Memorial Day weekend

Today is our final day in May before the Memorial Day weekend so be sure to submit any work and I'll see you all in June.  If you are not aware the holiday began on May 5, 1868 when General John A. Logan issued a proclamation calling for "Decoration Day" to be observed annually and nationwide; he was commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of and for Union Civil War veterans founded in Decatur, Illinois. It evolved into Memorial Day to honor military personnel who have died in the performance of their military duties while serving in the US Armed Forces.

AP Art: VR Artwork

Now that the AP Art test is complete we will begin experimenting with new techniques and technologies to better our creative toolbox for next year. We'll try creating a work in Virtual Reality like the example shown above with the Oculus Rift.

Studio Art: Henri Matisse's Woman with a Hat

This week we will take on the challenge of recreating a master painting in Studio Art class and will create a version of Henri Matisse's famous fauvist portrait of the Woman with a Hat. The image is one of the paintings we studied last week and is on the Quizlet.  Try to recreate the painting using watercolor and pencil as close to the original as possible.

Film: Stop Motion Animation

Experimenting with synchronized #animation in film class today after learning about filmmaker Busby Berkeley pic.twitter.com/79RUGkx6tU

— Tim Needles (@timneedles) May 20, 2021

Today in film class we will continue our stop-motion experiments and collaborate on planning our short animated film next week. 

AP Art: The AP Art Test

 
Today we will be taking a final look at the AP Art Test before submitting the work, be sure to go through all the writing and images one last time and make sure everything looks right. We will also make sure we have a backup folder with all the images numbered and the writing on a google doc in case there are any issues in the final upload or assessment.

Studio art: Figure Painting

 
This week in Studio art we will take on the challenge of Figure Painting and learn some of the proportions and techniques that help create a realistic figure in watercolor and pencil. Here's a great example of what's possible in the medium from painter Fealing Lin of San Marino, California.

AP Art: AP Art Showcase

 
We are less than a week away from the AP Art test so we will begin putting up some of our best work in the showcase to share the creative work we've made this year. 

As some students are remote it's not compulsory but we will fill the showcase with work and share some of our process with the school.

Here are some examples from over the years at Smithtown East, some of these students are now professionals!

Studio Art: Creating Watercolor Washes

Today in Studio Art we are learning how to create flat and graded watercolor washes for the sky, ocean, ect.  this technique is really useful in creating landscape paintings so it's an important one to learn. Once you understand how to create a wash you can learn how to layer in clouds and create realistic sky and water paintings.

We will learn how to create a flat wash using the wet on wet and the wet on dry techniques then looked at a graded wash which gets lighter and fades as you paint.

Here's an example of a wash in progress, layering it slowly and having patience is key to success with this technique.

Digital Media: 3D Design

 
In Digital Media our second 3D Design project is due today which was a choice based project. Be sure you save the file as a STL and upload it with a screenshot in Google Classroom for a grade. We will be critiquing some of the work tomorrow in class together and see what everyone came up with!

Studio Art: Watercolor Painting Basics

 

Today in studio art we will be learning the basics of watercolor painting as we begin our plein air painting series.  We will be learning a few different approaches and techniques during this unit and cover both landscape painting and figure painting. 

Be aware that using paint take more clean up time so we'll be taking a few more minutes to set-up and clean-up each day.  Additionally, each student will be responsible for their own brush and set of paints and water that they will need to organize and clean each day. 

We will be creating a series of paintings but you will choose your best to submit for a grade so allow yourself to make mistakes without having to start over from scratch each time you paint. The final paintings will be due next week so we have some time to learn and experiment with the different techniques.

Watercolor is an additive process so it's always better to begin lighter and add layers of color and tone rather than starting with really bold color that might not be able to be altered. In addition to the set of paints and a brush each student will need water and a paper towel to paint with each day.

Film: Interview with actor/screenwriter John C Reilly

 
"Keep growing, keep moving and you’ll find the world that you need" 

This Friday's advice comes from Oscar and Grammy nominated actor, singer, and screenwriter John C Reilly who you probably know from films like: Step Brothers, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Chicago, Gangs of New York, Boogie Nights, Casualties of War, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and one of my favorites What's Eating Gilbert Grape. I interviewed him a few times over the years but here's a snippet from the press tour for the 2011 film Terri in which he plays a high school assistant principal. 

Mr. Needles: What's your advice for students who are being bullied or having a difficult time in high school? 

John C. Reilly: If you’re in high school and you’re freaking out about your place in the pecking order and you feel like a monster or an outcast and you feel like, in the deck of cards that is high school there’s the aces and the kings and queens and you’re like the three of clubs, just know that this is true for every single person in the world- the moment you get out of high school that deck of cards is thrown into the air and those who were kings and queens often end up the assistant manager at the grocery store and those who were the three of clubs end up on press junkets for movies starring themselves, it gets better for everybody, and you just have to get through it. Keep growing, keep moving and you’ll find the world that you need. 

Full story: Short and Sweet NYC

Studio Art: Crane Day

 

In Studio Art today is Crane Day! We designed paper and learned how to fold origami cranes so now we will finalize them and string them together. The image below maps out where different parts will end up when the final crane is folded. 

Digital Media: 3D Design and Printing- Modular 3D Puzzle

In Digital Media we are going to begin our 3D Design and Printing unit by remixing a design for a 3d puzzle shown above.  We are each going to create an individual piece that can be interlocked with each other to make a large sculptural form.  It's essential that the depth of the puzzle piece and the size of the cut-out slats remain the same so they are interchangeable but you can modify the design in any other way.  

We'll look at Morphi's  Modular Art Disks (above) and then use that as a starting place for our own unique designs. Below are a few examples of puzzle pieces from students in previous years.

— Tim Needles (@timneedles) February 8, 2019

National Art Honor Society: Talk with Lisa Congdon

 I had the opportunity to talk with illustrator Lisa Congdon speak at the SCAD Guests and Gusto series earlier this week and I wanted to share some of the things I learned. Lisa's work is terrific and she shared that many of her projects with companies come directly from sharing her personal work on social media. She also was asked about her color choices and shared that she will sometimes us a Dictionary Of Color Combinations to infuse interesting combinations of colors especially now that she works digitally on Procreate more often than using traditional gouache paints which had a more limited palette.

I was also able to ask a question about representation which was followed by a question on pricing art and she shared a great resource, Jessica Hische on Pricing Art and the Graphic Artists Guild handbook.

This is a important message to all to remember & the #illustration will soon have a home in my art classroom- thanks for an informative & inspirational talk on #creativity & #art today at @SCADdotedu's Guests and Gusto @lisacongdon! pic.twitter.com/L2e1SihtF1

— Tim Needles (@timneedles) May 3, 2021

Studio Art: Japanese Origami Cranes

In Studio Art class we creating a collection of Japanese Origami Cranes. I took the photo below at the Hiroshima memorial in Japan the day I met Sadako Sasaki's brother Masahiro and Tsugio Ito, a story I shared in class. It shows how origami cranes are traditionally grouped, we'll create a similar grouping of 1000 cranes as well.

Students will each create a unique textile designs (there's an example of traditional textiles below but you can feel free to be creative) on paper then fold them into paper cranes.  

Here are a few examples of student created textile designs as an example. We learned some basic origami skills on Monday with our practice crane and when the designs are complete we will fold them into cranes.    

The video below shows the step by step instructions so you can replay it if you get lost.  After the 2 cranes are completed we will photograph them and mail them away to a memorial!

AP Art: Portfolio Week

 In AP Art our final test is quickly approaching so it is time to examine our portfolio of work, complete our writing about the process, ideas, and materials, and work with classmates to grade it so we can make any last minute changes. The test needs to be submitted on May 20 so we have 13 class days to make changes and be sure it all works together before we send it off to be graded by the college board.