KMS Student Work » Julia Sanderl

Expressionist Oil Pastel

Oct 222011

Kapaa Middle School art students recently finished an oil pastel project after studying the artwork of famous Expressionist artists, including Vincent Van Gogh, Edvard Munch, Franz Marc, and Wassily Kandinsky.

The main requirement for this assignment was to try to express an emotion using Expressionist techniques such as vibrant and intense color, simplified forms, and swirling directional lines.

Middle school years can be an extremely emotional time in one’s life, and our students really connected with the strong emotion and “drama” that is characteristic of the Expressionist style of art!

“We want more than a mere photograph of nature. We do not want to paint pretty pictures to be hung on drawing-room walls. We want to create, or at least lay the foundations of, an art that gives something to humanity. An art that arrests and engages. An art created of one’s innermost heart.” -Edvard Munch

Digital Portraits for Portfolio

Oct 022011

Gifted and Talented students have been working hard on their digital portfolio cover assignment. They are starting with a digital self-portrait created in Adobe Photoshop (shown above) and will later add text to create a final magazine cover that is all about them!

1st year GT students are drawing digital contour portraits on the computer, that they will later fill in with color. Aukai’s drawing is a fantastic example of how students incorporated an element of technology (in this case the camera) in their portrait.

My 2nd-year students are creating their portraits using the influence of contemporary artists Chuck Close and Natalie Irish. Chuck Close creates large-scale portraits using a thumbprint as his paintbrush, while Natalie Irish renders life-like iconic portraits with her lipstick kisses. If you look closely at Kahiwa’s portrait, you will notice that it is created from kisses!

KMS Channel 6 Morning News

Digital Media 9 Responses »

Sep 212011

Thank you to our KMS News Crew, who produced the morning news program for Kapaa Middle School during the 1st quarter of our school year! The team is made up of the following important roles:

Director: Katie Spaethe-Peterson
Switcher: Braeden Jensen
Controller: Makayla Hirokane-Mundon
Sub: Justin Paleka
Teleprompter: Zoey Kaneakua
News Anchors: Violet Asuncion & Kahi Davis
Camera-Person: Chloe Matsuda

This news team did a fantastic job of running a reliable news show geared toward student interest, education, and entertainment. The students arrived early every morning and prepared for their program before most students were fully awake (and I was still sipping my coffee)!

Next week they will be training our 2nd Quarter news team to take over the job, and they can finally take a well-deserved break. Great job team!

Mandala Sketchbook Covers

KMS Student Work, Visual Art 1 Response »

Aug 272011

The project I like to begin every Art class with is the making of a personal sketchbook. The sketchbooks will be used throughout the rest of the class to plan out art projects, take notes about artists, write reflections, and practice artistic techniques and skills. This time the assignment was to create a mandala design on the front cover that included symbols that represented something about the artist. I also asked that they find a way to creatively integrate their name into the radial design.

My current classes are a mix of 7th and 8th graders who come with varying artistic experience and abilities. The results of this 1st assignment were impressive and inspired high expectations for what is to come! I have a good feeling that this group is ready to take on some challenging art adventures!

Not only can Kapaa Middle School Art students create beautiful masterpieces, but they can articulate their thoughts on the process and explain their intentions through written artist statements! Click here to read a sample Artist Statement by 8th grader, Kahi Davis.

Lydgate Mosaic Ceremony

KMS Student Work, Visual Art No Responses »

Aug 212011

The Kahu Kai Mosaic Mural project was an effort by Carol Yotsuda and the Garden Island Arts Council to involve Kauai’s school-children in the beautification of Lydgate Park’s restored Kamalani Pavilion. KMS Art students took part in the creation of a ceramic mosaic that was unveiled today as the community took part in celebrating the completion of the first phase of murals to be installed.

The afternoon included picnics, theatrical performances, face painting, and live music by Mike Young and Renee Janton. Dr. John Lydgate was there to share his appreciation, along with artists, teachers, students, families, and sponsors. Special guest author Maya Soetoro was also there to introduce and autograph copies of her new children’s book “Ladder to the Moon.” Overall it was a great way to reflect on the work we’ve done and share it with the community!

Thanks again to Carol Yotsuda for involving us in this project, and also to John Wehrheim and Kapaa Middle School’s PTSA for sponsoring our mural!

Changing Education Paradigm

Visual Art 2 Responses »

Jul 302011

The above video is an animation that was adapted from a talk given by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA’s Benjamin Franklin award.

I found Sir Ken’s reasoning to be brilliant, and the animation was extremely clever and revealing! I would like to invite your personal responses and commentary!

“Imagination is the source of every form of human achievement. And it’s the one thing that I believe we are systematically jeopardizing in the way we educate our children and ourselves.”
— Ken Robinson

Pop Art Portraits

Digital Media, KMS Student Work No Responses »

May 122011

GT Media students were introduced to the Pop Art movement that emerged in the 1950s in Britain and the United States. They were challenged to analyze, interpret, and compare works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Jasper Johns, and other like-minded artists. The common Pop Art themes involving fashion, film stars, music, comics, and youth culture proved to be both intriguing for these middle schoolers as well as perplexing. Why would an artist print the same simple image of soup cans over and over (and why would people pay big money for them)? What is the point of building a giant sculpture of a spoon?

In addition to the verbal discussions and written critical responses that were assigned, the students also created their own “Warhol-esque” portraits using digital photography, computer manipulation, and colorful ink pens.

“An artist is somebody who produces things that people don’t need to have.” Andy Warhol

Copper Repousse

Visual Art No Responses »

May 112011

The theme for this low-relief sculptural project was to render one of Hawaii’s threatened or endangered species in 3-D. Students spent time on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife website researching a plant, animal, or sea creature, and learning about the habitat, current population, potential threats, and conservation efforts. After a full investigation of their topic, students worked on preliminary sketches that included elements of the species’ habitat. Final drawings were transferred onto a copper sheet, and then the meticulous process of forming the convexities and concavities followed. The 3-Dimensional quality was created in the soft metal by rubbing both sides with simple tools such as tongue depressors, popsicle sticks, wooden skewers, and the backs of spoons to stretch and bend the surface. The last step was antiquing the final composition with liver of sulphur and polishing with steel wool. Students’ final projects along with typed artist statements were displayed in the main office to inform and educate our school community and spread awareness of the threats Hawaii’s plants and animals face today.

“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” John Muir

Expressive Self-Portrait

KMS Student Work, Visual Art No Responses »

May 102011

The final Art project of the year for Kapaa Middle School 7th and 8th graders was to complete a realistic self-portrait that also expressed the individual’s personality or character. Students analyzed self-portraits by Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo, while studying the technique and value scales of Chuck Close’s photorealistic large-scale portraits. The students were enthusiastic for the first step of the process, which involved taking turns posing and photographing digital portraits. Once 4″ X 6″ copies of the photographs were printed for each student, they measured and drew a 1″ grid with pencil on top. Next students were given their final 12″ X 18″ paper and enlarged the grid by 3 times. The actual drawing began with a precisely measured contour in order to establish correct proportions, and the final step was to shade with pencil.

“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself.” Chuck Close

No Contest for Cuteness

KMS Student Work, Visual Art No Responses »

May 102011

Recess time, passing periods, and any spare classtime minutes were utilized by artist Zuri Shanklin to complete this extra project for the Humane Society’s student art contest. Unfortunately, the extra time wasn’t enough to complete it by the deadline, but this fantastic watercolor painting still deserves an audience. Zuri, your dedication, creativity, and artistic talent are the admirable qualities that will take you to the top!

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated…I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by people from the cruelty of humankind.” Mahatma Gandhi

Scratchboard Designs

Visual Art No Responses »

May 012011

Texture was the main element that students aimed to emphasize in this artistic endeavor. The scratchboard material is made of a golden surface that is covered by a layer of soft clay and then painted with black India Ink. Using sharp utensils to scratch into the surface, students methodically revealed their golden designs to create a truly dramatic effect!

“Art is literacy of the heart.” Elliot Eisner

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