7th Grade Jim Dine Clothing Paintings

Seventh graders studied Pop artist Jim Dine's work, and created large clothing paintings inspired by his paintings of colorful, expressively rendered clothes.  Students brought in a meaningful piece of clothing to work from and were encouraged to tweak the colors.  They worked for several weeks on this and are almost finished.  They will be up in the halls for the Winter Concert, please check them out!

7th Grade Colored Pencil Vegetables

Seventh-graders discussed the color wheel, focusing on analogous and complementary colors, and created complementary color scales.  We talked about color mixing, and the use of complementary colors to enrich a shadow or highlight.  After several sketches, they made colored pencil drawings of fruit and vegetable still-lives, focusing on details of light and form.  Students worked hard on their observation skills for this project, with beautiful results.  These are hanging inside the art room, come visit and check them out!

Mictecacihautl, her "jaw agape to swallow the stars"

Seventh graders drew their interpretations of the Aztec Lady of the Dead, Mictecacihautl, queen of the underworld using craypas on black paper. I recounted one version her story, her role in the Day of the Dead in Ecuador, and common descriptions of her without showing at any visual images. When I was researching some legends related to Ecuador for GET, I was struck by her description, as a kind of analogue to the Greek goddess Persephone, and the differences in each conception. I loved the frequently described image of Mictecacihautl's "jaw agape to swallow the stars" and used that phrase as our drawing prompt. We discussed the symbolism of her role in the cycle of death and life, and students came up with some striking images of her. These are on display in the Upper School hallway.

Shields and Another Kind of Mural

Seventh and 8th graders have the privilege of making shields for the Medieval Faire this weekend, and since the 8th graders had finished their TGS mural work, they designed a Faire Mural for the big chalkboard. 

Mural Progress

You may have noticed how much progress we are making on the mural - it is really coming along!  This week, the Lower School students will have a chance to contribute, working on the grass, ferns, sunset glow, and wishstrips.  Here are some 3rd graders adding a lovely patch of ferns:

Mural!

Some of you might have heard the rumors or seen the primer going up at the student entrance of the Lower School.  Well, it's happening!  The 7th and 8th graders all submitted written and drawn mural design proposals, and each class voted on the designs of the other class.  From those two, Dan chose the winning design.  The Upper Schoolers have been working hard to sort out all the details, colors, and delegating responsibilities for different classes.  On Tuesday, 7th graders drew the plans onto the wall, and yesterday, 8th graders began painting the background.  Watch it grow!