Art at Hosmer: Shading

Monday, January 22, 2018

Snowmen at Night Chalk Pastel Drawings

Hope everyone enjoyed their snow days earlier this month! After learning about using value to show a three-dimensional form in their personal object still life drawings, 5th grade artists applied the same concept using chalk pastels. We looked closely at the illustrations in the book, Snowmen at Night, to inspire our own sketches for what our snowmen (or snow people) could be doing. Some ideas we came up with included making snow angels, skiing, snowboarding, snowball fights, and playing hockey.

In their sketch, students had to show some sort of action, and include a light source, whether it was the moon, a lamp, or a fire. Using their sketch to guide them, students then used chalk pastel to draw their own snowmen at night scene on larger colored paper. We discussed how to use other colors in combination with white to create a three-dimensional appearance to the snow.

We noticed that the illustrations in the book included many colors in addition to white to represent snow. For the areas of shadow, we used different shades of blue, purple, black and gray. For the areas of highlight, we used yellows and oranges to show light hitting a surface. This all depended on the light source in each student's work, and which side of the snowman was closest to it. (Most) students enjoyed blending the soft pastel with their finger to blend colors together and fill in shapes.

The following classes, we focused on adding details to the snowmen as well as the background. Students got creative with their details, adding faces, winter accessories likes hats and scarves, trees, and even snow animals. We talked about how to add the shading and highlight to those details, such as the carrot nose or a top hat. Students also considered different ways to approach the sky, whether it was adding snowflakes, stars, etc.

Below are some examples of our snowmen at night drawings. Two students' drawings were featured on the December winter concert program and some of our other snowmen at night drawings will be on display in the glass case downstairs soon!

Aiden, 5th Grade (Twomey)

Arthur, 5th Grade (Bellis)

Ava, 5th Grade (Psychoghios)

Bianca, 5th Grade (Psychoghios)

Breanna, 5th Grade (Twomey)

Daniel, 5th Grade (Bellis)

Dorie, 5th Grade (Psychoghios)

Elen, 5th Grade (Twomey)

Kate R., 5th Grade (Psychoghios)

Kiran, 5th Grade (Bellis)

Max H., 5th Grade (Bellis)

Nolan, 5th Grade (Twomey)

Pirada, 5th Grade (Twomey)

Rose, 5th Grade (Bellis)

Sila, 5th Grade (Bellis)

Sol, 5th Grade (Psychoghios)

Jaylyn, 5th Grade (Twomey)

Brady, 5th Grade (Domermuth Fantasia)

Yassemine, 5th Grade (Domermuth Fantasia)

Caroline A., 5th Grade (Domermuth Fantasia)

Oliver, 5th Grade (Domermuth Fantasia)

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Personal Still Life Drawings

5th grade artists have been studying the concept of value, the lightness and darkness of color. After drawing a value scale to explore lighter and darker values using Ebony pencils, students drew a marshmallow. Even though they are white, once they were set on the table and looked at in natural light, we noticed a range of values. One side was lighter due to the light coming in from the window.

We also discussed the art of still life. Still life is the art of drawing or painting inanimate objects such as fruit, flowers and household items which are usually arranged on a table or shelf. Traditionally, still life painting was a way for artists to show off their technical skills. We looked at two examples of still life painting and discussed which one looked more realistic and what the artist did that made those objects appear three-dimensional.

Willem Claesz Heda, Banquet Piece with Mince Pie (1635)

Students noticed that Heda emphasized the lights and darks in his painting, using shading on the tablecloth and adding highlights on things like the glass cup. We also noticed that the objects had shadows underneath that made them look like they were resting on the table, and that the metal objects were shiny and really showed their texture.

For the next class, students brought in a personal object from home to do a still life drawing. Students shared the object they had chosen to bring in with their class before we began our drawings. Some students brought in a stuffed animal or figurine that they have had for a long time, or received for a birthday or special occasion in their lives. Other students brought in sports equipment.

Students set up their objects in front of them and began by drawing the shape or shapes in their object. They added details and considered where it was darker or lighter on their object, which depended on where they were sitting in the room in relation to the windows. The following class, students added color using colored pencils. They focused on matching the colors of their object and showing the texture. Below are some examples of our still life drawings.