TED Talk

Excited to share that I'll be presenting my 1st TED Talk on creativity featuring elements from my book STEAM Power which is out in March! The event is on April 25 TEDx WCMepham!

Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

Congratulations to the students from Mr. Needles AP art and digital media classes who won gold and silver key awards in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and are now in the nationals, good luck!

Trisan Davis- Gold Key, American Visions Nominee Video Game Design

Nethmi Withanage- 2 Silver Key, 2 Honorable Mention Drawing, Illustration, & Painting

Ashleigh Golden- Gold Key Video Game Design

Kiersten Hebron- Gold Key, Silver Key Photography

Digital Media: Created a texture layer and original brushes

In Digital Media we are returning to digital drawing and learning how to create a texture layer and original brushes. The video above shows one way to add a texture layer but you can also add the layer and just lower the opacity and create masks to block our sections where you don't want the texture to show like the demonstration I did in class.


Creating an original brush is easy and helps make your work unique as well. You can draw or import a shape or image the go to edit and select define brush preset. That will create a new brush that can be used for everyone on that computer.

Digital Media: Google Doodle

We are working on the Doodle for Google contest this week creating Google Doodles using digital or traditional drawing.  The contest drawings are due for a grade March 11 and need to be submitted digitally by March 13.

This year’s Doodle for Google theme is:

“I SHOW KINDNESS BY...

Here's a look at how the process happens at Google with the Google Doodle team, they begin in a similar way with brainstorming and sketching out their ideas the follow the creative process.

SCAD Visit

Today we have a representative from SCAD coming to Smithtown East to talk about their program and review some AP Art portfolios.  Here's a few photos from one of my recent trips to Savannah where I took a tour of the art school while attending the summer educators workshop.  We have a number of students attending SCAD along with tons of alumni over the years but if you want to get a taste yourself look into their summer student programs: SCAD summer

AP Art: Calligraphy Art

We are beginning a collaborative project Calligraphy Art this week. The word calligraphy literally means beautiful writing. Before the invention of the printing press some 500 years ago, it was the way books were made. Each copy was handwritten out by a scribe working in a scriptorium. The hand writing was done with quill and ink onto materials like vellum or parchment. Today with the introduction of the internet, computers and modern communication, we are constantly influenced by the different styles of lettering and typefaces.

Students will choose a word and illustrate the word in a way that expresses it’s meaning. The letters should include the following principles of design: Emphasis, Spacial Balance and Unity, Expressive meaning in addition they may contain movement, rhythm and pattern. Students will write a short essay that describes the word used plus how and where you have used the principles of design. Here are some examples by Retna (below) and Jose Parla with JR (above).

Digital Media: Building Our Rube Goldberg Machine

This week we are working on creating a Rube Goldberg machine inspired by OKgo's video This Too Shall Pass and we will use OKgo Sandbox as a resource as well as the Rube Goldberg Contest Rule Book. We'll design and assemble out machine and the final step should be to shut off one or more lights (this year's theme).

AP Art: Stormwater Awareness Campaign

Our Stormwater Awareness Campaign was in the news recently, the STEAM collaboration with HSW students in Mrs. Williams science classes has been terrific and well be completing our designs in order to share them at our next Google Hangout in March!

It's great that our town is so supportive of our #Stormwater Awareness Campaign, the #STEAM collaboration with students in @williamsocnwld's Science classes has been terrific & continues to grow! Here's an article Smithtown posted: https://t.co/YLm9mZLl3V pic.twitter.com/mSFybtdt3W

— Tim Needles (@timneedles) February 7, 2020

National Art Honor Society Induction Ceremony

We held our 2020 National Art Honor Society and Jr Honor Society Induction Ceremony last night along with a members art exhibition and reception.  Congratulations to all the new members, it was a fun night!

Our co-presidents Megan and Kiersten did a wonderful job presenting and inducting their fellow members as well as our Jr Honor Society co-presidents Mia and Maya.  Here's a few more images from the event!

We held our National Art Honor Society induction last night as well as a terrific #NAHS member’s #art exhibition & reception, it was great to meet so many of the student’s friends & family members & celebrate their hard work! pic.twitter.com/oUFaVjISSW

— Tim Needles (@timneedles) February 7, 2020

Digital Media: Rube Goldberg machine

A Rube Goldberg machine, named after American cartoonist Rube Goldberg, is a machine intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and overly complicated way.  They are also known as chain reaction machines and this week we are going in work with Okgo Sandbox again and create one of our own.  Each student will team up to create on part of our machine and we will arrange and film it!

National Art Honor Society Induction

Today is our National Art Honor Society Induction Ceremony at 6pm (ceremony starts at 6:30) and we'll have a member art exhibition and reception after the ceremony.

2020 Long Island's Best at the Hecksher Museum

We are approaching another deadline for the 2020 Long Island's Best exhibit at the Heckscher Museum.  All forms must be filled out completely and submitted by 5 pm on February 14, 2020.  The ARTWORK critiqued and prepared and framed before it is delivered next month on Tuesday, March 10 because our school has a limited number of entries.  A completed Artwork Label must be attached to each work of art that will be submitted.

Here is what is expected from the artist statement: Each student must write and submit an artist statement (50 to 150 words) with the Student Entry Form. This statement should explain the connection between the inspiration artwork seen in the Museum and the student artwork being submitted. The statement plays a key role in the jurying process and you may include a digital image of your piece as well.

2020 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

Congratulations to the following 5 Students from Mr. Needles AP art and digital media classes at Smithtown High School East won 9 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards along with an American Visions Nomination (Best-In Show)!

Ashleigh Golden- Gold Key Video Game Design

Kiersten Hebron- Gold Key, Silver Key Photography

Trisan Davis- Gold Key, American Visions Nominee Video Game Design

Nethmi Withanage- 2 Silver Key, 2 Honorable Mention Drawing & Illustration & Painting

Krishna Palempalli- Honorable Mention Video Game Design

The Gold Key winners will continue on to the Nationals, good luck!

Congratulations to my Smithtown HS East #APart & digital media students for winning 9 #ScholasticArtAwards today including 3 #GoldKey awards & an @artandwriting American Visions Nomination! Its quite an honor to be included in the same club as iconic artists like #AndyWarhol! pic.twitter.com/ffzAh656za

— Tim Needles (@timneedles) February 1, 2020

Studio Art: Artist Research Project

This week in Studio Art class we are working on our Artist Research Project.  The Google Slide presentation should be completed by the beginning of class on Wednesday and contain the following:

• Cover page with artist, image of artist, name/class/year
• Birth/death date with 10 bulleted facts about the artist & link to where you got the bio info
• 10 full size, full page images of the artist's work (1 image per slide)

Once the Google Slide presentation is complete each student should create a piece of art in any media in their sketchbook inspired by the artist they researched.  This should not be a copy of their work but it should take something about the artist's work that interests you and use that in the piece.  The example above of Banksy's Keith Haring inspired work might be a good example!

Lily- Pablo Picasso
Mackenzie- Frida Kahlo
Lilah- Vincent Van Gogh
Joshua- MC Escher
Maria- Claude Monet
Alyssa- René Magritte
Evender- Amy Sherald
Ryan- Andy Goldsworthy
Kaia- Chuck Close
Kaelyn- Andrew Wyeth
Kelly- Andy Warhol
Kelly- Yayoi Kusama
Marvinson- Jackson Pollock
Ryan- Johannes Vermeer
Julia- Henri Matisse
Taylor- Alphonse Mucha
Chris- Salvador Dalí

Needles- Robert Rauschenberg