Illuminated Letter

I've been trying to come up with a fun calligraphy project for my 7th graders for awhile and I think I've got one:

Draw the first letter of your name and include designs in all empty spaces. All designs should be "double-lined" to leave think white lines between each space. I used a 2-ply bristol board.

Color with colored pencils. The coloring should be dark and thick so that no white shows through. This also known as the "velvet technique".

Paint over the entire drawing with black watercolor. I found that three or four coats worked well, any less and the white of the paper ended up looking gray and dull.

Carefully wipe the entire drawing with a damp rag to reveal the bright colored pencil underneath.

I thought the results were striking. Now all I need to do is try this with my 7th graders.

RU NU

Gymnastics Meets Drawing

I'm a middle school art teacher and I love it. I laugh out loud several times a day. Middle school kids are just so quirky and full of surprises. This year is going to be a little bit challenging because I have my biggest classes in eight years of teaching. I used to cringe if I looked at my rolls and saw a class with more than 30 kids in it. This year my biggest class is 37 (so far). I was given the option of teaching a 7th period, which would have meant not having a conference period and staying an hour late everyday but also getting extra pay and having smaller classes. I couldn't fathom the idea of not picking Aven up from daycare until 4:30 or 4:45 and not getting home until 5:00 so I chose the larger classes. So far my big class seems like a pretty good group (knock on wood), but I am finding that navigating my classroom is pretty challenging with 37 kids and 37 backpacks, not to mention how big boys feet are in relation to their height at this age. I have found myself imagining what it would be like to do hand springs through the room to help students rather than tripping and squeezing through so many bodies. Everyday the voice of a colleague reciting his favorite saying about the public education system in Utah rings though my head "stack 'em deep and teach 'em cheap". Here's to a great, albeit crowded, year!

Weekend Wanderings

This Labor Day weekend we stayed close to home. Ian and I went wandering around Copperton and also visited the Bingham Canyon Mine for the first time in about 20 years. I think I got some fun photographs in the process:

Viewfinder

Tire Guy

Chain Reaction

Ian's not the only person in this family that can take an artistic photograph of a fire hydrant.

Mirror Image

We also attended the Soldier Hollow Classic Sheepdog Championship and Splashdogs Event:

Walking After You

Smackdown

Fly Dog