Art classes create range of works since beginning of school year

Mrs. Benoit’s art classes have been busy completing unique and interesting works since August, including:

Handbound Art Journals – Art I, II and III students constructed and handbound a sketch journal. They measured the pages, hand-stitched the spine, and then designed personal shields for the back cover. On the front, they researched illuminated letters and created a monogram based on their findings. These were color pencil on cardstock, silk thread bindings.

Handscapes – Art III students drew detailed hands and then altered them into a combination with another object or made them part of a landscape. These were done in graphite.

Visual Puns – Art II and III students drew bird and animal names that lended themselves to double meanings. They researched the animals, drew them realistically, then drew images that played on the animal names. They combined the two, keeping the realistic animal shapes. Images were done in graphite with stamped letter titles.

Linoleum Prints on Monoprint Background – Art II and III students carved linoleum sheets with a reverse image. They based their designs on traditional Mexican Day of the Dead imagery. Students created backgrounds by rolling ink onto wax paper and then used a variety of resists before overprinting the designs on repurposed book pages. Once the single image designs were printed, students printed their linoleum blocks on top of these pages with a darker ink.

Oil Pastel – Art I, II and III students created a fire-themed image using oil pastels and tempera paint. 

Google Logo – Art 7 and 8 students used colored pencils to create a Google logo based on their own interests.

Ribbon Hands – Art 7 and 8 students sketched their hands and added details. They used a graph to enlarge these hands and added curling ribbons around them. They created a graphite underpainting for the hands and ribbons and then added a high contrast background in tempera paint.

Playing Card Self Portrait – Art II and III students drew stylized portraits of themselves and then used graphs to enlarge the image. They duplicated this image and developed a connecting section in the style of a playing card. Students used graphite shading as an underpainting (grissaille), then finished the portrait in color pencil.

Clay Bowls – Art I, II and III students used brown stoneware clay to handbuild bowls. After shaping them, students practiced surface design.

Book Sculpture – Art II and III created book sculptures using only pages from the book and glue. The students were tasked to create sculptures that aligned with the plot.