CAPE ELIZABETH HIGH SCHOOL

I launched a new lesson with the Art Fundamentals students making face bowls in which the mouth of the character was the actual bowl. I love projects like this that result in a utilitarian object that has practical use, but also some personality. The students were very creative in bringing these characters to life, adding features that expressed their styles and senses of humor. They also incorporated a Principle of Design into their pieces, which they handled in interesting ways including patterned eyebrows, emphasized teeth, proportional nose, and contrasting eye sizes. It was a fun introduction to clay that took the pinch pot to a whole new level — and gave these young artists freedom to make choices and express themselves. After the glaze fire, we celebrated with a snack party (see bowls of food below).

The advanced Painting & Drawing students created large-scale self portraits. I taught them the grid method of drawing to help them tackle the shapes and proportions first in pencil. Then they turned to charcoal to create a range of value to express the portraits three-dimensionally. None of the students had used charcoal before, so we had fun experimenting with the different tools and techniques. The students had a choice of materials: charcoal or collage. They also had a choice of reference image: standard photograph or funkier copy machine image. I was delighted a few students went with the more whimsical copier image, but just happy overall to provide choice. The students blew me away with their process, focus, and final artworks.

The Photo I students were just finishing up a light assignment when I introduced a new unit on viewpoint. We talked about all of the ways a photographer can enhance the composition, mood, or dimension of a shot by changing their position in relation to the subject. We spent a day shooting outside together getting down on the ground, looking up, and climbing staircases to capture subjects from different points of view. Students then went to the dark room to bring these prints to life. Some examples below.