Greek Pots: Black Figure and Red Figure drawing

The sixth grade students are looking at Greek art and natural figures. They have looked at how pots are made in an earlier unit. Now they are seeing how glazes made a big difference in the art world. With only one color glaze, Greeks made black figure and red figure pottery, and were able to create epic stories on the contours of their pottery. 

Students experimented with working with these methods by creating an oil pastel pot, and drawing over it with another oil pastel, as if it were the glaze. Black figure drawings started with silhouettes of figures drawn in "glaze". They scratched through the glaze with scratchboard tools to create details in their black figure designs.

Red figure designs created details by drawing into their figures with the glaze, and filling in the negative space on their pot compositions with glaze.

Sculpture: George Segal and plaster wrap bandages

We are all familiar with the plaster wrap bandages that are used when someone breaks an arm or a leg. George Segal uses this material to capture the human form exactly.  

George Segal made his first artwork from plaster soaked bandages in 1960.  His work began by covering parts of a body, then plastering the body parts together until they formed an entire person. His work is displayed as unpainted plaster forms, monochromatically painted forms and cast in bronze. 

Sculpture students at Parker have used George Segal's style to make plaster hands. Their assignment was to create a message with the hand, by painting and/or adding other media to that sculpture. 

Some have become hands of friendship or peace, others have transformed into animals, flags and robots. All have found personal statements can be made with the small gestures of a hand.

Donate to Food Banks by making Computer Art

You can donate $1 to Feeding America by making computer art.

Go to breadartproject.com and you will find a museum of toasted bread art. Go to the workshop and make your own art for display in their gallery. For every piece of art you make, they will give $1 to Feeding America. Then go to the galleries and look at what other artists have done with their toasted masterpieces.

Abstract Sculptures

With wire and nylon stockings, we've made abstract sculptures that take on odd mysterious forms. Students first bent wire and coathangers into many angles. They drilled wallboard for a base, and glued the wires into the wallboard. By taking a nylon stocking and covering the wires, wrapping the stocking all the way around the base, they have created new and unusual forms.

THE ASSIGNMENT: First, find an image in this form. It can be a wave, a squirrel, a face, a tree, etc. Then make your viewers see that image clearly by painting and adding items to the scupture, until it is recognizable.

SCULPTURE IS ABOUT COMMUNICATION. How can you manipulate an abstract image, into a concrete idea? What do you want the viewer to go away with?

7th grade art history Research

For those of you who are having a hard time getting all the information for your web quests, you can finish these projects at home.

Just go to edline, to your art classroom and click on the link on the right hand side of the page.

For Hudson River groups, click the hudson river quest.

For all others, click on web quest.

All students will be given a group grade, an individual grade on research and an individual grade for their landscape drawing or painting.

Congratulations!!!!!!! Scholastic Art Winners

2009 Scholastic Art Awards Winners!!
Parker students win 5 Art Awards!
We are pleased to announce that four Parker students won five Boston Globe Scholastic Art Awards in this year's contest! They are:
Julia Dudley-Kramer: Gold Key Award and Silver Key Award
An Le: Silver Key Award
Emily O'Sullivan: Honorable Mention
Sarah Parker: Honorable Mention
This is a very prestigious contest for students and we are very proud of each student who entered this year. Congratulations!

Murals Murals Murals in 8th Grade Art Studio

The mural bug has bit our 8th grade art studio students. We have a large variety of murals in progress around our school. We have recently finished some murals in the boy's locker room, and are designing ones for the girl's locker room. We have one pointing to the library, and designs that trickle down the stairwell from the eighth grade hall.

8th grade art studio works on a contract basis, creating a portfolio of work they design and impliment throughout the year. At the end of the year, each student will go home with a portfolio of their work, as well as short essays on subjects such as what makes a good artist, what are the best art materials, and who do I admire as an artist.