Happy Halloween from the Art Room at Whitney High

These are a few of my sweet 7th graders I keep talking about as well as my 9th grade Art Tech for their class. Lorenzo Gutierrez, Katy Uchiyama, Clarisa Marie Bloemhof, and Larisa Lagade. And down below dressed as hippies with their handmade Tye-Dye T-shirts are Lizzy Kruger, Melina Castorillo, and Yasmeen Pardo.

Many of our students go all out for Halloween and a lot make their own costumes as well. So I just had to snap a few pix this morning to share. Above are seniors Ashlee Chang, Anne Guu, and Ekta Doshi. And below are juniors Kevin Aquilo and Paul Kim. Happy Halloween to all!!!!!

Color Pointalism - Student Art

My 3rd year drawing/painting students just finished up a unit in color pointillism (drawing only with dots of color much as Seurat did in Sunday in the Park). What I love the most about working with my kids at Whitney are their highly developed critical thinking skills and us always encouraging them to think outside the box. First of all I require them to come up with an original idea to work with and then give them a minimum set of goals to each within the piece. But I really encourage them to bring a twist to their work, to come up with a new idea within the medium that no one has seen here at Whitney. So I've had kids lay watercolor down first and do their pointillism over that , but senior Jullian Kho wanted to know if it would be OK to watercolor over top the water based felt tip markers we use. I told it it would probably bleed out her work, but I also encouraged her to give it a try and see what happens. We both really liked the look so off she went on the piece above.
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Junior Jason Kwon choose to work in the traditional manner in his gorgeous landscape while senior Hannah Park watercolored over her image but controlled it so it wouldn't bleed out her work. Great solutions all of you. Below is a close up of Jason and Hannah's pieces. These pieces are extremely time consuming and require a lot of patience which you can see my students have in abundance!

7th Grade Art Wheel - Wire Pendants with Patterned Stamped Tissue

The most difficult assignment this year for my sweet 7th graders has been the wire pendant project. They were asked to bring in an interesting rock, shell or charm, and then I showed them how to use pliers and wire cutters to capture the object within the wire so that it looked aesthetically pleasing and well crafted. They were also allowed to embellish with other things like smaller beads, charms and stones. It was rough going at times, but eventually all 30 of them were able to finish a pendant that we then strung onto ribbon or a chain they had brought in from home. The pieces actually turned out quite well considering how much they struggled with this small motor skills task. The piece above belongs to Smruthie Maganti and is one of the more sophisticated ones. I'm finding out that Smruthie is an amazing designer and craftswoman and I'm hoping she will come back and take more art classes with me. Hint, Hint! :)

You are also seeing glimpses of their collaged boxes that I posted last week along with another unit we did in conjunction with this one, Stamped Patterns on Tissue Paper. I taught them some surface design with carved rubber erasers, and 7 different patterns that they could stamp out. After practicing all 7, they chose a color tissue that would work visually with their boxes and stamped out their favorite patterns. This tissue was then used to line the boxes with and to provide a beautiful tease before you see the pendant underneath. The 3 pendants above were done by Evelyn Aldana, Paul Dean Versteeg III, and Lizzy Krueger, and the box and tissue below was done by Katy Uchiyama.

Karisma Dev did the box, tissue and pendant above, and Eduardo Jacinto and Matthew Bautista did the pieces below.

And these last two were done by Ju Eun Lee and Deborah Gordillo. Fantastic job class!

Tye-Dye Unit - Student Art

A really fun unit for my beginning 3-d students, to reinforce the color theory unit that we studied, was tye-dye using cold water Rit Fabric Dyes (I added salt and vinegar as mordants to each dye-bath to help absorb and set colors). I show them traditional tye-dye from the late 60's and early 70's and then some more modern techniques as well. And then the kids came up with new ideas I've never seen before. It's a learning experience for me too!

We start off the trials on white paper towels (pictured above) and then we go next to squares of bleached white muslin cloth (100% cotton, below). Also this year because my 7th graders were running 3 days ahead of schedule I let them try out some paper towel samples as well (pictured directly above).

The cloth pieces above will be used at a later date for the front and back panels of an appliquilt assignment the beginning 3-d kids will be tackling (below).

Then both groups had time for some extra credit dyeing where they brought in 100% cotton t-shirts and really enjoyed themselves (below). We ended up with many striking pieces from both groups!

Rockits and High Lites at Java Joe's this Friday Nite

If you want to come out this Friday nite and enjoy some great live music from the 50's, 60's and a bit from the 70's, my good friends The Rockits and The High Lites, will be performing at Java Joe's in Yorba Linda from 8:00 to 11:00. There is usually a dinner buffet being served out front for around $5 to $8 if you want to eat there. Also a Domino's Pizza next door, and one of my favorite restaurants, The Wild Artichoke, if you really want to splurge before the show is a few doors down. It's such a fun evening with dancing and the braver audience members getting up to sing with the band. This is bass guitarist Jim singing with a few of the more gutsy gals from the crowd. Come join us!

Breeana Johng - Student Art

Breeana, who should have been in my 3rd year Advanced 3-d class this year, but couldn't fit me into her schedule, just finished designing and making this cute doggy backpack for her pup. She also designs and sews her own clothing. She is a remarkable young woman and just wanted to show her off :)

Below are a couple of polymer beads she just finished. Too cute! EXTRA CREDIT - on a piece of green paper trimmed in brown, cut into the shape of a young sapling tree, put your name, period and answer this question, what artist are you most inspired by and why? Hand this to me when you walk in my door tomorrow. :)

7th Grade Art Wheel - Collaged Jewelry Boxes

A Great Big Thank You to all the Whitney High Staff and the owner of Discoveries Gallery in Tustin who helped me to collect over 120 jewelry boxes that my 7th graders could collage on top of. After a color theory unit my students were asked to pick only one color scheme to work within and to find beautiful papers to collage onto the boxes. This top one was a group effort for one of the teachers who gave me many of her old boxes. After a few of the boys finished theirs I asked them to start on this one as a favor to me, and then I finished it up. So thank you to 7th graders Edurado Jacinto, Paul Dean Versteeg III, and Jun Son for your help! These boxes were made to house wire necklace pendants that the students made a couple weeks ago. I will post those at a later date. And as part of a package design unit the students were taught 7 different pattern/textures that they had to stamp onto tissue paper. That paper was then used to wrap around their pendants in the interior of the box for a more complete look (as shown below).

One of my very favorite boxes was made by Smruthi Maganti (above), and then two others that I felt were terrific as well belong to Deborah Gordillo and Ju Eun Lee (below).

And look at these gorgeous ones created by Athena Mao, Edurado Jacinto (above) and Karisma Dev (below) A wonderful job by all!

Sunset in Laguna Beach

Last Friday night got to travel with my musical friends down to south Laguna Beach just before it turns into San Juan Capistrano, and this was the sunset that awaited us. Couldn't have asked for anything more beautiful.

Intermediate 2-d Art Quarter Final - Student Art

My second year drawing/painting students have just finished learning 1 & 2 point perspective and now they will be going on location around the school (either inside or outside) to draw what they see building-wise in 1 or 2 point. Then they will be required to alter reality within the foundation's structure. This top piece done last year by alum Mindy Cho was done from the bench outside Senora Barry's room looking into the food court area. You can see the actual building in the mid left corner as well as one of our picnic benches but everything else she pretty much altered. A fabulous piece Mindy! And down below is alum Amanda Garcia's piece from last year. Her viewpoint was from our V.P.'s office by the flamingo planter looking toward Senora Barry's room. Your attention to detail was amazing Amanda, and both girls had beautiful shading styles and craftsmanship. Mindy's piece was in 2-point and Amanda's work was 1-point.

Ashley Morris - Student Art

Junior Ashley Morris (4th year 3-d art) just finished up her second project of the quarter. This is a child's hat that she created from raffia strips (20 pieces thick) that she braided into a 30 foot long rope, then she coiled it onto itself and stitched the edges together. For embellishment she added the gross grain ribbon and a few of her own polymer buttons. Adorable!

"The Great Shakeout" Statewide Earthquake Drill at Whitney High

How could I resist photographing these sweet faces as I held my students captive under the art tables during our earthquake drill. These faces belong to my 3rd period beginning 2-d class and as you can see they had to squish themselves up like sardines to all fit under the tables. But they were so cooperative, it couldn't have gone better. Thanks guys!

Career Day at Whitney

Couldn't resist featuring senior Pankti Patel and her very cool , creative skirt that she threw together last night for Career Day today. She wants to go into the fashion world so to show her future career she cut out photos from fashion magazines and attached them over top an existing sun dress. I felt it was such a clever idea that took some serious time and thought so I gave her extra credit for her efforts. Way to go Pankti! It's EXTRA CREDIT time again students. On a piece of pink paper cut into the shape of a heart edged in purple write your name, period and tell me what is an odd fact about you or an unusual talent that you possess.

Beginning of Year Throwing Demonstration

A couple times a year I get to sit down at the potter's wheel and throw a few pots to demonstrate an assignment or extra credit opportunity. So this year for my beginning clay kids I produced these two pots with a little added slip trail embellishment. Always forget how much I love to throw. Don't know why I don't do it more often. If the glaze turns out decent you might see them again in their finished state.

The Remakable Katherine England - Pro Mosaic Artist

In preparation for the Annual Fullerton Spring Garden Tour this year in which Katherine's amazing home and garden will be featured, let me show off her newest garden creation in it's step by step construction. Looks like she's staring here by sawing into some type of soft Styrofoam, and then below, stacking and gluing these pieces to form the foundation of her piece. Then she's taking a rasp to the whole thing to further enhance the form.



(Above) Next comes the sticking on of the flexible netting to hold the concrete slurry that's being slathered on by one of her very good looking helpers. :) (below)



And then we have Katherine gluing down the glass shards. Notice how gorgeous she looks no matter that it's probably over a 100 degrees inside her garage studio. And look at that glorious mane of hair that woman has!

Looks like another friend helping her to grout her piece.

And then the finished green man. Knowing Katherine she probably whipped this piece out in less that a week or so. She's that talented and when she starts something she bulldozes through it till it's done. You are incredible Katherine! You inspire me everyday.

Ashley Morris - Student Artist

It only took her 2 years but she finally got this beauty done. Ashley, now a junior, started this piece for me 2 years ago for her final assignment in my Advanced 3-d art class. It was a new assignment and I totally misjudged how many days it would take to complete, so many of the kids didn't finish. So all last year I bugged Ashley to finish it on her own at home but she was just too busy with school and sports, so now that I have her back this year for 4th year 3-d art I made her finish it for her first assignment of the year, and it was totally worth the wait! Below is a close up. They were required to begin on a wood base and use at least 4 different media and build a bas relief work. Ashley used nails, paint, tissue collage, wire, glass shards, and Styrofoam. I have been working with Ashley since she was in 7th grade and she is an incredibly talented designer and craftswoman!!!!

1 Point Box Constructions - Student Art

These are a couple of the pieces turned in recently by my Intermediate 2-d class. The minimum requirement was to build a 1 point box construction that has at last 3 boxes in it, and then to shade it in with a wide range of values using only one light source. The top one done by senior Ashlee Chang was my favorite because I felt she really pushed herself the hardest and came up with a highly creative design. The bottom two were also outstanding works, also showing a good deal of creativity and effort. They were done by seniors Marisela Herrarte and Anne Guu.

Polymer Beads And Buttons - Student Art

Just finished a color theory unit in my Beginning 3-d class using Polymer Clay. Gave the kids the 3 primary colors plus a black and white for tinting and shading and off they went to make all the colors and combinations of the color wheel. Then took them through another unit where I taught them different bead and button techniques that can be achieved with the clay. And these were the results. My students always love this unit, and we make use of the beads and buttons in other assignments as embellishments.

Janet Hurtado - This one's for you!

It's little Prince Bogie, fresh out of the shower where he accidently jumped in last night to see what was going on in there with my daughter Danielle. Boy, did he get a very wet surprise. :) Janet, my Ceramics student, has been hoping for more Bogie pix. Hope you like this one! EXTRA CREDIT On a piece of purple paper cut into the shape of a star, edged in green trim put your name, period and answer these questions: What are you like in a group setting, and how do you think you affect group dynamics?