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Body Proportions Explored.

10/29/2014

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Above is Izzabella's excellent work of art. To the right is Justice's amazing work.

I began the class with everyone following as I drew the 8 head sized  circles on the whiteboard, one above the other to show how the body's torso, waist, hips, legs, knees and elbows were proportioned. Then when we had established this in their sketchbooks for future reference, I had them make an picture of a person or persons on a blue cardstock by ripping the shapes out of colored construction paper. This way they could measure with the head size as they created their people in their artwork. 

Actually, they kind of forgot about measuring and just went to town ripping and gluing making their masterpieces. It was fun to watch them get lost in the process, accessing their right brains and going at it with enthusiasm.

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Some more excellent art work. Kristen's on the left and Destin's jumper on the right. I really have to say that the whole class of Grade 6-8 students did a fantastic job. There was a lot of originality, creativity and movement in their artworks. Plus, best of all we had fun. Way to go guys, you all did very good.
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The Monsters of Life.

10/17/2014

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Shareice's Monster of Anger.
She chose to use a triangle as the body of her monster,
which goes together with the idea of anger...
straight harsh edges and also those three sharp points.
Very creative.
(Work in progress.)
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What do you do with Halloween? I was thinking about the many costumed characters there will be running around on our streets. Could I make something from this?

Why not a metaphor? The whole "Monster" idea is huge. There are of course the evil monsters with a resume of destruction, fear and mayhem which we need not list here. We all know what they stand for in our culture. The movies, comics and books galore on all kinds of horror and evil they represent.

The thing is that now there are these cute "monsters" who make being a monster fun and personal and endearing. Playing with the ideas of the dark side in a "nicer" way.

The latest being "Monster University" which has students vying to take the MU's famous "Scarer Class" and become be the best "scarer" in the  world.

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On the left is Dayton's sketch of his monster
and on the right is Marie's counter drawing of her hand.
We drew our hands as an opening worm-up activity.
So I decided I would have the students brainstorm on the "monsters" in all of our lives that work against us. Once we had made the list I asked them to chose one and draw it in their sketch book.

Since the last few lessons had been on the "Four Season Tree" with the students following along in the process making the same work of art. Although there was freedom there as to the kind of tree, the colors used for each of the seasons and the scratching designs. Still, I felt I needed to give them a little more freedom of choice this time. Which monster to draw. The look of their monster relating to what it represented and also the medium they wished to use in coloring their character.

I am now investigating an art gallery we might like to visit. I hope to find something that would engage the students not only in art appreciation but also give them an understanding that art is a real option as to a career choice in their lives.

With Christmas coming up, I am seriously considering some kind of a competition for a Christmas card project. What if I made it a "commission" to create a work of art for a school's Christmas card? A card that would be used to send Christmas greetings to the parents, supporters and friends of the school.

I'm concerned about the competition aspect, as some students would not feel even worthy of entering such a project and not even engage. Possibly simply a 'complete the image' award for all and the actual choice would be up to the imagined customer. I could possibly make up a nice certificate/ribbon with some chocolate for each completed work. For this to work I would actually need to get going on it for it will take several classes to get it done right.

Let me know if you have any ideas on what might work best for such a project.





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The Leaf's Sacrifice Noted. 

10/8/2014

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The Four Season Tree
by Student Bailey Alexson, Oct. 8, '14
Oil Pastel and Black Marker.
“A gust of wind rattles the window, and I look out. Leaves are whooshing all over the place, flying past horizontally as if they have engines of their own.”
― Kate Messner, The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.    

Let us during this beautiful season consider "leaves". No, no, not about raking them up and getting rid of them, that will come. For now, as we enjoy the colorful display that the leaves are giving us, we must consider the humble leaf just for a few minutes. Since they are sacrificing their very lives, just to give us some beauty, they do deserve a moment of our thought and attention.

We have a huge linden tree in our backyard. This tree has very large leaves which, this fall, it has unceremoniously covered our entire backyard! Lawn, pond, flower garden, deck and furniture. All mounded with beautiful huge yellow and brown leaves. The whole surface of our backyard has become a bed of quivering leaves rustling in the beautiful warm (for now) fall breezes.

There is no shortage of leaves at our house.

I scooped some of these into a garbage bag and took them to art class this morning, destined to be the subject of my students artistic scrutiny in the usual contour drawing exercise at the beginning of each class. The warm-up for the main course to come!
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What an amazing job Ilene Sumner and Sheressa Beardy have done drawing their leaves.

So what is so amazing about this leaf that abounds in such numbers around us?

First, there is the sound of the breeze rustling the leaves. This becomes especially evident in a camping environment. It seems here in the city, there is to much noise or our houses are too soundproof for us to really be aware of this phenomenon. The sound of rustling leaves us a beautiful backdrop of nature music in our ears. It is restful, reassuring and brings a peace to our souls. A kind of symphony we hear and respond to without thinking. 

Then there are leaves that bring healing, physical healing to our wounds and ailing muscles. 

Another thing we often forget is the fact that without leaves we as air breathing humans and animals would not survive. Without that amazing process leaves go through to live and grow, we would simply suffocate. They are very important indeed.

Finally, it seems that leaves can actually fly. We notice this especially in the fall season when the air is filled with leaves moving in the wind. loosening themselves from their trees from any and all heights and making their way down to the earth in such interesting and creative ways, flittering and fluttering all the way. Often carried by the breeze on journeys of long distances.

Even when landed, they continue to move, flutter, dance, bounce and gather, here then there, restless, seeking by their movements to entertain and be noticed still.

Leaves are a wonder, important and a necessity. Let us look around and drink in the beauty of the season with new appreciation.

“and the leaves were telling secrets to the wind.”
― Peter Mulvey



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The Four Season Tree

10/3/2014

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"Everyone must take time
to sit and watch the leaves turn."
-   Elizabeth Lawrence
It's fall. So with that, we are beginning a project called "The Four Season Tree." We've just had the "Fall Equinox" on September 22 so the signs of fall will become more evident. Not only will the trees turn and display their amazing colors, but the days will also 
continue to become shorter and shorter.

This art project's purpose is to use the oil pastels I had introduced to the students in the last class. The art will represent not only fall but the four seasons of the year. 

I drew out the concept of the whole project on the white board so the students would have an idea of what was expected and what the finished product would look like. Then I handed each student the card stock on which they would draw this picture. Following this I now walked through each aspect of the picture with them. We began with pencil drawing out the three lines outlining what would be the areas for each of the four seasons. Then I illustrated how they would draw the tree. Once they were happy with the that, they could draw out the three lines and the tree with black ink markers. Once that was done they could erase their pencil lines and begin to fill in the tree with the markers, as you see in the photo above.

Several of the students finished their trees and began filling in one or two of the four season areas of the drawing.
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“Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance.”

―  Yoko Ono
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    Picture

    Pastor Cliff Derksen
    Maplecrest Church Holiday Inn S. 1330 Pembina Hwy.
    http://www.maplecrestchurch.ca/​

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