TWIGS & STICKS

CHARCOAL CONES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 1ST QUARTER - 2017-2018

charcoal on paper

Even though this is a messy assignment,

the little ones do a remarkably good job with this medium

while managing to keep themselves fairly clean in the process.

Most of the time.

Ha ha

What's really hard for them is keeping their drawing paper clean & not smudging their work.

Or if they do smudge,

make it work for them as background or foreground.

Let's see how they did.

The one above was made by Alanna Chan

She managed to keep her piece very clean with great looking textures.

In this next one by Sabrina Wang,

she worked her smudges into her background area which created wonderful value.

I also feel the halos she placed around the cones and cast shadow very appealing.

Here we see Azalea Han using her fingers to smudge the backdrop on purpose.

I also really like the geometric lines she incorporated in to the background.

Because Halloween was approaching when we did this assignment 

Serena Lee let that be her inspiration for her design.

And Eileen Rodriguez Salahi

 created this amazing woven backdrop design which must have taken hours.

So worth it Eileen.

Great job all of you!

CONE HEADS

CHARCOAL CONES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL -4TH QUARTER - 2016-2017

charcoal on paper w/ colored pencil accents

What I loved about all of these that I'm going to show off

 is that they are well designed,

beautifully crafted (hard to do in charcoal),

have smooth transitions between values, 

and a great value range. 

That's a lot for these little 7th graders to deal with,

but they are fearless!

Let's take a look.

Young Bryan Fan had one of the strongest compositions in the class,

and showed me the most effort.

Manahil Ahmed thought of a clever design by putting the cones on top of the crayons.

Brilliant idea instead of only doing one like most everybody else.!

And Arrim Jung's dwarf was adorable and very well balanced.

Katherine Han's cone almost photo-realistic!

Andrew Lee gave us a strong foreground,

and Marley Malesevic's is showering us with joy.

Great job young ones!!!

GETTING BACK TO THE LITTLE ONES

CHARCOAL CONES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 3RD QUARTER - 2016-2017

charcoal on paper

Really missing this wonderful group of adolescents.

 It's such a welcome sight when they stop in to say hi.

As you will see,

their charcoal work is just as special as they are.

The eye loves diagonals,

they create movement and lead your eyes thru the art piece.

Well we all loved this one by Madison M.

I was also impressed with how she knew to break her cast shadow up the wall. 

Great job kiddo!

Love the simplicity of this next one by Anisha H.

And the way she styled her background is so beautiful.

This one by Bianca P. is just too cute,

and check out her smooth style,

lovely!

But it was Ashley L's backdrop that really got the kids oohing and ahhing.

Simply AMAZING!!!!

What an inspirational piece!

TWIGS & STICKS

CHARCOAL CONES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 2016-2017 - 2ND QUARTER

charcoal on paper

Oh my,

 do we have some talent in this 2nd Quarter group of 7th graders.

Let's see what they've created with the burnt remains of twigs and sticks. 

The burnt remains are put into these forms by art manufactures,

pencil, conte', pastel like sticks and loosely compressed vines.

 I require that my students try all four and see which they prefer.

Are they allowed to use several forms in one piece?

You betcha!

Samantha Catacutan has made a powerful fore and backdrop for her lovely cone.

And the eye loves diagonals in a work of art.

Check out the strong graphic background Amsal Ali is using in his composition.

And Sabrina Liu's piece seems to be sent from the heavens above.

What a wonderful atmospheric work she has created.

CHARCOAL MAGIC

CHARCOAL CONES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 1ST QUARTER - 2016-2017

charcoal on paper

"Magic isn't from a hat or wand,

it's from you."

How clever and sweet is the saying  that Sophia Oporto incorporated into her piece above,

along with how dimensional the cone feels to the eye?

And check out her great foreground as well.

I like how Katherine Chen filled up her negative space with design elements,

rather than leaving it empty.

And I also like the texture she brought into her cone.

But it was the background that Jason Park came up with that was brilliant.

WHAT'S YOUR POINT?

CHARCOAL CONES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 2015-2016 - 4TH QUARTER

charcoal on paper

Just love the creative ways kids figure out how to compose a cone.

Let's see.

How about lots of them?

And by putting many of them on the diagonal,

Sachi Nandedkar has been able to bring a lot of movement into her work.

Most of the students,

even after being asked to look at the great examples on this blog for homework,

still only put one cone in the center.

Their critical thinking skills have just not clicked in yet.

I like that Kristiana Flores put in two with wonderful texture for the eye.

And love, 

love,

 love this creative piece by Shukthi Senthilraj.

Probably one of the most creative ones ever conceived here.

Plus she's picking up lots of extra credit for bringing in all that colored pencil work.

And again,

the powerful diagonal.

The eye really enjoys it.

Also check out Danielle Louie's fabulous fore & backgrounds.

What a beauty!

CONE ME UP SCOTTY

CHARCOAL CONES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 3RD QUARTER - 2015-2016

charcoal on paper

The creativity is flowing in this group as they compose their cones in charcoal.

Let's take a look see.

Starting with this very sophisticated backdrop designed by Loren Kim.

When she turned this in for grading and I uncovered it from it's protective covering,

I was like "Wow"!!

So very impressed.

And check out this soft and lovely cone above,

that has feelings too.  :)

And Palmer Patel comes up with a clever design as well.

I just love how much thought goes into each of these pieces.

Ending with Mmasiolu Gamero's fun interaction between the cone and butterflies.

Butterflies are a signature symbol I found Mmossy including in many of her pieces.

Lovely!

BURNT OFFERINGS

CHARCOAL CONES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 2ND QUARTER   2015-2016

charcoal

We saw in the Graphite Sphere post the playful work of Salvador Ortiz

Once again he delights up with his subject matter.

He also makes sure we know who is the artist of this work.  LOL

Monica Lee once again brings her sophistication to her work thru her design and use of the medium.

I especially enjoy how she has moved the backdrop from light to dark.  

Adds a touch of atmosphere.

And ooh,

ooh,

ooh,

what do we have here Stella Hong?

Love the texture and scale you have brought to your work!

Brave and bold and wonderful.  :)

And no post is complete without Aaron Amaya.

The quality of his work is so beautifully sensitive,

his craftsmanship so clean.

I can totally see Aaron getting into illustration for children's books.

LOOKIN' SHARP

CHARCOAL CONES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL 2014-2015

charcoal on paper

These are so lovely,

I haven't looked at them in a while,

and I forgot how nice they were.

Let's take a look.

I believe we saw Sydney Eng's  pencil sphere recently,

 and it also had this filagree detail floating above.

Adding something special like this helps pull the piece together,

 and makes it more interesting to the eye.

In this next one by Shannon Carizon,

she has managed to pull off a very chilly landscape.

Notice the slight curve in the sky?

Almost feels like we are in a winter tunnel.

And clever Annie Lin has brought both joy and movement into her composition.

Not an easy thing to convey.

Great job girls!!!

IT'S GONNA BE MESSY

CHARCOAL CONES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL 3RD QUARTER

Working with charcoal is fun and easy but it goes everywhere.

 Oftentimes when my kids leave for the day they have little smudges on their sweet faces and they don't even know it.

:)

So let's take a look see at what they've created.

This first one is the work of Carl Estrella,

a very quiet and shy young man with a bucket load of skills.

What I strive for with the kids is for each of them to find their own working style and design.

I never want their work to look alike.

So I love that I can show off Elliana Lee's super crafted piece here versus Carl's highly atmospheric work above, and then down to Chasha Montreesirikul's textual piece below.

All equally wonderful.

Hari Iyer kept surprising himself with how well all his work was turning out.

I kept asking him if he had ever had an art class before and the answer was always no.

I love when the 7th graders bring text into their works.

It gives us more of an insight into who they are,

as well as bringing visual interest into their pieces.

The one above was done by highly creative Joyce Park.

And I really enjoyed getting to know and work with gentle Kayla Kim.

I like the contrast brought into her design between her tightly crafted cone and her soft backdrop.

And we finish off with Adriana Endow-Smith.

I got the biggest kick out of working with Adriana.

In every one of her pieces she would find a way to incorporate a cat.

I thought this cat with the conical ears was adorable and very clever.

7th Graders Going Strong

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL 2ND QUARTER

CHARCOAL CONES

charcoal & colored pencil

These little ones are going to town as they joyfully give me everything they've got to put into each and every assignment.

They  did such a wonderful job learning to use the charcoal pencils, 

chalks,

conte' and vines. 

This first one with the fabulous backdrop was done by Solyana Chan.

Love the touch of colored pencil in this one by Cameron Szendzial.

And see if you can figure out what words Charlotte Park has smeared into her background. 

Small Messy Hands

CHARCOAL CONES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL 2014-2015

charcoal on paper

A fun medium but oh so messy for the little ones.

But just wait till you see their results.

We've got a lot of talent once again this year!

Sarah Youn starts us off with this very cool dimensional design.

I love how simple this next composition is with it's fading horizon by Brianna Morales.

She's really achieved a great range of value which makes the piece feel 3-D.

Emily Mercado had fun with her composition  by including text and a night time theme.

And Cayla Buculea has used her eraser to bring out a decorative design across the top of her piece to help balance it out.

Lastly, 

Daniel Kwon thought to put his horizon on the diagonal which creates a bit of movement that the eye really likes.

And be sure to check out Daniel's cool signature, looks pro  :)