SAYING GOOD-BYE IS HARD TO DO

SELF PORTRAITS

INTERMEDIATE 2-D ART

watercolor, charcoal & colored pencil

The end of the 2015-2016 school year has finally come.

I wanted to end it with this group of students from my 2nd year 2-D class 

because this is such an important assignment.

It's not easy doing a Self-Portrait,

no one wants to take that close a look at themselves,

so I save this assignment for the end.

Plus it takes all of the skills they've learned throughout the past two years to pull it off.

I asked them to work in their favorite medium,

and not try something new.

Let's see how they did.

Senior Kyla Balquin got really brave

 and painted now only herself but good buddy senior Sitara Pul in watercolor

from a pix they took at Senior Retreat.

She really captured their likeness in a very soft & delicate way.

Beatuiful Kyla!

Senior Bernice Lin is looking super thoughtful in this portrait 

as she takes a look back at her school years with friends and brother Derrick.

Bernice chose to work in charcoal using the eraser technique she learned this year.

Brilliant work Bernice

And lastly we have senior Risha Bhakta.

Risha loves combining watercolor and colored pencil.

She did it very successfully on another piece earlier in the year.

And it's brilliant how you filled in the backdrop inside of just leaving it white.

And what an adorable photo she worked from.

Fantastic job kiddo!

We've come to 

THE END

of the 2015-2016 school year.

I'm so very proud to have been able to show off so many of my students from this past year.

I hope all of you have enjoyed the journey with me.

There will be one final post with a look back at the entire year 

with candid shots of the seniors.

I call it the Senior Farewell 

and I will probably work on it during Xmas vacation.

But in the meantime,

 I shall finally introduce you to the students and their work from this school year.

I'm only 3 11/2 months behind schedule

LOL

Hopefully I will be able to get caught up in a timely manner.

SETTLING IN

ALUMNI BERNICE LIN

CLASS OF 2016

Bernice has been crazy busy settling into her dorm & work load 

at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago,

located right in the downtown area.

The first two years the kids are not required to name their major

 because the Art Institute wants them to try all the various media to see where their strengths lie.

Bernice tells me she's loving it there.

Let's see how much she loves their winters with the super duper wind chill off the lake.

Hee hee

She says it's great being around people that are interested and excited about the same things she is.

In fact,

she's loving it so much that she says she doesn't even feel like she's in school,

more like a fun summer camp.

So let's see some of her first assignments.

For this piece in her research class,

 Bernice was required to make a mixed musical tape that related to a specific theme.

All the others in the class did the same and then they exchanged with each other.

She was to listen to the one she got then draw/paint/design to what she felt from the music.

Wow,

Bernice,

that must have been some tape!

So many different emotions and messages going thru it.

Great interpretation!!

In this next work for her Core class,

 the theme was to design to the figure.

Because Bernice tried her hand at Fracturing here at Whitney,

she felt comfortable with that format.

Notice how she drew a silhouette of the upper torso,

then fractured around and thru it.

Really cool Bernice. 

I also like how you added a touch of color.

One of her hardest pieces to date for her Core class,

was to sew on the machine a wearable piece of art.

She has never sewn before so this was really challenging for her.

Well Bernice,

for never having worked with a pattern or machine,

I'm super impressed with what you came up with.

Good for you!!

And then this week she sent me a pix of her latest creation,

this Emulation.

She said it is HUGEE!!!

48" by 72".

That's ginormous for a little pup like you Bernice.

That must have been bigger then you  LOL

I'm very impressed with your hard edges,

your balancing,

and your neutral color choices.

Powerful piece woman!!!

Proud of you Bernie,

and delighted to show you off.

More please!

LET'S GET IT STARTED WITH THE FIRST ASSIGNMENT OF THE 2015-2016 SCHOOL YEAR

VALUE SCALES

INTERMEDIATE & ADVANCED 2-D ART

graphite on Bristol board

This is a refresher assignment for my 2nd and 3rd year drawing students,

at the beginning of the year,

to loosen them up and get them back in that right brain zone.

For my Intermediate kids,

they were required to draw a 10 step value scale,

and my 2 Advanced boys had to do a 15 step scale.

Extremely difficult!

So let's start with the Intermediate group.

Senior Katherine Ku gives us this really cool atmospheric treeline,

perfect for the fall season.

Clever senior Bernice Lin has her numbers falling off her wrist watch,

and she has added a touch of color with colored pencil for a special something.

We all love senior Rishsa Bhakta's shading style.

It's so unique and uniform throughout her piece.

And gentle senior Kyla Balquin has drawn the most exquisite butterfly.

A self portrait perhaps

My Advanced Boys

Here is senior Jonathan Hsu's wonderful design,

and below senior Elias Rodriguez gives us another thought provoking work.

Brilliant beginnings all of you!

SHOUT OUT...

to senior Bernice Lin,

a very special young lady to kick off the 2015-2016 school year with.

I've known Bernice since she was a timid little 7th grade art wheel student,

and a mighty good artist.

I saw huge potential in her,

and I've been encouraging her to come back to me for many years.

Well, 

she made it back last year in my Beginning 2-D class,

 and we saw many of her pieces this last year on the blog.

Not only is she in my Intermediate class this year, 

but she has also been a tremendous assistant as my T.A. 

to my Intermediate 3-D class.

Above we see how she helped me out in preparation of my Studio Tour up at the cabin.

She packaged,

 with pretty bows,

 pieces of wool roving in this display box she created.

Thank you Bernice for your help,

it was a huge hit with the folks.

Because of you I will be able to pass on my love of spinning yarn.