Preparation for the 2nd Annual Chalk Festival

I don't think my kids realize how far they have come in terms of their artistic skills. Shown here are some examples of how we prepare for the chalk art festival. The kids select a carnival pictures from the Internet, format it into a square, grid it into sixteenths, then draw it to scale using a larger piece of paper. Then, they color it with drawing chalk, utilizing blending and smoothing techniques.

Henna Hands

Me and a few students worked a Henna Booth at the Duck Pluck this past weekend and it was INSANE! We had so many customers, there was not a moment of rest time. The girls worked diligently from 11-4:00. Finally, we had to shut it down and turn people away. It was so much fun!
I had never used henna before, but it was similar to cake decorating, so Ii caught on quickly and got sucked into being creative. The girls promised to work with me next year, so I will definitely have 2 booths next year to maximize profits!

Dias de los Muertos Plaster Skull

I have always wanted to do the traditional sugar skulls during out Dias DE Los Muertos unit. But fear of mice, ants, messes- just fear in general stopped me from moving forward. That is, until I became one with Plaster of Paris...
I had a parent make 90 molds this year for parent hours. They just sat on my window still this year because the curriculum was packed with no room to budge. So one of my 8th graders who always finishes early, tested out an idea I had to carve the plaster into the shape of a skull and design it similar to the sugar skull examples.
The result? AWESOME! He even made the carving into a candle holder! The design follows the same elements of color, symmetry and balance as the traditional sugar skulls. Also, he was able to use all the carving tools (a class set) I had invested in the year before. We will definitely do this project instead of the remembrance masks we did this year.
I love trying new things!!!

Op Art

This project is going to be just as a successfull as Tessellations and the skill involved go hand-in-hand. There are so many ways to extend this assignment. Right off the bat I'm thinking in addition to concentric circles kids could bubble in their name as part of the grid and incorporate it into the illusion. If I have some superstars that go above and beyond (I usually do) I will have them test my extension idea. Check back in a week or two and I'll post student examples. These pictures outline the process for my example.

M.C. Escher

The kids really got into their tessellations. This will be a great unit to start the year along with Op Art. It teaches the kids basic skills of color, patter, symmetry, repetition, color wheel and precision. Here are just a few examples.

Warhol Block Linoleum

Here are some samples of the 8th grade class Block Linoleum Pop Art Project.

2010 Van Gogh Self Portrait

Here are some samples from the 2010 8th grade class.