PJ was given a color photograph of a leopard with a clear grid of one-inch squares all over it and a sheet of drawing paper with a one-inch margin all around it and a grid of 1.5-inch squares on his drawing paper. He will look at the photograph under the grid and transcribe what he sees in each square onto each square of his paper. This drawing technique was used during the Renaissance and helps to develop observation skills, the understanding of positive and negative space, and line and shape relationships in space.

I introduced PJ to the art style of Cubism and gave him an art history handout with information about the art movement with an image as an example. PJ’s project is to create an owl in the Cubist style. Key points about Cubism to remember are as follows: 1) you can view multiple viewpoints at once: front, back, top, bottom, profile, and frontal views; 2) the picture plane looks fractured or “cubed” as if it were smashed with a hammer; and 3) there is no depth or three-dimensional space, and everything looks two-dimensional or flattened. PJ is off to a great start with his owl.

PJ finished his very detailed composition of cobblestones using oil pastels, marker, and colored pencil. He made the two-dimensional cobblestones look three-dimensional. Excellent work, PJ!

PJ is almost finished with his cobblestone texture realistic drawing. His work mixing the oil pastels to create a realistic cobblestone color and texture is fantastic! PJ has achieved this course objective:
VA.68.S.3.5
Apply two-dimensional techniques and media to create or enhance three-dimensional artwork.

PJ continues to create his realistic cobblestones composition using oil pastels and a scratching tool to create texture and dimension on the stones. He added shadows under each stone to show depth. He is doing excellent work!

PJ finished drawing his cobblestone surface using irregular lines. Next, he will be adding texture and depth with color and shading through a variety of media. He is focused on this project!

PJ completed his optical illusion sphere with alternating gold and silver squares. I have encouraged him to keep improving his craftsmanship. He is doing great!

PJ finished his first optical illusion painting using wavy lines and complementary colors to create the illusion of tubes writhing and moving. Good work! Then we looked at optical illusion artist Victor Vasarely’s use of line and color to create optical illusions in art. PJ started The Bulge Project where a circle is inside a square, and vertical and horizontal lines are straight until they get to the sphere. Then the lines curve to make the circle look like a sphere that is bulging through the square. I used a piece of yarn over a 3-D sphere to demonstrate how the lines will curve. PJ is off to a great start!

PJ is mastering color theory! He is self-directed in his color exploration. He completed a chart of tints and shades of red. Then he started an optical illusion project using wavy lines and alternating colors to give the illusion of 3-D tubes moving on a 2-D surface. PJ has been focused and is doing quite well.

PJ worked on color theory today. He started a color wheel by mixing equal parts of red, yellow, and blue paint to make secondary colors and equal parts of one primary and one secondary to make tertiary colors. He has done a great job so far! His colors and brushstrokes are excellent. PJ said he enjoys painting and wants to try painting on canvas. So after he finishes his color wheel, he can start painting.

Great work, PJ!