex katz

alex katz

5/6 gallery of Guyton Portraits

The project of imitating Tyree Guyton's style of portraiture was so popular–
all middle schoolers embraced the opportunity to experiment! What was really great was seeing the kids start to improvise on the style. They were first asked to draw a very large, loose portrait on 18 x 24" newsprint, then a second drawing on 8 x 11" paper and finally a third drawing on 5 x 8" paper. The goal was to really fill the page with their self portrait.

A step further for 5/6's

After having practiced the skill of quickly capturing the gesture of an object, we went outdoors to draw the flora right outside our school. The project was to single out specific plants and create our own gardens on the page, using grey chalk. We brought the pictures back to the classroom then used oil pastel, coloring in all the drawn segments, leaving the chalk line untouched. To finish the pieces we coated the composition with watery tempera paint–the oil pastel resisted the paint, filling in the background as well as everywhere the chalk lines were. There were some technical complications such as having the paint too thick which stuck to the pastel–we learned quickly together what was working well, and what was not! These projects are guiding the students to become familiar with specific materials and comfortable experimenting with their art. They are also building up a cache of techniques to use on future projects.

A few students included their shadow in the garden!

They made tests before painting their composition.

before and after

UMMA tours

The 7/8's had an engaging experience at the Tyree Guyton exhibit, ending with a group discussion on the question "what is art?" The shared experience was delightful. 5/6's toured this exhibit as well, followed by the much talked about Julian Schnabel exhibit. The class discussion revolved around comparing and contrasting the two artists and the layered meanings when a second painting is made on top of another... wish I could show you those powerful images, but photos were not permitted in the Schnabel exhibit. Please ask your kids about it!

Local Arts: Tyree Guyton

Face Study, Tyree Guyton

The 7/8's are visiting the Heidelberg Project now, some of them for the second time. Here is the website: http://www.heidelberg.org/

On Tuesday, September 22nd the 7/8's will take a field trip to UMMA where we will see a thirty-year reflection on Tyree Guyton's Heidelberg Project and art work. Guyton made many journals and kept sketch books of his ideas. We have started our own journals and will keep notes of our art adventures and experiences this year, continuing our efforts to learn and have discussions about the artists in our community.

We recently experimented with imitating the "faces" seen in Guyton's art works and his journals by first sketching large loose self-portraits, then creating smaller more controlled works, directly in the style of Tyree Guyton:

This activity was exciting and gave the students freedom to play–they did not identify it as their own personal art. We will make multiple sketches, use mixed media and add them to our journals.

First Week of School for 5/6's

The kids have jumped hands first into their art. On Tuesday they practiced making quick gestural sketches, then further modified the sketches, perfecting them into bold simplified line drawings using black marker. This first quarter we will spend time documenting the objects we live with, the people we see, and the nature surrounding our homes, schools, and city. 

HOMEWORK:

All middle schoolers are required to email a photograph of themselves for our upcoming portraiture projects. Please send image by Monday September 14th to mwilson@summers-knoll.org. Thank you!

FestiFools 2015

After our visit to the FestiFools studio, the 7/8th graders took on the full project–they intended to build their own mammoth sculptures and walk them in the FestiFools parade. Their ambition is a constant source of inspiration!

Fool Moon 2015

Working with the founder of Fool Moon, Mark Tucker, SK 5/6 graders learned to make luminary sculptures–clever combination of malleable wire, fiberglass and packing tape. This was a long process but well worth it! The students participated in this major community event.

Major Event

The SK middle school students visited the FestiFools studio, where founder Mark Tucker makes all the magic happen for the two Spring parades: FoolMoon and FestiFools. Mark Tucker will work directly with the students, showing them his techniques on how to build both the Luminary Sculptures and the large street puppets used during these two local

events.

Students practicing puppetry!

Field trip to Toledo Museum of Art

In relation to our study of Single Point Perspective in drawing, and our work on Portraiture, the 5/6th graders took a trip to TMA to see up close, contemporary and historical works of art.

Chuck Close

Pablo Picasso

Ancient Rome, marble Head of Venus, 161-169

Flemish Painting by Joos de Momper the Younger and Jan Brueghel the Elder, 1610

Anselm Kiefer 1983-1984

Learn by Teaching

The 7/8's took their experience from Tad McKillop's studio back to SK and taught the 5/6's how to sculpt a bust. Our focus is on accurate proportion, continuing our work on drawing and now building in 3D from direct observation.

Local Artist Studio Visit: Tad McKillop

Here are the 7/8's visiting and connecting with local artist Tad McKillop! This adventure will start us off with 3D work; sculpting the bust using terra cotta. Tad shared his space and techniques with us. His beautiful work can be found at http://www.tadmckillop.com/

Portraiture Connection

First loose sketches of the face, students take turns posing, then onto more detailed self portraits. We use these studies to help guide our venture into 3D work – sculpting the bust.

Monochromatic Painting, completing Single Point Perspective Drawings

Homework due 1-8-15

Homework for SK MS Art: Single Point Perspective, Room Drawing

Pick one room in your house and do a simple contour drawing (line only, no shading, as we will add color to these drawings after break) illustrating all items in the room. Keep it simple. Find your Horizon Line (red line on Van Gogh painting) and your Vanishing Point (black dot on painting) then make light guide lines from the corners and foreground of your object to the Vanishing Point (remember our class work with drawing a simple box, turing it into a cube). Have a great break! 

Here are a few of the requested drawings!