Art and Digital Classes: Doodle 4 Google

This week we will be working on creating designs for this year's Doodle 4 Google contest in all art and media classes.  The theme is What Makes Me...Me, a personal and open theme that allows for creative designs.  Today we will sketch out ideas and through the week we will develop and color our ideas then the final design is due on Friday and must be digitized with a parent's signature by Monday  December 7 so they can be submitted.

Digital Media: The Great Thanksgiving Listen

In Digital Media we will be doing our final preparations for the Story Corps The Great Thanksgiving Listen project that should be recorded over the holiday break (if you haven't recorded it already).  The recording is due in class on Monday and we'll work on editing and organizing them so they can be uploaded.  Remember uploading the story is not required but it does count for extra credit as long as you post it with the hashtags #TheGreatListen2015NY and #Needlesclass on social media.

Studio Art: Figure Drawing

In Studio Art and digital media class we are finishing up our figure drawing work and we'll have a quiz on the basic terminology we learned during the lessons.  The terms can be found in Quizlet which can be used to study.  The final drawings will be due  on Tuesday December 1 and the quiz will be on Wednesday December 2.

2015 Wyland Foundation Water is Life Mural

“We know that when we protect our oceans we’re protecting our future.” – Bill Clinton

Today we are finishing up work on our 2015 Wyland Foundation “Our Coasts and Climate” Water is Life Mural which is due digitally Wednesday.  Above is a time-lapse Vine of students working on the mural last week in the art honor society and AP Art class.  The room will be open for painting extra periods in order to complete the mural in time.

Digital Media: Digital Drawing

In Digital Media class we are going to transition from traditional drawing to digital drawing and here's some inspiration.  Anyone who hasn't posed for the class will get their opportunity today or Monday and them we will choose our best drawings and work back into them a with different media. Five completed drawings from life will be due next week on Tuesday, choose your best and we will scan some in to work with digitally.

Art Honor Society: Wyland Foundation 2015 Class Mural

Today in AP Art class and after school in the National Art Honor Society we will continue work on our 2015 Wyland Foundation Class Mural design which is due on Wednesday next week.  It's been a great collaborative effort and my room is open all day for anyone that has a free period and wants to paint!

Digital Media: The Great Thanksgiving Listen

In Digital Media class we are working on preparing for our Storycorps- The Great Thanksgiving Listen project in which each student will interview an elder (grandparent, parent, family friend, ect.). The interview should be recorded via the StoryCorps app on a smart phone and you will use the worksheet provided in class to prepare your questions.  Each interview should have 10-15 question and be under 40 minutes.  The project is due right after Thanksgiving break on Tuesday Dec 1.

Drawing: Revising and Completing Figure Drawings

In both AP Art and Drawing class we will be continuing working on figure drawing with an emphasis on learning how to revise and complete the drawings making them into finished works.  You may use either digital or traditional media to complete these 5 pieces and they will be due on Friday at the end of class.  Above are some examples I created using drawings I made in class to give a better idea of the expectation.  Remember this is you opportunity to be creative and make it personal!

Drawing: C is for consciousness: paint your rich inner life

In Drawing class our next assignment is taken from The Guardian C is for consciousness: paint your rich inner life: create a work of art that expresses your conscious experience. It could be inspired by philosophy, or neuroscience – or you might prefer simply to celebrate the diversity of your daily reality without seeking answers.  It's a very open project that you can interpret individually and it's due at the end of class on Tuesday 11/17.  You may want to take a hint at Yayoi Kusama's work which we recently learned about because she incorporated her consciousness in much of her work!

Studio Art and Drawing: Figure Drawing

We are working on Figure Drawings in Studio Art and AP Studio Art class this week and as we have done in the past we will do a number of figure drawings each period.  We'll use a few different techniques such as drawing with the opposite hand, gesture drawings, blind contour drawings, and using multiple colors.  The focus in our figure drawing work is improvement so we'll pay special attention to getting a likeness, body and face proportions, hands and feet and including details in the drawings.  Remember these will be graded differently than other work because you'll have an opportunity to choose your 5 best drawings that will be assessed in comparison to your earlier drawings rather than assessing all of them.

AP ART: The Sketchbook Project

In our AP ART we are about half finished with our collaborative Sketchbook Project on our greatest doubts and victories.  I completed my page as you can see from the Vine video above and each AP art student who is part of the art honor society should complete their page by Thanksgiving.  When completed our sketchbook will be permanently on view at the Brooklyn Art Library as part of the largest collection of sketchbooks in the US.

AP Art: PDNedu Student Photo Contest

The PDNedu team has re-launched the Student Photo Contest call-for-entries site for the 2016 edition, and we're excited to publish new work from students around the world. We are offering a very affordable early-bird entry fee through November 9 at $15 per entry (up to six images). The regular deadline period extends through December 15 at $18 per entry. The contest is aimed to help you get your foot in the door while you're still in school, giving exposure to your photography through a print gallery in the Spring 2016 issue of PDNedu (sent to 50,000 readers) and an online gallery, promoted to PDN's network of 200,000 followers. There are some pretty cool prizes, too. Grand-prize winners, one per category, will each receive a Nikon DSLR camera, $150 to B&H Photo and Video and a portfolio consultation. Categories include Fashion & Portraiture, Documentary, Still Life, Travel & Landscape, Fine Art & Personal Work, Multimedia & Video, and High School (any subject).

You can see the current list of judges and the complete prize packages at contest.pdnedu.com. There, you'll also find rules, FAQ, last year's winners' gallery and more.

Art Honor Society- Painting Murals

A1 This month I'm designing my @sketchbkproject featured in my intro & new classroom murals w/ students #k12artchat pic.twitter.com/ZWW13K6PRc

— Tim Needles (@timneedles) October 23, 2015

Today in Art Honor Society we will continue to work on painting murals in and outside of the classroom and we will also be going over some details about our upcoming field trip to the Brooklyn Museum of Art on December 4th.  We will discuss this years induction and collect all the names of students to be inducted at the beginning of our meeting so be sure to get there on time!

Digital Media- #TheGreatListen 2015

In Digital Media class we will be participating in the StoryCorps #TheGreatListen 2015 project as the final project in our audio unit.  Monday we watched StoryCorps founder Dave Isay's TED talk (posted above) in class that gave insight into the project along with some examples.

Today we will start preparing for our interviews with a worksheet, the free StoryCorps app, and a list of questions you can pull from along with some hints and advice.  The final recording is due on Friday November 20 so you have 3 weeks to create your interview.  I'll hand out a permission slip to everyone to sign but in terms of sharing and uploading your final interview it's your choice and not mandatory for the class.

Inspiration: SCAD's graphic design alumnus David Clark

Here's a great video from SCAD featuring their graphic design alumnus David Clark and his kartwheel design company.  There are a few terrific examples and lessons to be learned from this one, enjoy!

AP ART: Photographer's Forum 36th Annual College and High School Photography Contest

Reminder to all my AP ART students, today is the deadline for the Photographer's Forum 36th Annual College and High School Photography Contest.  It's an easy and cheap contest to enter (pay $6 and upload digitally) so make sure to enter your best image or two!  Above are some examples of finalists from AP recently and below are some of the prizes!  Hit the link above to enter

FIRST PLACE :: COLLEGE :: $2,000 cash grant FIRST PLACE :: HIGH SCHOOL :: $2,000 cash grant - SECOND PLACE :: COLLEGE :: $1,250 cash grant SECOND PLACE :: HIGH SCHOOL :: $1,250 cash grant - THIRD PLACE :: COLLEGE :: $500 cash grant THIRD PLACE :: HIGH SCHOOL :: $500 cash grant - 5 FOURTH PLACE AWARDS :: COLLEGE :: Five $250 grants 5 FOURTH PLACE AWARDS :: HIGH SCHOOL :: Five $250 grants

Studio Art: Artist Research Presentations

Today in Studio Art we will continue to present our Artist Research Projects and we'll be looking art artist such as Shepard Fairey (OBEY) and Alexander Calder who have done work locally.  Check out the video above for a more in-depth look at some of OBEY's work and remember we'll have a visual test this Friday on all of the artists we learn about!