Virginia Art Education Association Conference 2021- Surviving and Thriving in the Middle School Art Classroom

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VAEA 2021 - Surviving and Thriving in the Middle School Art Classroom

Fractured Still Life Drawing

Fractured Still Life Drawing

I began this lesson with a google slide presentation which covered what a contour line drawing, still life drawing are and what composition means. I have not completed this lesson with students, but will update this post with student art when they start rolling in :) 

Google Slide Presentation- contour line, still life, composition

 

 

Materials:

White paper (needs to be at least 8.5x11, larger is better) 

Pencil, sharpie, colored pencils, blending stump (if you don't have one, you can use your finger, paper towel, or tissue) 

RULER or STRAIGHT EDGE (use a book or something that has a straight edge if you do not have a ruler) 

Directions:

1. Arrange an interesting still life composition of 8-10 items. 

2. Using pencil, create a contour line drawing of the composition. (DO NOT SHADE) 

3. Using pencil, draw 8-10 of the same geometric shape (they should be different sizes) OVERLAP your contour still life objects 

                              

4. Using sharpie, outline any pieces of the items that are NOT inside of a box. DO NOT OUTLINE THE BOXES!!!!

                               

5. Decide which materials to use inside which boxes. You are adding value/color to the items, but ONLY inside the boxes. Some should be done with just sharpie, some with pencil, and some with colored pencil. 

                                   

6. Lastly- you need a background that doesn't take away from your drawing. I decided to create evenly spaced vertical lines through the back of mine. It is your choice what to do for your background.

Background Rules: 

Should be done only with pencil and sharpie. (pencil first for sure!) 

DO NOT draw through your boxes or items! 

Simple is best. 

                                       

Let's talk art journals

Ok so most teachers have a warm up routine for the kids as they come in. 

...I didn't used to, until two years ago. 

We do not have bells between classes because of our schedule so I was having students coming in to class in waves. I got tired of starting directions 50 times, so I decided I needed a warm up that they could work independently on each day. LIGHTBULB: Art Journals! They have evolved from a completely open ended assignment "hey kids you can draw whatever you want!" To a designated subject- which gets rid of most of the "I don't know what to draw" and the "I can't draw" complex. 

All students are 'trained' to come in and get their journals out each day. 7th and 8th grade have 20 minutes every class day (X/Y schedule, 85-90 minutes) 

And 6th grade has 10 minutes (every day semester or X/Y nine weeks 40 minutes) it is a graded weekly assignment. 

Week one: Cover.

The cover is made of poster board, it's 13"x 9.5" This year I printed their names so they would be legible. They were instructed to draw 6 lines from their name, and had to include the word Art, and a quote of their choice. The remainder was up to them. 

As you can see, the results vary. I like the organized directions to get them started but then I love to see their individuality come out with the rest of it.

Each week 8th graders are to choose a quote (I have 3 on the board to choose from or they can come up with their own quote via the internet) they have to write their quote on their page, attempting a font other than their own handwriting. They then have to 'fill the space' however they see fit:

7th grade is assigned a word each week, and this year they have to use a particular font. The rest of the page is up to them, this weeks word was School: 

Last but not least, 6th grade. They have a short class time, 40 minutes so I assign them a topic. This week they were to draw an imaginary creature: 

My students never cease to amaze me!

One week down..

This week was a good first week I'd say. I like my classes and so far they seem to like me... even with there being a full moon and all. ..

I did not go over rules and procedures this week, the only procedures I reviewed were drills- fire, earthquake, tornado and lockdown. It's such a shame that we have to review what to do in the case of an intruder, but that's today's world I guess, sadly.

Anyway, my students worked on the Marshmallow challenge (see previous post) and also the exquisite corpse drawing exercise. 

Students were each given an 8.5x11 piece of paper. They created a tri-fold and wrote their name on the back. Then students were instructed to draw a 'head' for the exquisite corpse. They must extend the neck to just below the fold line. After drawing the head they were told to fold the top third backwards and make sure they could see  the marks from their drawing below the fold. They then had to  GET UP AND TRADE WITH SOMEONE AT ANOTHER TABLE. This way, they had actually move and talk to other people. 

They were NOT allowed to look at the head on their newly acquired paper. They were to use the marks that extended below the fold to begin the 'body' of the corpse. When finished, they again had to extend the lines below the fold line and fold it backwards again. They were instructed to trade with someone they hadn't traded with yet.  

Lastly they were instructed to Finish the bottom of the corpse. They the. Open it, laugh and return it to the original artist. 

It's a fun way to get them drawing on the first day! 

And so it begins...

Helloooooooo 2017/2018 school year,  and my 13th year of teaching! Whoa. 13 years... usually 13 is an unlucky number, you know, Friday the 13th... but it happens to be lucky for me. My name is Tyler and I am the art teacher at a middle school in Stafford, Virginia. I teach 6th 7th and 8th grade students. My 7th and 8th graders see me every other day (X/Y) for a semester, 85-93 minutes per class.  6th grade is either 9 weeks 40 minutes every other day or semester 40 minutes every day. 

So last year I started the year with a NASTY attitude and it never went away.. from teacher week on. It started with hardly any time to work in my classroom before school started and I just felt like I never got my head above water, not to mention I had TERRIBLE class combinations, so overall is was an awful year.

This year I am being POSITIVE!!  In doing a pretty good job, if I do say so myself!  Today is Friday, so now that I've come to the end of my work week, in ready to share my room and some of the things I'm doing in my class this year. 

So this is my classroom, I actually have two classrooms (lucky me!!) as my school used to be a high school and there were two connected art rooms.


 My room is an explosion of color and is every bit as distracting as it could possibly be :) 

Our school theme this year is "Oh the places you'll go"

My contribution to the theme:

Other ideas I've had this year (thank you Pinterest) 

My pencil system consists of flagged and numbered pencils, the number corresponds with a number at each seat in my room. I have found this to be the most effect way of not losing so many pencils.

Pool noodle markers:


Hall passes: I only allow one student of each sex out of the room at a time so this is a good visual for me to remember when someone is gone. 

This is my idea for students who are struggling with the ability to work on projects in class.. students who are not working approproately. This is my Art Reading and writing center. Students have two ways to learn about art.. creating it or reading and writing about it. Students who struggle with the first because of behavior will be invited to the R and W center to read scholastic art magazines and complete written assignments. It's my first year trying this so we'll see how it works. . 

Lastly for this year is my 'teacher art supplies center' I've set this up for the core teachers to be able to borrow/use my old supplies that are still good, this is also new so we'll see how it goes. 

So school starts Tuesday, wish me luck!