NEW INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER

VALUE SCALES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 3RD QUARTER - 2017-2018

graphite & colored pencil accents

Let me introduce you

 to probably one of the most talented 7th graders I had the pleasure of working with last year,

Itzel Huerta.

The piece above was the very first piece she created for me

 and when she turned it in I was blown out of the water.

Can you find her 3 value scales in the piece?

OMG, 

this is so not 7th grade level.

I was absolutely delighted to have her aboard.

And lucky for me she is back this year for more!

Another awesome talent was Jaden Sioson

Almost everything he created was shared with the class.

His designs were always outstanding.

And then there was Mai-ly Dinh.

What a super fun imaginative piece!

I adored it!

Feels to me like an illustration for a children's book.

And check out how she used the colored pencil in the tree area.

Fabulous texture by using circles of color.

And then there was Raiche Gutierrez with this super cool piece.

Where do these kids come up with these great design ideas????

And then to already know how to work with colored pencil.

Truly remarkable.

I am a lucky woman!!!

SO MANY TALENTED 7TH GRADERS

VALUE SCALES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 2ND QUARTER - 2017-2018

graphite & some colored pencil on drawing paper

It never ceases to amaze me that at this school for academically gifted children,

we also have so many gifted young artists.

It is such a pleasure to teach these young ones.

They bring so much skill & creativity to our art department.

Let's take a look at these 2nd Quarter kid's very first assignment.

One of the most gifted artist's in this group of 31 kids was Audrey Cho.

Just look at the skill level this child is coming to me with.

So sophisticated!

Even the border is cool!

Next we have this super clean piece by Kayla Vicencio.

It's very unusual for 7th graders to have this level of craftsmanship on their first assignments.

Beautifully done Kayla!

What I really enjoyed about Hanna Estrada's piece was the story she is telling thru her design,

as did Audrey above.

But also the very subtle touch of blue colored pencil she applies overtop the graphite.

Lovely!

And then there is Ben Chen who never seemed to be with me in class,

if you know what I mean,

but then he'd turn in really delightful & creative pieces.

Talk about telling a story here.

Great job Ben!

But of all of these, 

my favorite belongs to Zoe Hoksbergen.

It so reminded me of a children's book illustration.

In fact I liked it so much,

she allowed me to buy it to teach with next year.

Thank you Zoe,

this piece is highly inspirational in it's childlike innocence.

FROM LIGHT TO DARK

VALUE SCALES

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

graphite on paper & colored pencil accents

I have been blessed with a hugely talented group of 7th graders this year.

Let's meet a few.

This very sophisticated design was created by Emily Ahn

I love how much energy she put into this

 and how many additional Value Scales she was able to come up with

going above and beyond for extra credit.

This delicate bugs journey was drawn by Serena Lee

She also incorporated colored pencil accents for a bit of extra credit.

Two lovely leafs came in.

The one above was done by Shaniya Gentry 

and below we have Alanna Chan.

Leaves make a wonderful subject for so many different projects.

In this next one,

 Alia Cortez's subject is drinking a Starbucks coffee 

and the rim of the cup is her clever Value Scale.

And lastly we have Eileen Rodriguez Salehi with this well planned out design

which contains several Value Scales.

These young 7th graders just amazing me with their creative designs

and how they aren't afraid to bring in colored pencil work even though we haven't covered it yet.

Bravo young ones! 

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

VALUE SCALES

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

graphite on paper

Oh my, oh my.

I got me some new younguns for 8 weeks

and they are crazy wonderful.

They take instruction and demonstrations and apply them so creatively as you will see.

We are starting with Gail Baltazar who blew me away with this sophisticated work above.

Most children this age do not know how to compose a balanced artwork

or know how to completely fill up a paper.

Not this young lady.

Every single assignment was brilliant as I was to find out.

Next up we have Bianca Pagal with this beautifully crafted work.

Something else young ones this age usually don't know to do is to draw to the edge of the paper

and let the composition go off.

This was something that Bianca innately knew to do.

Loanvy Dang showed us this very playful side of her by doing some fun Zentangling 

inside her butterfly.

And the implied line adds so much to this wonderful piece.

Another very adult piece was done by Tiffany Cheng.

Just beautiful!

And we end with Pearl Wang,

who came in with these incredible drawing skills.

It just baffles me that kids so young can draw like this.

Look at the way she uses her pencil so consistently,

those amazing diagonal strokes that create texture along the bamboo.

Then the soft way she applies the pencil along the leaves.

Pearl,

you ae so gifted

and you rocked this assignment!

WELCOME ABOARD!

VALUE SCALES

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

graphite on paper & colored pencil accents

Let me introduce my 2nd Quarter 7th graders.

They like my first group had a couple of real knuckleheads

 but overall,

another talented bunch.

Let me show a couple off.

Sabrina Liu starts us off with this adorable dragon.

And she's created values everywhere and has picked up a bit of extra credit for that.

Next is Amy Wang who obviously is coming in with some self-taught drawing skills.

Wow!!

And then we have Tyler Shin 

who created this super unique non-objective design with six value scales.

Impressive young man!

Extra Credit for you as well!!

VALUES COUNT IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

VALUE SCALES

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

graphite on paper with colored pencil accents

It's that time of year again to introduce you to my new batch of 7th graders.

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of creative talent & innate skills 

many of these kids come in with from their Elementary Schools.

The assignment:

to shade in 5 values of gray in graphite,

plus a white and black on either end

& to use good craftsmanship & effort.

Using colored pencil accents is an extra credit op.

I never grade on creativity,

but I do show many examples to the kids (both good & bad) 

and talk about drawing to the edge of the paper, 

or putting in borders to help balance a piece.

I also demonstrate different ways to use your pencil,

and show how to use the paper stump for blending which is optional.

Allison Lee impressed me with her sunset and use of layering with her colored pencils.

I also liked Katelyn Caneda's martini glass.

And check out how she bent the straw.

This next one by Katherine Chen was interesting with the head floating amongst the clouds.

But I was most impressed with this next one by Shivani Kedila.

Awesome design!

And the class favorite was this last one by Jason Park.

GOING FROM DARKNESS INTO THE LIGHT

VALUE SCALES

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

graphite & colored pencil

Alrighty,

introducing my 3rd Quarter Art Wheel kids,

ready or not here they are with their clever value scales.

We are starting off with Reese Velez who impressed me from the get-go

because of her skills coming into the class.

Turns out she is good at everything!  ha ha

Next this lovely butterfly was done by Jovitha Prakash.

The kids had to only show me a 5 step value scale but Jovitha did an eleven step scale.

Plus she took the time to add the extra credit colored pencil.

Nice job young one!!

Quiet & shy Chloe Canete came out of the gate with this very large

and important piece.

Wow Chloe!  :)

And Ena Hu Loera made this very soft & pretty drawing.

I was really impressed with how she transitioned her value scale into a colored pencil scale.

And last but not least, a boy!

Yes indeed,

young Andy Ouyang created this magnificent art piece.

I was so impressed with his sophisticated design.

Great job all of you, 

looking forward to seeing more from you guys.

BATTER UP

VALUE SCALES

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

graphite & colored pencil

As the 2nd Quarter 7th grade group leaves,

I'm finally getting to post their work.

There is always so much talent to be found with these crazy sweet little ones.

These were the best of this first assignment with me.
I hope you all enjoy getting to know this new group.

Let's start with Aaron Amaya.

You saw him in yesterdays farewell post.

The handsome boy with the long ponytail (he's growing his hair out to donate).

Aaron came to me with a gift.

The gift of drawing from his head,

something I cannot teach.

It's very rare to have a student who can do this.

I asked him if he's ever taken any art classes?

No.

You mean it just flows out of you?

Yeah, I guess so.

Remarkable.

Super clever composition,

inside a diner and the table as his value scale.

He was also very comfortable bringing in the optional extra credit colored pencil.

Something that I hadn't shown the kids how to use yet.

And notice his knowledge of 1 Pt. Perspective?

Really???

WOW!!!

This next very lovely work is the creation of Clara Kim.

Man, oh man,

talk about sophisticated work for a 7th grader.

I was super impressed with Clara as well.

Notice her subtle use of the analogous colors blue/purple

coming together to darken and shade her water under the bridge?

It's cast shadow.

And her craftsmanship is remarkable as well.

Fantastic piece Clara!

This very quiet work belongs to Victorio Decordova,

which is surprising since Victorio is quite the chatter box.  hee hee

It amazes me what comes from these kids

 when you get them into right brain and non verbal for at least 20 minutes at a time.

Beautifully crafted,

and I especially like how the palm tree is only partially colored in.

And the kids were only required to give me 5 values of grey,

but notice Victorio did 8!!

And oh my,

who do we have here with this very dynamic piece?

It's Monica Lee.

Bravo young woman!

Great job filling the paper,

balancing the pier with the tree,

the reflection of the sun on the water

 as well as the numerous values you put in.

I look forward to showing off more of their work this quarter.

And WELCOME ABOARD new 3rd Quarter 7th graders.

I look forward to getting to know you all.

MEET MY NEW CROP OF 7TH GRADERS

VALUE SCALES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL 1ST QUARTER 2015-2016

graphite on paper

We are starting off with a bang this year,

a lot of artistic talent coming in with the new 7th grade class.

Let's take a peek.

Daniella Vesquez starts this year off with her colorful value scale.

She has gone for the extra credit

 and put in some colored pencil  along with the graphite.

Coming in with tremendous drawing skills in place is Emma Phungraksakiat.

Boy oh boy,

 Emma Phoebe,

 is your last name a tongue twister  

LOL

Next up is Kenneth Nguyen.

Look at this young man challenge himself with this very difficult design.

Way to go Kenneth!!!!

And let me end with Ryan Tseng.

Love the scale he has drawn to,

and that he has jazzed it up with colored pencil to make it feel very complete.

An awesome job all of you!!

INTRODUCING...

MY 4TH QUARTER 7TH GRADERS 2014-2015

VALUE SCALES

graphite on paper with some colored pencil

What a great group of kids to end the year with.

They are intelligent, 

respectful and attentive listeners.

And they work so hard to please me.

I couldn't ask for more.

So let me show off their first assignment.

One of the young men that impressed me the most,

 right off the bat,

 was Micah Yim.

He figures out a way to give us 3 value scales,

as well as bringing in sensitive colored pencil accents,

Fantastic job Micah!

This next young lady,

Sydney Eng,

set her value scale inside this ornate design that she painstakingly drew out to perfection.

And I will tell you that we will be seeing a lot more from this young one as the summer progresses.

And look at Shannon Carizon rock this lighthouse!

Love how brave she was to completely fill the paper with diagonals and gentle curves.

(it's very unusual for youngsters this age to use the whole piece of paper)

And it looks like Adelle Sarmiento is also coming in with some previous drawing skills.

This clever girl uses echoing to build her value scale with.

I look forward to sharing this group of kids with you more this summer

 as I catch up with all my blog posts.

So stay tuned!

CHECK OUT THE NEW TALENT

GRADE VALUE SCALES

7TH GRADE ART WHEEL - 3RD QUARTER

graphite on paper with colored pencil

It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to my new 7th graders.

The are a talented artsy fartsy bunch,

and so very sweet.

These are their first assignment,

value scales.

The colored pencil was brought in as extra credit.

I'd like to start with Kayla Kim,

and her sweet and sensitive drawing.

Then Joyce Park packs a punch with her design above.

Angela Cooley draws us something very special for when we reach the top of her stairs,

then balances that out with crackling below.

Elliana Lee is very clever is giving us a value scale on either side of her feather.

One in graphite and one in color.

Fabulous critical thinking kiddo!

Carl Estrella is coming to me with big time drawing skills already in place above.

And the same goes for Brittney Wu.

I hope you'll stay with me to see more of their work.