Photography: Scholastic Art Awards

We reviewed all of the photographs we created so far this year this week in class and choose our favorites now it's time to print and submit some of them into contests and shows.  One of my favorite competitions is the Scholastic art and writing awards which has some fantastic prizes such as a $40,000 scholorship, shows, workshops with professionals in NYC, and an award ceremony in NYC.  As an added incentive I'll award extra credit to everyone from photo who enters (due by Monday, January 6, 2014 and there is a $5 fee per individual submission). 

 

Special Instructions- Photographs can be entered into 1of 2 categories based on the information below and you can enter a piece into both categories as well.

• Identify type of photographic techniques used in the “List Materials” section of online registration. 
• Editing software (Adobe Photoshop, Corel PaintShop Photo Pro, Photo Explosion, etc.) is acceptable to use for minor touch-ups and image correction in a manner that replicates traditional darkroom techniques (cropping, dodging, burning, adjusting brightness, contrast, color balance, etc).
• Works that are digitally collaged, cloned, layered, merged, distorted, or heavily manipulated with computer software must be submitted in the Digital Art category
• Emter Here: Scholastic Registration

Here is a link to some of the previous winners to give you an idea of what has been chosen: Scholastic Winners.  The winners are posted Friday, January 31 at 5pm so good luck!

Art Honor Society: Holiday Party and members show

Yesterday the National Art Honor Society had their annual holiday party and assembled our members show which will open when we return from break and be up for two weeks.

Photography: Tiltshift

Today we will review the tiltshift photos we created last week in class.  Above is a terrific example from Alix that was taken in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum on the Media Art Honor Society's Fall field trip.  Today our double exposures are due and tomorrow we will begin working on a group assignment.

Studio Art: Zentangle

Before our holiday break we will work on a unique drawing called a Zentangle.  There are a few great examples in the Zetangle Pool on Flickr and the video above is an example from Tiffany Lovering.  These are fun, stress-free, and in creating a zentangle the process is as important as the result so try not to be a perfectionist and let yourself go.

AP Art: Solarplate Etching

Yesterday's solarplate etching workshop with Dan Weldon was a great success and above are a few of the results from Paige, Harry, Allison, and Andrew.  You can see some of the different additive and reductive techniques that were used to aid your work on our future printmaking projects but what's nice about these prints is that they reflect the individual style of each artist.

 

This week in AP art class we will begin uploading the AP Studio Art Submissions  using our etching in the breadth section.  Below is the information you need to know to sign up:

School Code: 335001

School: SMITHTOWN HIGH SCH E CAMPUS

Teacher Key: xwt0100

Photography: Alternative Process II

In Photography we are continuing our work on Alternative Processes this week with creating double exposures and tiltshift images (look at the awesome example above by Keith Loutit).  Below are a few techniques and the final 2 images are due on Monday:

 Double Exposures: There are a variety of ways to create double exposures the most controlled being to take two images and merge the as layers on Photoshop.  You can also use cameras which allow for two exposures such as the Holga and Diana or apps on your smartphone.  My favorite app is Hipstamatic but not that they are charging here's a link to a few free apps which allow you to create double exposures.

Tiltshift: We are not actually doing tradional tiltshift which use a special lens (which tilts and shifts) but rather mimicing the effect.  The three basic methods are hand blurring the images in Photoshop, using a website such as www.tilitshiftmaker.com, of creating them on the smart phone with apps such as Instagram (using the little teardrop icon) and here's a link to a few other free apps which allow you to create tiltshift images.

AP Art: Solar Plate Etching

Today is our Solar Plate Etching workshop periods 2-5 so make sure you have your prepared piece to work from and meet in artroom 161 at 8am so we can begin on time.   Above are examples of the works from students last year using the three different techniques.

Denmark Day 2013

Today we have students from Denmark visiting so lets take a quick look some of my favorite Danish at art and media and learn a little bit more about the home of the Vikings.

In the world of film Babette's Feast is a modern Danish classic and films such as: Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, and the far out their Melancholia came from Danish director Lars von Trier who was part of the Dogme movement which came about in the 90's with like: Thomas Vinterberg, Søren Kragh-Jacobsen and Lone Scherfig.

In the world of art I've always admired the work of Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, who  studied  with Jacques-Louis David in Paris as well as work from contemporary artist such as: Per Kirkeby, Richard Winther, and Olafur Eliasson who did the terrific piece shown in the video above in 2008 titled New York City Waterfalls.

Hans Christian Andersen is probably the most famous author from Denmark and there's a terrific Little Mermaid statue based on his 1913 story by Edvard Eriksen in Copenhagen that you might recognize. Danish design and architecture is also pretty amazing notably Jørn Utzon's iconic Sydney Opera House which earned him the distinction of becoming only the second person to have his work recognized as a World Heritage Site while still alive.  Finally in music modern groups such as: The Raveonettes, Mew, and Lars Ulrich, drummer of the band Metallica are Danish

Photography: Critiquing our Light Paintings

Last week we worked on learning how to paint with light and all of the final edited photographs are due today so we will critique them along with the grunge filter portraits in class.  The photo above was done in class with Irene, Sophia, and I using lightbomber and edited on the iphone using grunge textures.

AP Art: Solar-plate etching workshop

This Thursday December 12, 2013 students from our AP Art class will be participating in an In-School Field Trip with guest printmaker Dan Weldon from periods 2-5 for a solar-plate etching workshop.  Take a look at some of the solarplates Weldon has done with artists such as: DeKooning, Flavin, Fischl, and Salle through his company Hampton Editions for inspiration in order to be prepared for the experience.

Media Art: Global Nomads

This year Mr. Needles media classes we will participate in a new exciting online exchange program called Global Citizens in Action through the Global Nomads Group.  We are being paired up with a class in Islamabad, Pakistan and the collaborative lessons will focus on cultural exchange, media literacy, and global citizenship.  I recently worked with our partner teachers in an online professional development program and we reviewed the lessons which should be as engaging as they are insightful and interesting!  We will be starting just after the winter break and it should be a wonderful addition to our class!

Studio Art: 8 Bit Wonderland

We are taking a cue from street art legend Space Invader for our next project and we'll be creating a simple grid version of a famous piece of art which we studied earlier in class.  Below is an example that I created using the Mona Lisa as an example.  I have the grid saved in the assignment and public drive and today I'll demonstrate how it's created in Photoshop.

Studio Art: Photoshop Skills

In Studio Art class we have been learning a variety of photoshop skills such as layering (check out Ashley's excellent example above) and design with the poster contest (here's a great entry from Olivia below) which is due today. Our two assignments will be design based computer arts projects and for inspiration you should take a look at Computer Arts Magazine which has some amazing examples of digital art as well as tutorials and we will decide together as a class which assignment we will do next.

 

 

Photography: Experimental techniques I

This week in class we will be learning two experimental photography techniques light painting and creating a grunge filter.  Both assignments will be due a week from today on Tuesday next week. (I'm assigning 2 at the same time due to equipment and space constraints so that everyone can be working on one or the other)

Grunge
Today I will first demonstrate how to use images of wrecked type, scratches. grime, grit, and coffee spills along with some advanced Photoshop tools to create a unique grunge filter. There are also so tutorials in the link above that you might want to try just be sure it is an original image that you are working with and not someone else's.  It is also important to make sure you work with an image that would look good weathered so you might want to take one later today for use tomorrow (there are examples from students in previous classes above).

Light Painting
Today I'll demonstrate the basic techniques involved with light painting and then you can create your own either using our DSLR camera or one of the long exposure apps for the smart phones such as light bomber which also hosts regular contests and require that the image is nor Photoshoped making it crucial that you get the exposure and contrast right for the shot.  The more complex your painting is the harder it is but the cooler it looks so if your up for the challenge go for it!  Above is an example I did by signing my name in light, the trick is you need to learn how to sign it backwards if you are behind the light, tricky!

Here are the two examples from the demonstrations I did in class with Trent, Graham, and I of the two different projects.

Welcome Back

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a terrific break and enjoyed the holiday!  Our Art & Media Art Honor Society trip to the Metropolitan Museum was a great success and now we are fully into the holiday season.  Below is a breakdown of what each of the classes is working on right now as a reminder so take a look in case you forgot!


Media Art: Hand drawn animation (50 cards due Wednesday)

Studio Art: Type Poster Design (Completed Poster due Wednesday)

Photography: 3 Color and 3 Black and White Studio Portraits (due Today)

AP Art: The Scholastic Prize (critique today, final due Wednesday)


Also the art and media art honor society will be putting together our annual gallery show so make sure to bring work in Wednesday to show!!