Alsion Middle School Art

By: Taran Nulu and Adi Kumar 

This school year has brought major change to Alsion Middle School. There are two new teachers. The schedule also experienced numerous significant changes, one of which involves art class. Now, instead of art class three times a week, it is once a week, on Friday. Each class, there is one assignment due the following week. The assignment typically follows a theme and transitions between different art styles and periods. Class begins with a short lesson about the history of the style of art, similar to Ms. Asha’s art history class. Students are given some guidelines to which the assignments are graded, but mostly, this class is a time for relaxation, creativity, and having fun. 

Note: These are only a few of the artworks made during the school year. 

Pointillism of an Aurora 

One of the first assignments of the year was a pointillism art piece of an aurora. Pointillism is a technique of painting using small, distinct dots in a pattern to form an image. It was invented by Georges Seurat in the 1880’s during the art movement of Neo-Impressionism, which lasted until the 1900’s. In this assignment, students were given the task of using markers to create a pointillism art piece of an aurora. Reference images were provided, though creative liberties were taken with it.

Pop Art 

Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the United Kingdom and the United States during the 1950’s. This movement involved imagery and icons from popular culture and media, including advertisements, comics, books, and cartoons. The pop art movement was characterized by bright, saturated colors. For the assignment students were tasked with making a portrait of a popular celebrity using markers, vibrant colors and a solid color background 

Mondrian 

Piet Mondrian was a dutch painter who is known as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. He was one of the pioneers of abstract art, and was part of the Expressionism art movement. His style is quite distinctive, with his use of squares, rectangles, and lines and the colors yellow, red, blue, white, and black. Students were tasked with making an art piece in his style using only the colors red, blue, yellow, and black and only drawing rectangular shapes. 

Cartouche

A cartouche is an ovular tablet covered with hieroglyphics, representing the name of an important figure. They were commonly used during Ancient Egypt’s 4th dynasty under the rule of Pharaoh Snefru. In this project, students were tasked with making a cartouche representing themselves. Students had to draw themselves in a sideways manner with the head of an animal, seen commonly in Egyptian art. Students also had to decorate the sides of cartouche, and inscribe their names in Egyptian hieroglyphics.

African Mask

Traditional African masks are vital to several traditions and ceremonies in African cultures. They often represent good harvest or spirits of passed ancestors. The masks are often made to represent animals and spirits. They are usually made out of wood, but are also made out of metals and pottery. Students were tasked to make their own masks out of cardboard, following a video tutorial. After the tutorial, students were able to add their own creative touches to the masks. As the mask was flat, the cardboard was layered to add depth to it.

Greek Vase “Painting”

Greek vase painting originates from early Archaic Greece. It originally featured black figures, but later expanded into more colors. The paintings on the pottery often depicted important events in the creator’s life. In this project, students were tasked with drawing a significant event in their life on paper. As with the Greek pottery, the art was colored using black and a pottery-like brown.

René Margritte

René François Ghislain Magritte (1898-1967) was a Belgian artist and a part of the surrealism movement. He was known for his portrayal of objects in strange ways. René’s work often made the viewer question how reality is represented. One of his most famous paintings, The Son of a Man, depicts a man in a suit and top hat with a green apple covering his face. Students were tasked with replicating such an art piece, with themselves instead of the mysterious man. Instead of drawing a green apple, students covered their faces with something that was very meaningful to them.

Stained Glass

Stained glass is often used in windows of religious buildings, such as churches. Stained glass is a traditionally two dimensional pane of colored glass. Creating stained glass requires lots of craftsmanship and skill. Students were instructed to cut out geometric shapes using different colored construction paper. Instead of making glass, students arranged the cut outs and laminated them with a border, giving off the effect of an actual pane of glass.

​​Art class has changed in a variety of ways this year, but overall, is a new and unique experience.