Student Art

Space & Shape

2012-01-02T16:39:00.000-08:00

Art & Craft students spent their first semester of the 2011-2012 school year studying and exploring the design elements of SPACE and SHAPE. Students took time to consider negative and positive space and how they can be used to create an interesting composition while working with paper cuts, spray paint stencils and printmaking. Students were challenged with the need to closely consider these methods and engineer their work correctly to insure the final product is accurate and successful.

Value & Form

2012-01-02T16:01:00.000-08:00

Drawing and Painting students spent the first semester of the 2011-2012 school year with the focus and study of creating VALUE and FORM using a myriad of drawing mediums. The semester was finished off with their first experience applying color to these elements.

Color Portraits

2011-05-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

For our final project of the 2010-2011 school year, Drawing & Painting students spent time working in acrylics and developing their own personal relationship with the paint - experimenting with brush stroke, blending, color and style while focusing on the value, form and proportion of their face. These portraits are not only images of the students, but an example of their personal styles as well as their personal growth as an artist. What a year!

Movement

2011-04-28T17:51:00.000-07:00

Painting students study the human figure and the design principle of MOVEMENT...and through this have created these vibrant watercolor paintings.

Applied Color Theory

2011-04-28T17:47:00.000-07:00

After studying the basics of color theory...

painting students applied a specific color scheme to create value and form, using tints and shades, in their first acrylic painting of the year!

Achromatic

Analogous

Monochromatic

Triad

Scholarships!

2011-04-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

Two students received generous CCD Scholarships through the statewide Scholastics Art Competition for their submitted portfolios which competed against all Colorado high schools! These winning pieces made THE BIGS and were shown at the Denver Art Museum...

Spring Fever

2011-03-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

The air is getting warmer, but students are staying focused as they work on their first acrylic painting...applying color theory!

FIELD TRIP: Denver Art Museum

2011-03-11T09:49:00.000-08:00

Field trip days are the best days. Advanced drawing and painting students explored the Denver Art Museum with a focus on studying how the human figure is used in art work. We also had a great time observing the large scale murals and installations...

As to Be in Plain Sight, Lawrence Weiner

The Last to Know, Matthew Brannon

Fox Games, Sandy Skoglund

Student observing the figure in artwork.

Figure studies

Blind Contour Fun

2011-02-13T08:37:00.000-08:00

Students practice the blind contour drawing method by creating a portrait of a fellow student. The students draw "blind" with their eyes open, but their drawing surface covered...which is also the inside of a paper grocery bag (big thanks to Whole Foods for the donation). This demands that students carefully observe the face they are drawing by tracing it with their eyes and translating what they see through their hand. Without lifting the drawing tool, using one continuous line, the students create an expressive portrait. This exercise teaches students to carefully concentrate and observe as well as loosen up and allow drawings to be expressive...the end results are abstracted, interesting faces!

Pastel Compositions

2011-01-18T11:56:00.000-08:00

After discussing the importance of composition in art work, students use view finders to identify an interesting and strong composition from a photograph of their face. Once chosen, the students expressively use color pastels to create form and value to make their face come alive.

All Mixed Up!

2011-01-11T10:19:00.000-08:00

Students experiment with mixed media processes

Colored Pencil Designs

2010-12-15T12:13:00.000-08:00

Pen Designs

2010-12-15T12:04:00.000-08:00

Graphite Portraits

2010-11-17T11:43:00.000-08:00

Intro Drawing & Painting students observe facial proportion and apply value and texture to create form in their self portraits.

Field Trip

2010-10-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

Advanced Drawing & Painting students along with advanced photography and ceramics students took a field trip to the Denver Botanic Gardens. Drawing students studied botanical illustration and the work of Leonardo da Vinci while Ceramics students observed the sculptures of artist Henry Moore and Photography students roamed the gardens looking for beautiful images to capture. It was a perfect fall day...and we had SO much fun!

Emotive Pen Drawings

2010-10-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

Students studied pen techniques and learned how to create a range of values with them. With that knowledge, the students have drawn portraits which convey emotion or expression and created the value for them by combining a collection of words that describe the emotive qualities of the photograph instead of the traditional cross-hatching or stippling type pen techniques.

The Old Shoes....

2010-10-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

"...the teacher who makes you draw your hands and your shoes" - Ms. Knight is gaining quite the reputation as my current students are the younger siblings, cousins and friends of previous students and have heard all about Drawing & Painting . The shoe drawing is a great first experience with life drawing: paying close attention to proportion, value and texture.

Final Portraits.

2010-05-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

The 2009-2010 school year has come to a close! Students finished their introduction to Drawing and Painting with a final portrait using a monochromatic color scheme with a focus on shape and value to create form.

Mustache = Extra Credit

2010-05-18T10:08:00.000-07:00

The end of the year approaches and students are scrambling to raise their grades in Drawing & Painting. Although my teaching philosophy does not believe in "extra credit" I did, however, make an exception for students donning mustaches*.

*just kidding.

Surreal Paintings

2010-05-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

Students study Surrealism and create their own surreal painting using a collage they assembled for reference.

Achromatic Portraits

2010-04-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

Intro painting students complete their first painted portrait using black and white acrylic paint.
Students focused on proportion and creating three-dimensional form in their faces.

Blind Contour Portraits

2010-03-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

Students worked "blind" as they drew self portraits without looking at the drawing paper. Using a mirror, they were instructed to trace their face with their eyes and observe the actual shapes and lines they see and draw them without picking up their drawing tool, or looking at the drawing paper. To insure that students did not "cheat", their papers were placed inside a paper bag while they drew.

Students drew with a wax crayon, and then finished the portrait using watercolor to obtain interesting facial tones which resisted the wax lines so as not to loose the original expressive quality of the automatic drawing.

Block Printing

2010-03-25T08:18:00.001-07:00

Students have their first experience working with Printmaking through the simple block print method. This project teaches how to understand positive and negative space and challenges students to understand how to engineer a block print to communicate the space accurately.

Watercolors

2010-02-16T14:53:00.000-08:00

Beginning painting students begin to explore watercolor!

Graffiti Wall

2010-01-27T14:48:00.000-08:00

The graffiti wall is filling up in its third year!

Students also designed shirts using their stencils!

2010 Scholastics AWARDS!!!!

2010-01-22T11:23:00.000-08:00

Scholastics is an annual, state wide art competition which showcases the best of the best at the high school level. Two Montbello students have proudly received awards:

An Honorable Mention and the highest award of a Gold Key!

"Cafe at Night" (inspired by Van Gogh's Cafe at Night)

GOLD KEY WINNER!

12th Grader Saravuth Vong

This piece will be sent on to compete at the regional level

"Sofa Girl"

HONORABLE MENTION

12th Grader Edgar Medrano

Faces of Montbello

2009-12-17T09:25:00.000-08:00

Student's Self Portriats in Colored Pencil!

Working in Color

2009-11-18T11:58:00.000-08:00

Pen & Ink Trees

2009-10-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

Colored Pencil

2009-10-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

Pen Designs

2009-10-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

New School Year, New Student Faces

2009-10-02T09:41:00.000-07:00

The 2009-2010 school year has started of with a whole new group of introductory Drawing and Painting students. This talented group has applied their just learned knowledge of Value, Proportion, Texture and Craftsmanship to their first self portraits. These students were successful in applying these concepts.

End of the year

2009-05-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

The 2008-09 school year has ended...Room 145 is closed for the summer!

Final exams in art...so much more fun

2009-05-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

Drawing/Painting students and Art/Craft students tie up the end of the school year with a final painting or drawing. What a challenge to stay motivated when the weather is beautiful and summer is around the corner...but these students pushed through, and with only a few classes to work, they completed their year of studying art with a beautiful piece!

Distorted Grid Drawings

2009-05-15T11:31:00.001-07:00

Art/Craft students explore graphite for the first time this year and apply it to the method of distortion grid drawing to create interesting, abstracted portraits full of value.

Black & White Paintings

2009-05-13T09:04:00.001-07:00

Drawing and Painting students have completed their first painting! After working with multiple drawing mediums, students have established strong drawing skills by concentrating on value, proportion and form. The students applied this knowledge to their first painting using only black and white paint. Limiting the paintings to only black and white allows the students to focus on value and form while becoming familiar with the physical nature of paint before exploring the complexity and challenges of painting in color.

Stencil Graffiti

2009-04-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

The Graffiti Wall...becoming cooler.

After looking at urban street graffiti, students came to realize that "graffiti" is more than tagging words and gang related communication. The style of Stencil Graffiti is a world wide, underground art movement used to beautify the concrete jungles as well as communicate political, positive, ironic and satirical messages. These graffiti images are meant to make people think about the message, or just enjoy the imagery.

Students then created their own message or image through the stencil method and apply it to any surface using spray paint - once the stencil is created, the image can be repeated over and over.

Original Creativity

2009-04-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

As the year goes on, students' technical skills and understanding of the arts grow and they begin to have the "tools" to develop their own visual voice.

Students study THE PRINCIPLES & ELEMENTS OF DESIGN and apply these concepts to their own original concepts using a variety of mediums, subjects and themes.

Pastel Portraits

2009-02-23T12:20:00.000-08:00

Drawing students continue to study color as value and bring their self portraits to life using chalk pastel. Chalk pastel is a great middle step to introduce color before students begin working with paint!

Double Click on the images to see them in detail...up close you can really tell the students were invested in exploring this medium!

Self Portrait Collage

2009-02-23T12:10:00.001-08:00

Students study composition and juxtaposition as they create collages using magazine images. The images chosen represent the students' past, present or future. After collecting, assembling and adhering their images, students describe in writing the symbolic meaning behind the objects chosen.

Scholastics Art Awards

2009-01-06T08:41:00.000-08:00

Scholastics is a state wide competition that most every high school across the state enter their students' art work into. The Montbello Art Department is pleased that four Montbello students received Scholastics Art Awards! To receive an award is a great honor and achievement. Below are the students winning pieces...

SILVER KEY
"Untitled"
Artist: Melissa Contreras
Instructor: Ms. Knight
Category: Drawing

***Scholarship Winner***
Melissa's drawing has won her a $300 scholarship to the
Art Student League of Denver!
Congratulations Melissa!

HONORABLE MENTION
"Pieces of the Puzzel"
Artist: Omar Quezada
Instructor: Ms. Perkins
Category: Digital Photography

HONORABLE MENTION
"Self Portrait"
Artist: Andrea Alfaro
Instructor: Ms. Knight
Category: Drawing

HONORABLE MENTION
"High Skies"
Artist: Vanessa Lizardo
Instructor: Ms. Perkins
Category: Digital Photography

Colored Pencil Drawings

2008-12-20T10:22:00.000-08:00

Drawing and Painting students have there first experience with COLOR! Using colored pencil as the medium, students create value and texture in these tiny drawings. (each one measures around 3"x5")

Handscape

2008-12-13T07:57:00.000-08:00

Combining drawing from life and drawing from imgaination, students studied the anatomy of their hands and incorporated them into environments to create a sense of surreal fantasy.

Emotive Pen Drawings

2008-12-04T09:55:00.001-08:00

Symmetrical Design

2008-12-04T09:50:00.001-08:00

Students combine design and mathematical concepts while creating a symmetrical design.

Graphite Portraits

2008-10-21T10:18:00.000-07:00

After studying the early work of Chuck Close, the students began to work in the photo realist style by creating a self portrait. Working in the Grid Method, such as Close does, the students used graphite to record the contour line, and then apply value to make their faces come alive.

Morphed Drawings

2008-10-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

Students grasp the concept of Morphing and understand the stages in which the scientific process of Metamorphism embodies. After discussing the idea of an "artistic license" the students understand their ability to make something seem to be happening, although it may be impossible in this world. As a class, we talk about what it means to create an experience for the viewer....

Technically the students use the medium of colored pencil in which they focused on applying professional and illustrative craftsmanship. With these pencils, the students put in effort in accurate color rendering, layering and texture to insure the realism and high quality in their drawings.

Hopefully in viewing these morphing objects you appreciate the beauty, surrealism, and entertaining nature they each embody.

Shoe Drawings!

2008-09-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

It is the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year and we have jumped right into practicing our drawing skills. The best, and most challenging way to learn is to draw from life; looking at and observing the world around us.

Students were asked to take off their shoe, and place it in front of them. Here they could observe the common object and begin to accurately render it in a two dimensional drawing.

Using Contour Line, the students studied and recorded the proportions of the shoe. Once the shoe was accurately mapped out, the students then applied value and texture to create 3D illusions and make their drawing look and feel like their shoe!

Abstract Expressionist HANDS

2008-04-15T07:51:00.001-07:00

After studying the works of Abstract Expressionists and the theories behind the art movement, students used plaster to create a sculpture of their hand. Then they applied a chosen abstract expressionts artist's painting method to the surface.

"Willem de Kooning"

"Jackson Pollock"

"Mark Rothko"

Stencil Graffiti

2008-04-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

Clothes Line Still Life

2008-03-18T05:41:00.001-07:00

Students practiced drawing from life by observing a still life assembled with clothes hanging on a line. With the goal of accurately rendering the objects in front of them, the students applied color, value and form using colored pencils.

Group Grid drawing

2008-02-02T12:16:00.001-08:00

For this collaborative project, students studied value observation and proportion. Each student received an ambiguous square of an unknown photograph and was ask use graphite to enlarge and reproduce it. When all students were finished, the pieces were fit together to reveal the image.

Period 8: Bob Marley

Period 6: Spiderman

Original Cartoon Characters

2008-02-02T12:01:00.000-08:00

As a class, we discussed and studied what makes cartoon characters unique and lovable. Students applied these findings to their own interpretation of themselves- As a cartoon character!!! Some students were inspired by famous characters while others invented an entire individual style!

Portraits

2008-01-17T12:59:00.002-08:00

Students explore portraiture...

Intro to Perspective

2008-01-17T12:59:00.001-08:00

Students applied the basic concepts of one and two point perspective to create a piece of work that pushes spaces and implies the illusion of three dimension. Students were instructed to use the techniques of perspective and apply them in their own perspective.

Symmetrical Design

2008-01-17T11:24:00.001-08:00

Students used great craftsmanship to create these pieces using organic and/or geometric shapes...then the image was reflected to create a symmetrical cut-out design.

Pen and Ink Drawings

2008-01-15T10:48:00.000-08:00

The following images are student work done using Pen & Ink techniques.

Morphing!

2008-01-14T13:25:00.001-08:00

Students explored two common objects or symbols and morphed one into the other...these pieces are done in colored pencil.

Surreal Collage

2008-01-14T12:50:00.000-08:00

These intro art students created a Surreal Environment using collage methods.