7th Graders in this year's new Art Installation Class, meet in either the amphitheater, main room, the MS deck, and other campus areas as needed for development and installation of community artwork.
Click on the 7th Grade Installation Class Page button above for an in depth look at 5 different simultaneous projects currently in process!!
6th Graders in this year's new Art Installation Class, meet in Wildcat, and other campus areas as needed, to develop and install community artwork.
Click on the 6th Grade Installation Class Page button above for an in depth look at 4 different simultaneous projects currently in process!!
Middle School students are engaged in drawing exercises at the beginning of each class. Though most of these exercises are 10 minute silent focused observation work done solo in the student's sketch book, drawing can also become a boisterous group activity that cultivates the students interpretive skills in both drawing and analyzing quick sketches of their peers.
Observation and realistic drawing can be a tricky skill, because it relies mostly on the drawer's ability to slow down and actually SEE the object through careful looking, rather than the actual physical motions of drawing an object.
8th Grade students of this new school year have been busy these first months, honing their creative process in the Art Studio through drawing excersises (and lessons), exploring new materials (mod podge, clays...), using new tools (t-squares, dremmel rotary, sculpting...), and consistent project planning.
7th Grade students of this new school year have been busy these first months, honing their creative process in the Art Studio through drawing excersises (and lessons), exploring new materials (mod podge, clays...), using new tools (t-squares, dremmel rotary, sculpting...), and consistent project planning.
Sixth Grade students of this new school year have been busy these first months, honing their creative process in the Art Studio through drawing excersises (and lessons), exploring new materials (mod podge, clays...), using new tools (t-squares, dremmel rotary, sculpting...), and consistent project planning.
The 8th graders are embarking on an end of the year fashion adventure via their creativity, the art studio, and community donations of clothing. Students will be working together in groups to create a "fashion forward" outfit to be worn by the group's model in an end of the unit Fashion Show on June 7th. Outfits and accessories will be based on their current style preferences, drawing from a historical era of fashion that appeals to them (e.g. the renaissance, the roaring 20's, disco 70's, etc.), and created out of repurposed clothing.
Students were shown white board animation demonstrations and examples. Through story boarding and sketching, students began developing an animation short and the characters they would use. Using cartooning techniques, students transformed stick figures into angels, devils, mini-muscle boy, multiple versions of Alfie, and generally emotive and interesting characters. Using white boards as animation canvas, students take stop-motion photos of each scene segment, later these photos will be animated to sound using imovie.
6th Graders were introduced to varying techniques of drawing optical illusions. Some involve manipulation of space, the creation of dual images into one and others create a sense of motion in a static image. Students consulted the depot wall space outside the Art Studio large wooden doors and to the right. Once the students reflected on this site visit, original ideas to create an illusion that appeared in motion were changed to manipulated the space into a one point perspective illusion involving a tunnel. Due to the Depot's heritage as a railroad depot, the tunnel was quickly established to be a railroad tunnel.
Students in the 6th-7th grades worked in the first weeks of March to complete their final efforts on their Diorama project. Artist statements detailing the students relationship to their diorama scene acted as a conduit giving the viewer insight to the connection between the artist and their work.
Students in the 6th-8th grade challenged themselves to adapt the Google logo into their own interpretation of their goals for their future. As students developed their graphic designs, and wrote their artist statements many students found that their own life goals involved global goals for peace, environmental health, and general assistance to those in need.
8th Grader Hannah Feiner's Artist Trading Card "Quickfire," has been chosen as a winner
in the SchoolArts magazine's 5th annual Artist Trading Card Contest.
Her trading card stood out among hundreds of entries, and impressed the judges with her level of artistry.
Hannah's card will be published in the April 2011 issue of SchoolArts, it will be on display at the 2011 National Art Education Association Conference in Seattle, Washington, and Hannah will also receive a tote full of art supplies. Benicia Hill the Middle School Art Educator will receive $100 gift certificate for art resources at TBS.
Congratulations Hannah!
A special congratulations to all contest applicants for your hard work and courage displayed by entering a national competition. Good Job Middle Schoolers!
Hannah Feiner's Winning Card is in the first two images of the following slide show of this years contestants for The Berkeley School
Students learned of the Doodle 4 Google design contest and this year's theme "What I'd Like to Do Someday..." We reviewed the contest guidelines as a class, critiquing last years entries, speculating on the judges criteria, and brainstorming ideas for personalizing the theme and representing it in their Doodle.
Doodle History Over the years, doodles on the Google homepage have made searching on Google more fun and enjoyable for its users worldwide. When doodles were first created, nobody had anticipated how popular and integral they would become to the Google search experience. Nowadays, many users excitedly anticipate the release of each new doodle and some even collect them!
Doodles are known as the decorative changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists and scientists. Whether it is the beginning of Spring, Albert Einstein's birthday, or the 50th anniversary of understanding DNA, the doodle team never fails to find artistic ways to celebrate these unique events.
Having a little bit of fun with the corporate logo by redesigning it from time to time is unheard of at many companies but at Google, it is a part of the brand. While the doodle is primarily a fun way for the company to recognize events and notable people, it also illustrates the creative and innovative personality of the company itself.