8th Grade in the Art Studio

8th Graders were the first to have Art Studio classes this week. 8th graders have kicked off the new school year with observation drawings, material introductions, and fun group drawing activities.

Middle School students begin every studio class with a 10 minute silent observation contour drawing. Sometimes the observation subject is a still life and other times it is an object or environment chosen inside or outside the studio. Students are encouraged to study the object they are drawing, checking in visually every 5 seconds to confirm the angle, shape, or texture of the next line they are about to draw. Today 8th Graders completed their first observation drawing of a potted flowering plant that they will continue to draw once a month as the plant grows and blooms. Students will make clay pots to repot the plants in the coming months, and in the spring we will plant them outside and continue our observation drawings once a month outside.

Group drawing games in the Art Studio are important for fun, team building, and increasing organizational skills.

Scribblish, the game in the slideshow below, encourages drawing, writing, and interpretive skills. Fashioned upon the idea of telephone, it is best played with 4+ participants.  Here's how you play:   The 1st person draws a picture in the first folded square on the scribblish sheet and passes it to the person next to them. The second person looks at the picture and writes what they think is happening in the  picture in the second folded square. Here's where it gets tricky! Before the second person passes the sheet to the third person, they fold down the first square (with the drawing) so the third person can not see the drawing. The third person reads the writing and then draws a picture of how they think that would look. Then before the third person passes it to the fourth they fold and hide the drawing (1st square) and writing (second square) so that the fourth person can only see their drawing on the third square. The fourth person looks at the picture and writes what they think is happening in the  picture. Repeat until your sheet is full.
Sometimes the beginning and end match, and other times they are as different as night and day!!

Art Cards are being reintroduced this year. An Art Card is a 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" card that can be designed and decorated using any materials or art techniques to create imagery and content. Because of the small working space, Art Cards are a great medium to explore new materials and ideas without feeling like you have to fill a huge space or create a perfect work of art. Art Cards have been created by past middle school students, and The Berkeley School won the 4th and 5th Annual Artist Trading Card contest hosted by the magazine SchoolArts.
5th Annual Artist Trading Card contest Winner and contestants (link)

In their first class, 8th graders completed an art card exercise that combined the size of the art card and the group participation of the Dadaist game The Exquisite Corpse. Students drew an image on half of an art card (white and black paper) utilizing the 2 predrawn lines at the base. After all the halves 

are completed students, match their white half to the corresponding black half (matching A to 1, 

B to 2, etc). The results are surprising!!