December 12th-December 16th

This week, eighth grade students will complete their self-portraits. Most of the students have finished drawing themselves and will now move on to their background designs in colored pencil. Background designs must use one of the following color schemes: warm colors, cool colors, triadic colors, ananlogous colors, or complementary colors. The final deadline for this project is Friday, December 16th. If students need additional work time, they can come to the art room at 7:35 a.m. any day except Wednesday. During the week, we will also design holiday card collages for nursing home residents in need of holiday cheer.

December 5th-December9th

Self Portrait, 1889
Vincent van Gogh

The eighth graders continue to work diligently on their self-portrait grid projects. During each class period they analyze the values in the boxes of their photo grids, then they use different drawing pencils, blending tools, and kneaded erasers to create the exact value on their drawing paper. The results have been amazing! The students have shared that this has been the most realistic-looking drawing that they have created to date.

November 28th-December 2nd

Chuck Close
Self-Portrait, 2004

The eighth grade classes have started the Self-Portrait Unit and will continue to work on them during our four-day week. Each student is using a photograph of themselves to create a self-portrait inspired by the grid process used by artist Chuck Close. The students are measuring and designing their grids, then numbering each corresponding box. By mid-week, we will begin the process of analyzing the values and shapes in each box and enlarging it to the doubled grid on their drawing paper.

November 21-November 25th

Welcome to 8th grade art! My name is Mrs. Cirjakovic and I will be your child's art teacher for the next 12 weeks. This trimester will be filled with several projects that will explore you child's creativity, teach them problem solving skills, and broaden their knowledge of art history. We will begin by designing personalized art portfolios to safely store our works of art. Then we will move on to our self-portrait unit. Self-portraits by famous artists will be viewed and discussed before we embark on this exciting (yet challenging) project. Various styles will be explored so that each student is inspired to design a unique and one of a kind product.

November 14th-November 18th

Op Art by Victor Vasarely

It is hard to believe, but we have made it to the end of the first trimester. The seventh graders will have their final day in art on Thursday, November 17th. On Friday, November 18th, they will begin the next class in their Encore rotation: Computers. It has been a pleasure creating works of art with such talented and imaginative students. I believe that they have taught me as much as I have taught them. During this final week, we will complete our Op Art designs, pack up our clay projects, and finish putting together our portfolios to take home. I hope that you enjoy this compilation of projects as much as I did.

November 7th -November 11th

Bridget Riley

Seventh graders will begin the "Op Art" unit this week. "Op Art" is short for optical art. This style of art is described as "geometric art in which patterns of lines and/or color combinations react on the eye to produce a sense of movement, dazzle, or even discomfort." The students will study samples and learn some basic techniques in creating Op Art. We will use pencils, rulers, and black markers to create our designs.

October 31-November 4th

Oaxacan Art

Seventh grade students will continue to work on their clay unit. All animal sculptures were completed last week and were given time to "dry out" over the weekend. This week, we will be using acrylic paints in various colors to design the animals in the Oaxacan style of Mexican art. This will include bright color schemes and patterns. In addition, all Andy Warhol Pop Art projects will be due by the end of the week.

October 24th-October 28th

Oaxacan Animals

The seventh grade students will be taking a short break from their Andy Warhol Product projects. They will continue with the Pop Art project after a short clay unit. Students will need to bring in a picture of an animal from a book, magazine, or the internet by Tuesday, October 25th. This picture will be the inspiration for their clay figure. The students have voiced their excitement about beginning this 3-D project.

October 17th-October 21st

Andy Warhol

The seventh grade students continue to work tirelessly to complete their Andy Warhol Pop Art projects. This project has proven to be one of the most challenging projects in seventh grade . Although some students are having a hard time keeping up their original momentum, they continue to plug away to complete their amazing works of art. Instead of repeating the product with its original colors, some students have chosen to alter the colors of their label. These color changes require an overall plan before beginning so that the end result is visually pleasing. The random placement of colors is not an option. Each day, the students set a personal goal for how much of the design they must complete in class. Our goal is finish these by the end of the week.

October 10th-October 14th

Pop Art

This week, we will continue to work on our Andy Warhol inspired Pop Art projects. The students have worked with tireless effort and precision to recreate a product from their everyday life into a work of art. They have been using lightboxes and the sunlight from the art room windows to trace/repeat their image six times on 12 X 18 drawing paper. This week, we will begin to add the exact colors from the real product to the drawings using colored pencils and markers. The results should be a feast for the eyes!

October 3rd-October 7th

Andy Warhol

Our next seventh grade project is inspired by the Pop Art created by Andy Warhol. We will explore his works of art and personal style. In order to start this project, each student will need a wrapper or a label from a product by Wednesday, October 5th.

September 26th-September 30th

Scratchboard Design

The seventh grade students will be exploring a new medium this week: Scratchboard. During this project, students will become familiar with sample etchings to inspire them to create etchings of their own. This project will also have students broaden their understanding of using light and dark value to create form. These scratchboard designs will be based on nature. On Tuesday, each student will be expected to bring in a picture from a magazine or online that shows any aspect of nature: landscapes, animals, underwater life, etc... A selection of pictures will also be available to choose from in the art room.

September 19th-23rd

Seventh graders will continue to work on contour line drawings of shoes. Please encourage your child to bring in an interesting sandal or dress shoe for their final drawing. This week, all drawings will be outlined in black marker. Finally, the students will add color to one of their drawings. The results have been amazing! I can't wait to see all of the final products.

September 12th-September 16th

Contour Line Drawing

The seventh grade art classes will begin a new project that focuses on contour line drawing. Each student will draw three different views of various shoes with pencil. Later, they will outline their drawings in marker. We will discuss the various styles and types of lines that can be used to create interest and detail. The students will be encouraged to vary the thickness and thinness of their lines as well as explore patterns to create their works of art. We will wrap up these contour line drawings the following week.

Please be sure to stop by the art room during Curriculum Night on Monday, September 12th, beginning at 6:45 p.m. I am looking forward to meeting with you.

September 5th-September 9th

Icarus from Jazz, by Henri Matisse. 1947.

7th Grade Art

The 7th graders will continue to work on their "Namely Matisse" collage projects until the end of the week. The students have created unique letters to represent their names and are working on symbols that reflect their personal interests and personality traits. They are only allowed to use scissors to create their collage pieces...no pencil allowed! This has proven to be a challenge, however, these creative and ambitious artists are not giving up. Some of the initial results are amazing! Henri Matisse would be impressed with their efforts.

August 29th-September 2nd

Welcome to the Art Room!

Welcome to 7th grade art! My name is Mrs. Cirjakovic and I will be your child's art teacher for the next 12 weeks. This trimester will be filled with several projects that will explore your child's creativity, teach them problem solving skills, and broaden their knowledge of art history. Next week, we will explore the life and works of Henri Matisse. We will focus on the colorful collages that he created near the end of his life. He described his technique as "drawing with scissors." With Matisse as an inspiration, the 7th graders will design their own collages using the letters in their names as a focal point. These collages will also include symbols to represent personal interests and talents. Each letter and symbol will be created with colored paper and scissors--no pencil allowed! I can't wait to see what these amazing 7th graders create!

May 30th-June 7th

It was such a pleasure working with the 6th grade students during the third trimester. I was impressed by the level of creativity that the students displayed while completing their projects. Many students excelled in craftsmanship. Specifically, they were meticulous in their attention to details. I learned so much from them over the past 12 weeks. Our final unit of the year will explore Origami, the Japanese art of paper folding. Its origin dates back over ten centuries. I cannot wait to see the paper sculptures that the 6th graders will create!

May 23rd-May 27th

Sixth grade art students are creating abstract paintings inspired by the works of Wassily Kadinsky (1866-1944). During the first step of this project, the students were given very little direction about what they should paint. They were told not to paint anything recognizable. They could not include any symbols, words, numbers, or anything else that could be considered representational. I wanted them to experiment with their brushstrokes and use of color. The next phase of this project will begin on Monday. The students will enhance their paintings with marker, pen, crayon, or pencil as they wish. Once again, their embellishments cannot show anything representational. Finally, they will measure out a grid on the back of their paintings and then cut them into one inch, even squares. These squares will then be reassembled and mounted on another piece of colored paper. I have included a student sample from another school to help you visualize the finished product! I can't wait to see what they create.

May 16th-May 20th

Gunter Gerzso, Paisaje Espejismo

All 6th grade comic strips or comic book covers will be due at the end of class on Monday. These have been quite fun to create and the characters have been very memorable. I laughed out loud at some of the 'gags' that the students thought up to make their comic strips funny. Very creative, indeed. This week, we will begin a brand new painting/collage project as well as a 3-D project. It will be a very busy week in the art room!

May 9th-May 13th

Sixth grade students will continue working on the cartooning unit until the end of the week. Each student has a choice to either create a comic strip with their own unique characters or design a comic book cover in the style of Marvel or DC comics. They will continue to work on their rough drafts, then move on to their final copies with marker and colored pencils.

May 2nd- May 6th

Calvin and Hobbes

Up next...the Cartooning Unit!

In the beginning of the week, sixth grade students will finish up their foil relief projects. Once those are completed, we will move on to our cartooning unit. The students will create their own cartoon character and incorporate it into a comic strip. We will kick off the unit by exploring famous comic strip characters throughout history. We will learn how to create movement, emotions, and gestures in our characters. They will also learn how to include a funny "gag." According to Helen D. Hume, "a cartoonist exaggerates reality and tells the truth with a twist. Yet cartoons are close enough to real-life events that we can relate to the artist's version of the truth. Because of their attention-getting simplicity, cartoons have many applications." I am looking forward to the student "applications" in the Lakeview art room!

April 25-April 29th

Line Designs

Sixth grade students will continue to work on their foil relief designs. Some students will be using copper foil as stated in my previous blog, however, others will be using aluminum and gold. The students have been working diligently in creating five different line designs to "etch" into their foil using a ballpoint pen and other tools. By the end of the week, all students will be extending their designs onto black matting with white pencil.

April 18th-April 22nd

This will be a short week for the sixth grade art classes. We will all be attending a field trip on Wednesday, there is an early dismissal day on Thursday, and no school on Friday. That being said, we will still jump into a brand new project that will most likely take us into next week. Our newest project will focus on Copper Repousse, or the technique of tooling small sheets of copper paper to create a low relief made from creative line designs.

April 11th-April 15th

This week, sixth graders will continue to work on their cityscapes in one or two-point perspective. While drawing several buildings last week, the students used rulers to accurately draw guidelines to their vanishing point(s) in an effort to make their skyscrapers or other structures appear to be three dimensional. This week, finishing touches will be added. This will include careful outlining in black marker and shading in with colored pencils. The art room is filled with creative architects designing the next great city skyline!

Friday, March 25th, 2011

Spring break has finally arrived! Unfortunately, it does not promise any spring weather for those of us staying home for the week. Happy travels to those of you who are escaping to warmer climates and sunshine! When we return from break on April 4th, we will continue with our Perspective Unit. Sixth grade students will complete their one or two-point perspective cityscapes in pencil, then add thin black marker, and colored pencils. I can't wait to share the results of this amazing project!

Below is a famous example of two-point perspective. It is part of the collection at the Art Institute in Chicago...why not view it during spring break?

Gustave Caillebotte. Paris Street; Rainy Day. 1877

March 21st-March 25th

Animal Eye Project

Sixth grade students have done a phenomenal job completing their "Animal Eye" projects. They are ready to be neatly matted and displayed. All "Animal Eye" projects will be hung and ready to be viewed in the halls of Lakeview after spring break. Our next unit of study will explore "One-Point Perspective." We will begin practicing our technique in our sketchbooks before we create a formal project by the end of the week.

One Point Perspective

March 14th--March 18th

Oriental Poppies, 1928
Sixth grade students have been learning about a celebrated American artist: Georgia O'Keefe. In class, we analyzed several of O'Keefe's floral paintings. We discussed her use of value, line, space, texture, shape, and color. We talked about how she enlarged her subjects to fill in an entire canvas. Some of her paintings were enlarged to the point that they became abstract. We are using these works by O'Keefe as an inspiration for our "Animal Eye" project. Each student will draw an elarged eye of an animal based on a photo. We will use oil pastels to add color and texture to the eye and the surrounded fur, feathers, or skin.


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March 7th-March 11th

The Color Wheel

This week, sixth grade students will continue working on their Color Wheel painting project. This project requires all students to identify the primary, secondary, and intermediate colors on the color wheel. They will reinfore this knowlege by mixing paints to create the secondary and intermediate colors on their own "wheel." In addition, they will create a tint and a shade for all of their "pure" colors. A tint is created when white is added to a color. A shade is created when you add black. The sixth graders are encouraged to paint neatly and accurately within the color wheel boundries. So far, the results have been wonderful!

February 28th-March 4th

Welcome to 6th grade art! My name is Mrs. Cirjakovic and I will be your child's art teacher for the next 12 weeks. This trimester will be filled with several projects that will explore your child's creativity, teach them problem solving skills, and broaden their knowledge of art history. We will begin the trimester by designing personalized art portfolios to safely store our works of art.

Reminder: ISAT tests will be administered Monday through Thursday, which will alter our art class schedule.

February 21st-February 25th

Positive/Negative Bug Project

Note: All eighth grade art students will need a box and tissue paper to transport their clay projects home safely. All projects will fit in a shoebox or a slightly smaller box. Please send these in by next Wednesday, February 23rd. Thank you!

It is hard to believe, but this will be the final week for all eighth grade art classes. Encore classes will switch on Friday, February 25th, marking the end of the second trimester. During our last week together, students will complete their Positive/Negative Bug Project. The objective of this project is to have all students create a design using a detailed drawing, reversing positive and negative space. It also explores organic and geometric shapes.

I have truly enjoyed the time that I have spent with this eighth grade group. Their creativity, enthusiasm, and hard work has been inspiring. At some point during the next trimester, a portfolio of all of the class projects will be sent home. The displays of student work has garnered such positive feedback that I am not ready to take everything down just yet!

February 14th-February 18th

Oaxacan Animal Sculpture

The eighth grade students will begin painting their clay animals with acrylic paints. They may choose to paint their scultures in the style of Oaxacan animal sculpture, which uses bright colors and patterns, or they can paint their animal realistically. We will also begin a new project that explores the use of positive and negative space in a work of art. All students will need a picture of a bug/insect by Wednesday, February 16th.

February 7-February 11

The eighth graders are back on track after the excitement of two snow days. We will finally begin hanging our Chagall inspired stained glass windows during the week. In addition, we will begin our clay unit. Students will need to bring in a picture of an animal from a book, magazine, or the internet by Tuesday, February 8th. This picture will be the inspiration for their clay figure. The students have voiced their excitement about beginning this 3-D project.

January 31st-February 4th

Marc Chagall. America Windows, 1997

Art Institute of Chicago

This week,the eighth graders will complete their section to our own interpretation of Chagall's America Windows. The windows will be covered with symbols that are important to the students with a blue "Chagall-like" background. This is a work in progress and we have had some difficulties with the paint, however, I believe the transformation to our classroom windows will be beautiful by the end of the week.

January 24th-January 28th

The eighth grade students just completed their painting mixing/line design project. The results are fantastic. This week, we will begin learning about Marc Chagall. Our next project will be inspired by the famous stained glass windows that were created by Chagall for the Art Institute of Chicago in the 1970's. After an absence of five years, the windows have been restored and re-installed in 2010. I had the pleasure of viewing them in November just after their big reveal. They are still one of my favorite pieces at the Art Institute. Hopefully, our interpretation will be just as inspiring.

January 17th-January 21st

All eighth grade students continue to work on the "Color Study through Design" project. We will be completing this project by the end of the week. Each student is mixing paint colors according to specific guidelines in each section of their design project. On Tuesday, the students who have completed the painting portion of this project will begin outlining their sections with black marker. These projects will be graded based on color mixing skills, painting technique, and overall design quality and presentation.

January 10th-January 14th

The eighth grade classes continue to work on a brand new project: "A Color Study through Design". First, each student created their own design based on four specific directions that I provided. Then, they repeated their design seven more times on a 12 x 18 piece of drawing paper. Once their design was completed, they began painting. This project is an exercise in mixing paints and and developing a better understanding of color. In addition, the students are becoming acquainted with art vocabulary words such as analogous, complementary, monochromatic, opaque, neutral, shade, tint, and value. Each of the eight sections are being painted with a different color scheme. So far, the results have been quite impressive. This is a wonderful group of talented artists.