STUNNING!

PRELIMINARY WATER PASTELS

BEGINNING 2-D ART

pastels on black construction paper

I always dread bringing out these boxes of pastels

because of their chalky nature and the kid's allergies,

and also because they are incredibly expensive and used up so very quickly.

And what a mess they make in the classroom.

The dust!

Therefore I make sure to turn on my 2 air filters on either side of the art room.

That and clay dust are sucked out of the air.

But when you see the stunning results you will understand why I do.

We start with senior Debbie Harris.

She took to these pastels like a duck to water.

Her color choices and range of values within each area really speck to my senses.

Luminous!

Absolutely incredible piece Deb.

Loved junior Mary Kim's lollipops,

clever subject!

I was horrified 

when I noticed that someone had put their fingerprints on junior Tiffany Chen's peach.

We hang the art pieces first in the office,

then for Open House 

and once more for the Senior Awards Banquet Nite (only senior work for this)

And usually the works comeback unscathed,

 but not this time.

I was fit to be tied.

I'm so sorry that happened to your piece Tiffany.

It is one of my favorites.

Your foreground is to die for the way you moved your values and cast shadow

in such a believable way.

Junior Sarah Oh created a beautifully executed backdrop/still life for her pearl.

And I felt the textual elements she added were remarkable.

And senior Helen Park achieved some crazy cool textures with her pastels.

Or is my picture out of focus??

ha

But notice how those strong diagonals move your eyes around the piece?

Wonderful piece Helen.

Here is another that I think I shot a bit out of focus by junior Varisha Azmi.

All of us really loved her subject!

And sweet, shy junior Maddy Uchiyama made this stunning beach scene.

Love the wide range of value in her beach ball.

I'm so glad I kept water patels in the curriculum.

Such a pleasure to share them.