Mrs. Murray

Students created an abstract work of art using bright primary and secondary colors on a black background. First, students had to cut out letters in their name. Then the letters were cut up and re-arranged. This assignment emphasizes design, balance, composition, and color in a work of modern art.



	Aborigine "X-Ray" art sketch In Australia, the native Aborigines create "Dream Art" or "X-Ray Art" that is inspired by the natural environment. These drawings are inspired by the Aborigine culture and style. You will see animals such as snakes, turtles, and lizards. Often these drawings were made on rocks, like petroglyphs.
X-Ray Art Hedgehog
More "Aborigine Dream Art"
	Animals in Cave Art The Cave Art at Lascaux caves in France and Altamira caves in Spain is thought to be 17,000 - 30,000 years old. This is some of the earliest art ever created by man. The large animals depicted on the walls of the caves include bulls, horses, felines, and a mysterious "unicorn." The animals are often life-sized or larger. Google "The Cave of Forgotten Dreams" for more information about the 3-D documentary!




Silhouettes These silhouettes represent "the art of personal expression." Students selected images from magazines to represent thoughts, feelings, emotions, interests, and other symbols of self. These silhouettes are like a shadow. They reveal both the outside of the face and the inside of the mind, showing how we are influenced by the images that surround us in the media.
Visual communication media (magazines, in this case) surrounds us every day. How and why are such media images created? What effect do these images have on us?
	Assemblages The assemblages are an example of an "additive" sculptural technique. The students must decide what items to include, and then figure out how to create an artistic arrangement. When students first see the assemblages, they will often ask: what are these?! Good question! What is art? How do we decide what "art" is? What makes these assemblages "art"?

Mood Painting -Happy Mood Art can communicate a mood, or a feeling, much like music. You can probably tell which painting expresses sadness, and which painting expresses happiness. How can you tell? Color theory helps us to understand the visual impact of "warm colors" and "cool colors" in our perception.
Mad Mood
	Hands Contour drawing is using a continuous line to draw the outer and inner edges of a subject. In art class we practice our observation skills through simple sketching. Drawing your own hand (or foot) may seem simple enough, but it is not easy! Try it yourself!


Street Art "Street art" reflects our human impulse to make a mark. Compare "graffiti" done on in the street to the walls of the Lascaux caves in France 20,000 years ago. When we look at street art in comparison to the art drawn on prehistoric caves, we can see how art reflects the society that created it. Can you draw any possible parallels?

	Models/Proportions These manikins demonstrate an understanding of the concept of proportion. They show a body in motion, show action and movement. Although these manikins have no face, they are quite expressive!



Shoes With our "shoes sketches" we practice observation skills and simple line drawing.


	Prints for Dia De Los Muertos Various immigrant cultures have contributed to our society in America. Many Mexican immigrants celebrate the "Dia De Los Muertos" around Halloween. The "Day of the Dead" is a day to worship ancestors, remember our lost loved ones, and laugh in the face of death. The skeletons and skulls we've created reflect Hispanic culture and tradition.







	T shirt designs are a work in progress In our extra time we've been working on designing a t-shirt for the class.
Dia De Los Muertos Skeletons The "Dia De Los Muertos" literally translates to the "Day of the Dead."




	Color Mixing/Color Theory Color mixing makes for a beautiful mess! Students learned about primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. We are developing skills with mixing paints and showing color relationships.




Pumpkin Decorating The pumpkin decorating was just for fun!



	Keith Haring characters- more yet to come! Keith Haring is known for his whimsical, highly symbolic representations of people in action. He created a series of artwork in the 1980's that have been frequently copies and become well-recognized. These were made with tin foil and sharpie marker. To make your own, start with a stick figure, then outline the stick figure with a bubble. Then add "action lines" to show movement, and add a simple symbol, like a heart.
Oil Pastels Flowers colored with oil pastels were inspired by the artist Georgia O'Keefe. These flowers show a close-up point of view, Many of these flowers were on display at the Roseville City School District Office in December. This work connects with the 8th grade Art Standard 3.0: "Identify major works of art created by women and describe the impact of those works on society at that time."






Autumn Leaves in pastel The autumn leaves "overlap" and create a "falling" effect showing movement. Art Standard 1.0 asks students to perceive and respond to objects in nature and the environment.






	Watercolor skills practice Our watercolor work involves practice with creating value. In Art, Value is the relative light and dark areas in a painting. Many degrees of value are found between white and black, or between white and a color. We made value scales to help understand this concept and practice skills with a paintbrush.






Pen and Ink Doodles We made pen and ink doodles in WEI.


	Birch trees with watercolor These paintings show trees in the foreground and a color-washed background. The trees were made with masking tape. First we taped off the "trees", then painted behind them. When we removed the tape, we could see the trees.





Daisies and Dandelions


	Op Art "Op Art" stands for "Optical Illusion" art. Optical art involves converging lines that create a 3-D effect on a flat surface. Look how we can color a flat circle like a checkerboard and make it look like a round ball. We use contrasting bands of colors to create "tunnel vision". Famous "op art" artists like M.C. Escher are reknowned for creating fascinating graphic illusions.