Middle School Self-Portraits

The annual Parker self-portrait project has begun for the middle school students. The students watched a video on how different expressions change the features of a face and then reviewed rule of thumb methods for placement and proportion for achieving their likeness. They worked from mirrors, thinking about the shape of their face and trying to accurately locate and capture their features. They tried to put all these elements together to create an image that is recognizable as them.

Preliminary sketch

Transferring sketch to final paper using the light box

Features emerging

Small adjustments

Does it look like me?

K/1sand 2/3s Invent a Scene Through a Window

Imagination can take you anywhere. The K/1s and the 2/3s were asked to imagine a scene outside a window. It could be anything from a dragon to a flower garden, but they would draw it as though they were seeing it through a window. Then a frame with shutters was glued over the scene picture so it could be opened to reveal whatever they had invented. Their drawings were as varied as are the kids!

Watching the magic of watercolor pencils

A flower and vegetable garden out this window

Picture with the shutters glued on

Lots of concentration and detail here

Some final touches on the scene

2/3s Draw Landmarks along the Hudson River

As part of their fall study of the Hudson River, each 2/3 student has chosen a specific landmark to research in class. In art class they are doing careful drawings of their chosen sight in order to become more familiar with it. When these are complete the students will build a three-dimensional model of the Hudson crafting their landmarks out of cardboard and placing them accurately along the river. This project will help the students develop a clearer picture of the Hudson, its surrounds, and its importance historically and in the present.

The Half Moon taking shape

Thomas Cole's Home

West Point emerging

Storm King Arts Center with sculpture

Albany City Hall with its many windows

Assembling the display

Water over the Troy Dam

Building a sculpture for Storm King Arts Center

The Walkway Over the Hudson in cardboard

Painting Mt. Marcy

Almost finished

 Putting their landmarks in place

Finished landmark drawings

4-8th Graders Create Works After Giuseppe Arcimboldo

 The 4th - 8th grade students learned about the unusual Renaissance painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who turned natural objects into fantastical portraits, such as faces composed entirely of fruit or vegetables.  In this fun assignment the students used their imaginations and powers of observation to come up with a picture constructed of something unrelated to the initial image.

A flower made of butterflies

A unicorn made of flowers taking shape

Middle School Students Draw Self-Portraits

As their final project for this school year, the middle school students reviewed rule of thumb methods for achieving their likeness. They worked from mirrors, thinking about the shape of their face and trying to accurately locate their features.  They tried to capture the way all these elements relate to each other to create an image that is recognizable as them.

The image emerges

Matching skin color