Spring Spectacular Art Exhibition
Check out these beautiful works by our students during the Spring Spectacular Art Exhibition.
Tag: visualarts
Taiwan Updates
Student Life News
March 24, 2023
Our students are enjoying the warmth and humidity of Taiwan. In other words, ‘warmth’ referring to our hospitable hosts but also it’s really hot, and ‘humidity’ referring to the weather, the sweat from the intense training, but also the many many cups of bubble tea already had. While they’re sure to bring back wonderful memories and stories of their Asian adventure, here are a few pictures they’ve shared so far:
After School Art
Ms. Lucy Cui, Fine Arts Teacher
March 24, 2023
This semester for after school class, besides the training in drawing fundamentals and encouraging students creativity from imagination, like usual, we are exploring a different material, watercolor, to support our students’ drawing.
Watercolor paint is a translucent art medium and the paints are made of pigments suspended in water-based solution. The key for watercolor painting is water control. Students in this class will try watercolor techniques such as wet on wet, wet on dry, washes, underpainting, etc. Of course, different materials and techniques are just things to support ideas. Encourage students to express their imagination and illustrate it to share, to communicate.
In this class, we always start with a master copy of a realistic drawing to improve kids’ drawing skills, something like a simple still life or a landscape painting . After this project is finished, they can pick references themselves and design their own pieces. Training in professional skills first, then keep their imagination active and combine with their skills.
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Featured Arts News of the Week
Ms. Lucy Cui, Fine Arts Teacher
March 24, 2023
Recently we are working on a quick sketch study with pencil. This practice trains students to make art decisions in a short time and move on quickly.
We have long term art studies to prepare students for solid fundamentals, something like the grisaille painting we did last semester. After a while of long term training, students can make great art work, but at the same time, they become too cautious because they want every marker on paper to be correct. Here comes the quick study. Limited each sketch into less then 15 min, sometimes 5 mins or even 1min. For the fundamental skills they have are already good enough, they only need to get used to making decisions quicker and the result can be pretty good. Like the example photo there, the quick sketch practice page made by Coco (7th) and Niki (8th).
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Featured Arts News of the Week
March 10, 2023
Ms. Millie Hankinson, Fine Arts Teacher
The high schoolers in the visual arts program continue to expand their visual vocabulary while developing their core technical skills. Right now, they are putting the finishing touches on their third cast study this year and have learned to more capably measure proportions, render form, and interpret and simplify shapes. After their current drawings are completed, they will progress to quick sketches from life — both in the classroom and outdoors — in preparation for a multi-session portrait from a live model later this semester.
Featured Arts News of the Week
February 10, 2023
Ms. Lucy Cui, Fine Arts Teacher
This semester we are focusing on the quick study of oil painting with middle school students. Each painting class, I start with a demonstration and then give students a set time to finish the piece. We focus on different new tasks in each class and with time limits, students need to be highly concentrated to accomplish the task. We start with a single still life subject, then move on to multiple subjects, at the same time adding information of composition and color theory. The result seems nice. Within the past 4 weeks, students were able to finish one to two quick study paintings per week. Students are more focused during the limited time, and the artworks get better and better.
- Start with learning the value relationship by painting a pear (single still life subject) with white and burnt amber color
- Learn color relationship by painting of a pear with yellow and violet complementary color pair
- Painting of watermelon with green and red complementary color pair
- Landscape painting to incorporate more colors
- Learn multiple subject paintings by adding environment and fabric study to the painting
Featured Arts News of the Week – Visual Arts
November 4, 2022
Ms. Millie Hankinson, Visual Arts Teacher
In October, the high schoolers continued to move toward more complex subject matter by focusing on drawing from life. The students took turns modeling for each other in order to practice quick sketching, as well as to prepare for the two professional models that visited the classroom this month — including a pirate! To better understand the geometric forms of the human head and the effects of light and shadow, students practiced drawing from several of the cast sculptures in our collection, culminating in a weeks-long study which will continue through most of November.
Read moreCalling All SF Area Youth Artists!
Student Life News
October 13, 2022
Submit your best original artwork to the 2022 Fall HSArts Art Competition. This competition aims to uplift talented local youth visual artists and support their artistic passions. Winners will receive a scholarship up to $5,000! Prizes may be applied to any HSArts sponsored program of the awardee’s choosing.
Please visit the Art Competition page for official rules and guidelines.
Deadline is November 15, 2022 at 11:59pm.
Featured Arts Project of the Week – School Mural
October 13, 2022
Ms. Lucy Cui, Visual Arts Teacher
From beginning to now, the students worked together to help create a beautiful school mural. Students led the design themselves with pattern and color, and then put them on the wall! We divided the wall into several sections, dedicating 3 areas for a spring theme and other 3 for autumn, which represent the 2 seasons of San Francisco! Students used their creativity and imagination to colored the white wall with nature and imaginations. Although it’s only been a week and still work in progress, the artwork already looks promising.
School Mural
Front Page News
October 6, 2022
HSArts students are designing a school mural for the east wall. The community of students and teachers have voted on 4 beautiful designs by the students with the theme being the only two seasons in San Francisco, Spring and Fall. High school students finished selecting colors and the middle school students will begin working on the wall on Wednesday. Let’s see what they can accomplish!
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