KEEPING IN TOUCH

2018 Alumni Tiffany Chen,

one of my top art students last year,

is in her 1st Semester at Art Center in Pasadena along with Alum Sarah Oh

who I focused on last week.

I recently asked Tiffany if she had any finished pieces she could photo 

and send so we could see what she's been up to.

She sent me several works from her various classes,

but it was these two that really fascinated me and I wanted to share with my students.

In this piece for Tiffany's Composition and Drawing Class

she had to draw a scene of a person split into 3 parts:

skeletal structure, clothed, and nude.

What a challenging first project!

And what was even more difficult about this drawing 

was that Tiffany worked in a 3/4 view for all 3 parts instead of doing the easier frontal or profile.

Wow!!

I love how realistic the toes and fingers look Tiff.

Fantastic job young woman,

 and what a cool assignment!

And I adore this assignment as well for her Perspective Class.

Tiffany had to draw a bridge with 3 arches in 2 Point Perspective.

I love that we can see all her work underneath the bridge.

I cannot wait to try this myself and perhaps incorporate it into my Perspective Unit next year.

Thank you Tiffany for these two very inspirational pieces,

and of course for sharing them with all of us.

Please send more when you can.

I miss seeing your gentle sweet smile to start my day with.

Fly High....

2 POINT PERSPECTIVE BOX CONSTRUCTIONS

INTERMEDIATE 2-D ART

graphite, ink, colored pencil and watercolor

What I truly love about my job is that I get to share an art technique with my students then get to watch them fly with it. 

Here is the same assignment but done 3 different ways:

Make 3 boxes in 2-pt.

2 of them need to be stacked or touching each other in some way.

Bring in some shading using one light source.

Use good design, craftsmanship and all your effort.

Put some kind of framing device around it.

The rest, 

the colored pencil,

watercolor,

and the pen & ink are becoming their signature styles.

Senior Nathan Chong

Senior Michael Cantu

Senior Jovani Garcia

2 Point Box Construction - Student Work

TWO POINT PERSPECTIVE

BOX CONSTRUCTIONS

Intermediate 2-D Art

Here we see it again with the work of senior Cathy Luo.  Her finished construction before critique, then below, after.  Both times are amazing, but by bringing in the subtle coloring, Cathy makes her work pop even more.  Way to go kiddo!

Here is senior Anne Allen's humorous, complex piece.

 Brilliant Anne!

And I love that senior Justin Hwang thought to collage in his backdrop, then to tie his piece together thru colored pencil.

Lastly we have senior Jasmine Zhao with her very unique solution to this assignment.  Four separate pieces that she tied together, literally, with string and clothespins.  Another visual tie are the colors that she both into all the pieces thru touches of watercolor.

My students loved her piece. 

Two Point Simplified Cities - Student Work

And now you can see these same two gals working out the same problem but in 2 pt.

Jasmine above and Anne below.

Perspective Finals

By the end of our 1st Quarter my Intermediate 2 -D students have a good grasp of both 1 and 2 point perspective as well as shading, so I send them out around the school to find the perfect spot to draw from.  They can be inside our building or they may choose to draw outside in the weather.  I warn them to find an overhang because we always seem to get some rain during this time of the year.  I have them choose between a 1 or 2 point of view and then draw the foundation of the school they see from their perspective.  We also incorporate some sighting skills; this is a Dr. Betty Edwards "Right Brain" technique that helps with proportion and scale that they learned in the Beginning 2-D class.  After they set their foundation they are required to alter the reality in the piece, and this is where the fun and creativity comes in.

Let's see what junior Megan Yeu has done with her design.  She chose to draw the outside front entrance to our school.  There is a huge tree there that she used to her advantage to help with her altering, as well as some great overhead wood beams to anchor her structure.  I really encouraged the kids to alter their lines as well.  I give them a "B", "3B" and "6B" pencil to help them change up the value and texture within their lines.  Megan totally got what I wanted and has really played with her lines for a very intriguing work. 

Now look at what junior Micheala Platt has done.  She also chose to draw outside, this time it's the north side entrance to our school.  Besides her terrific job of altering reality, she has also brought into the piece a lot of sensitive shading.  Michaela spent lots of extra time working at home to make this piece exceptional.

And look at her attention to detail, wow!  Incredible piece kiddo.

Senior Kevin Tang turned the teacher's lounge into a mermaid tank, and even went as far as sewing pearls onto their tails.  Very cool idea Kevin, and way to incorporate your crafts skills from 3-D art  :) 

And senior Belinda Wu did a phenomenal job turning the teacher's cooking area into a partial woodland wonderland.  Belinda is another who spends a great deal of extra time at home making her piece exceptional. 

Perspective Final - Student Work

These stunning works belong to my 2nd year 2-d kids.  These were the culmination of the 1 and 2-point perspective units.  Their assignment was to choose a location from either the inside or outside of the school, and then draw it in either 1 or 2-point.  

Senior Jessica Liu above choose to sit outside in the wind and rain to draw this fabulous depiction of the front of our school.  The students were required to use artistic lisence to bring in a surreal element.  Jessica's gorilla's captured everyone's attention including the superintentant of our district.  It now hangs in his office.  You didn't know that did you Jessica??  Surprise! 

Senior Michelle Lee brought in some very cool textural elements, her signature style, in the area behind the band room.  Michelle placed the bird's head where they are currently building our new multipurpose theater/computer lab building.  We got to meet the lovely Grace Hu today who donated much of the funds that are going into this new complex.  She was given a piece of art, a monoprint, done by alumni Hyun Yoo.  I'm pretty sure Hyun graduated in 2001.  I hope you like it Mrs. Hu.

Check out these close-ups of all Michelle's sweet details including bringing in a bit of watercolor below.

Senior Crislyn Ogawa brings us her diagonal horizon with her sensitive watercolor backdrop.  And senior Michael Chen gives us his favorite subject, video gaming, in his interior hallway.

It is a pleasure to display your artwork.  You young ones make me so proud!