Fantasy Art: Medieval Castles

Students studied the history and purposes of castles in Europe during the Middle Ages.  After looking at many examples of these amazing structures both real and imaginary, students created their own castle with pencil, ink and watercolors.

Middle School Art: 1 Point Perspective

Students in Middle School Art learned the history and principles of creating the illusion of space in 2-d artwork.  The students learned how to draw in 1 point perspective, creating buildings, roads, fences etc that all lead to a vanishing point on the horizon line. These drawings were then completed with colored pencils.

High School Art: Trompe L'oeil Drawings

High School Art students studied the art of Trompe L'oeil (French for "trick of the eye") an art technique that aims to trick the eye of the viewer into thinking a small 2-dimensional object is actually 3-D. Students chose a set of small objects and created a personal still life to portray as realistically as possible with pencils.  They were encouraged to draw their objects true to size, as detailed as possible and with convincing shadows and shading.  This is not an easy technique, but the students rose to the challenge and creating very realistic looking drawings!

Middle School Art: Contour Nature Drawings

One of the "tricks" of being able to draw well is learning how to teach your eyes and hands to work together effortlessly.  Middle School Art students practiced this skill by creating blind and modified contour drawings of natural elements such as leaves, flowers, shells and sticks.  Some students went on to use value to create shading and shadows. 

Fantasy Art: Hybrid Creatures

Fantasy Art students studied various kinds of hybrid creatures from Greek and Roman mythology and went on to create their own creature by collaging various patterned and textured wallpaper samples.