A LONG TIME COMING

SELF-PORTRAITS

INTERMEDIATE 2-D ART

mixed media

Haven't posted artwork from my ex-students in a while,

but these pieces have been on my mind since 2017-2018.

These works are by 3 of the most talented kiddos I ever worked with.

All High School seniors in 2018.

The assignment was to do a Self-Portrait 

in any 2-D medium they felt most comfortable in.

Each final work is truly remarkable

and I'm thrilled I finally got around to showcasing them.

This was their last assignment of the year for me.

We begin with Sarah Oh,

a young woman headed off to art school

 (she might have graduated by now),

accepted into Art Center in Pasadena.

Over the years and even after she graduated from Whitney,

we kept in touch and I continued to show off her pieces.

Sarah excelled in both the 2-D and 3-D realms.

Sadly over Covid we lost touch.

If you put Sarah's name in my search engine you can she most all her pieces 

for me and beyond.

First of all,

I love where Sarah chose to work from,

the classroom floor.

Here she was able to prop up a piece of mirror as well as her canvas.

She created her portrait in Acrylics.

What I just noticed for the first time in this photo below

 is she has reversed her image from what she is seeing in the mirror.

Or maybe it just seems so in the photograph.

Not sure??

When Sarah was in my classes,

she frequently brought over top her main subjects images of animals,

a secondary content for the viewer to ponder.

What I find so visually appealing about her Portrait 

are the harsh cast shadows she put in.

I love that she chose to use violet and blue/gray tones.

And that she chose a canvas that was more vertically inclined than most.

An exceptional work Sarah.

I miss you and hope you are doing amazing things!

One of my favorite things about all 3 of these works are the close-ups.

I love to see the brushstrokes, color mixing & blending, plus the fine details.

Here are Tiffany Chen and Mary Kim.

Just look at the concentrated focus one needs 

to pull off something this difficult.

Both girls worked from current photographs.

Interesting that Mary chose to prop hers up 

while Tiffany laid hers on the table.

What do I recommend?

Usually by propping up your photo helps the image from distorting

and keeps it looking more 3-D.

By laying it down sometime shapes can become distorted.

But I've always believed in letting the kids choose what works best for them.

I only did 2 self-portraits in my lifetime,

one in Pencil (from a mirror in college) and one in Acrylic 

(from my High School photograph).

I hated the subject matter,

ha ha,

and completing them was like pulling teeth.

But I did because I was being graded on both.

Mary,

like Sarah,

 chose to deepen her shadows with warm tones that are so rich.

And I adore her color choices for the background blanket.

The aqua compliments her warm skin tones.

Mary is also working in Acrylic, 

but you can see her style is so much different than Sarah's.

Mary has watered down her paint so that it almost comes off as Watercolor.

Acrylic can be a very versatile medium.

Just lovely Mary!

And we end with Tiffany.

In her photo,

the lens of the camera caught an additional image in its refection.

Tiffany could have left it out,

but I'm so glad she chose to keep it.

Like Sarah,

she has chosen to give the viewer a real treat.

But I know it had to be killer hard to deal with.

But in most all Tiffany's works she does love to challenge herself,

always pushing to be her very best.

Tiffany has an incredible work ethic and headed to Art Center as well.

Couldn't be prouder!!

Of course the close up is amazing to see.

If you look closely you will note that she has chosen to bring Colored Pencils 

over top the Watercolor to help with the cast shadows.

This also brings delicious texture to her portrait.

Another superb piece!

As I look back at these girls and their Portraits,

I know I was very blessed to work with such incredible talent.

What a wonderful job I had,

to love going to work everyday to this.

I still miss it so much.

Special Note:

I looked for all 3 girls on LinkedIn and found 2.

Both Tiffany and Sarah graduated with top honors from Art Center in 2022,

and are now Illustrators and Motion Designers.

Wow!!!

One proud teacher!

SO MUCH CREATIVITY

GRAPHITE SPHERES

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

graphite on white paper, colored pencils

One of our favorite veteran teachers asked me today if I had noticed a lack of creativity 

in the kids coming up thru the ranks recently

because she has.

I told her no I hadn't, 

but what I have noticed is a lot more procrastination and lack of effort.

And I blame this on the Internet and gaming devices.

Our children are addicted,

and are admitting to me that they spend way too much time on them 

instead of limiting themselves so they can get their schoolwork done.

I believe that this is a huge problem worldwide.

But as you will see here,

there is no lack of creativity in these young ones.

We started with the most talented young 7th grader in the class,

Akarsh Suresh.

What you are seeing above is raw talent.

I hope so much he will come back to me this year so I can help him refine his technical skills.

Next we have Koa De Leon,

one of my favs of all the 120 7th graders I worked with last year.

The reason was because of her maturity and wisdom.

She was like an old soul,

very wise, attentive and intuitive.

Everytime I looked her way in her class of 31 kids,

she was the one who was the "most with me" as I spoke.

And man oh man,

did I love that!

She also has a very creative side for illustration.

Like we saw in the last post on this group,

her work could be used for a children's book. 

This next one took my breath away.

Such a powerful piece because of the dynamic movement of the sphere

and the use of color.

And what a wonderful border Hanna Estrada!

These last 3 pieces I'm totally guessing who created them

 because I can't find any paperwork on them.

So these are my best guesses.

Young ones,

send me a comment or e-mail and let me know if I'm wrong so I can make corrections.

I want to say that this one belongs to Matthew Bautista.

Love the diagonal that he used for horizon and placement of sphere.

And of course the colored pencil really helps this piece to pop!

I'm pretty sure this one belongs to Kayla Vicencio.

I love the beautifully done Zentangle border she put around her sphere.

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.

MORE PERSPECTIVE WORK

2-POINT PERSPECTIVE BOX CONSTRUCTIONS

INTERMEDIATE 2-D ART

graphite on bristol board with colored pencil accents

In yesterday's post you saw 1-Point Perspective work,

today the Box Constructions are in 2-Point.

Enjoy! 

In this first one senior Tiffany Chen shows off her mastery of composition &  design.

She's also got a wonderful range of cast shadows going on,

but it's the sweet string of lights that really pulls it together and adds so much more interest.

Senior Mary Kim has designed this very intriguing & fun piece.

We all loved her slime coming out of the box,

but it was her border that made this really special done in colored pencil.

And so clean.

I always grade the kids on craftsmanship.

Senior Christian Balbido has built us an abandoned house with so many cool details.

Note how he has balanced the large cast shadow (lower left)

with the bit of yellow lightening coming from the cloudy sky on right.

I also like the fact that he mounted it on top of the black construction paper.

And we end today with senior Sarah Oh and her beloved animals.

She has completely covered all her graphite with colored pencil

which helps her piece stand out from the crowd.

Her stair box construction in 2-Point was very challenging to get just right,

but she nailed it.

And check out the outstanding cast shadows under the animals that are climbing the stairs.

This young lady has a gift as do all the young ones I feature on this blog.

LETS PLAY BALL

GRAPHITE SPHERES

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

graphite on paper w/ colored pencil accents

The 2nd assignment for these newbie 7th graders was to turn a circle into a sphere,

establish  a horizon, 

put in a cast shadow,

 and to build in a pleasing border to help fill negative space.

Let's see what they came up with.

My personal favorite was this creative piece by Serena Lee.

So playful and it keeps my eyes moving around the piece to see all the ants & their antics.

I felt this next one by Anika Kasula had a very sophisticated fore & background.

Plus I really like the extra touch of color mixed with graphite.

Sara Wong did an outstanding job with this assignment as well.

She drew to the scale of the paper which can be challenging for 7th graders.

And David Song came up with such a terrific border idea.

We end with very sweet Azalea Han.

She has come to me with both great craftsmanship and drawing skills.

I look forward to showing you so much more 7th grade art,

so stay turned.

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! 

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO...

Let's get the 2017-2018 School Year Started

COLOR THEORY

Beginning 2-D Art

tempera on bristol board w/ some colored pencil accents

Finally...

I'm so sorry to have gone on so long getting last school year finished.

Perhaps there was way more to post then normal,

or I'm just not pacing myself like I should.

Whichever it is,

possibly a combo. of both,

let me get this 2018 year started!

I'd like to start by introducing you to my Beginning 2-D kids.

I feel so very lucky to have such a cohesive group this year to work with.

They are so with me everyday,

coming in each morning with huge smiles on their sweet faces ready to work.

Many of them are 8th graders this year,

several of my best 7th graders from the Art Wheel last year.

So let's see what they are creating.

One of my many superstars this year is 11th grader Jessica Mones.

I worked with her in 7th grade and she stood out for so many reasons.

Her biggest one being her positivity and passion for the arts.

The kids had a choice to put their Color Wheel on one paper and their Color Schemes on another;

or for extra credit,

to design everything to fit on one paper.

Jessica made the 2nd choice happen with her fun and creative composition.

Another beginner who is really standing out this year is junior Steffany Reyes.

Frequently Steffany does a minimum of 2 pieces to everyone else's one.

She is that fast and competent.

If she goes on in art,

 that will serve her well in the work force.

So many times artists work too slowly and can't meet deadlines.

Not Steffany.

Here is one of the amazing 8th graders I was talking about earlier from the Art Wheel last year.

She is Madison Plotkin,

and if you put her name in my search engine you can pull up her pieces from last year.

She has incredible talent in design and craftsmanship,

and is very interested in going on in the arts.

She participates in every art contest available to further hone her skills.

She is a winner already!

Up next we have one of the best artist's in the class,

junior Manishka Ranjit.

She has been drawing all her life and she is bringing to the table remarkable designs

like this Color Wheel/Color Scheme piece.

Frequently she asks to work larger then the other kids,

and I allow her too because I know she will deliver.

She was also in the Art Wheel 4 years ago and I've been anxiously awaiting her return.

Can't wait to see what she will produce as a junior.

Detail

THE BLOBS ARE BACK

WATERCOLOR BLOB ANIMALS

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

watercolor, marking pen & colored pencil accents

It's time to say farewell to all my 2016-2017 7th graders.

This will be your last post before I start with this years young ones.

So many of you have such a special place in my heart, 

and I've never had so many of you return for an 8th grade year with me.

It's so very poignant to look back at these young pieces

and to now see the maturity you have gained in such a short amount of time with me this year.

And to also see how much you've grown as artists.

It was a pleasure to get to know all of you.

Arrim Jung

Rebecca Joy Simbol

Andrew Lee

Camille Dang

Tin Pham

Bryan Fan

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!!!