Roy Lichtenstein styled self-portrait

I painted this as a demonstration piece for my 8th grade students. They've been making self-portraits inspired by either Roy Lichtenstein or Shepard Fairey (a project inspired by one I saw in Todd Stahl's classroom when I was doing my student teaching). After learning about both artists and taking reference photos to work from, they selected the style they wanted to work in and then transferred their photo to a drawing on 14" x 18" illustration board using the grid method.


Here are some samples of my students' work in progress. For most of them, this was their first time attempting a self-portrait. They're just wrapping up this project now and we're starting a ceramics lesson.

Inspirations: Local Artists

This weekend I went to the Salt City Urban Art & Craft Market. It was a great show with a lot of inspiring work being sold by area artists. I was practically drooling over all of the gorgeous letterpress work. I had some birthday money in my pocket, so I was able to take a few cool things home with me to continue the inspiration.



This felted owl is just too adorable! The artist has more work on Etsy at Peaches Products.



I'm planning on framing this notecard by Ink and Wit. There was a gorgeous calendar that the artist had put together that I really wanted to bring home, but it was a little out of my budget range.



I was determined to bring a piece of letterpress artwork home with me and wound up settling on this sweet little 10" x 8" winter themed print by Pistachio Press. They also had some gorgeous stationery. Their work is also available through their Etsy shop.

A quick glimpse of my classroom

I can't believe that I'm starting my fifth week of the school year already! Time is flying by. As such, I thought I should capture a quick glimpse of my classroom during this time. My students have been working on drawing the still-life arrangements that are on the tables. The bulletin board in the back has a display on the Elements of Design. I started the display with just a couple of images for each element and then my students helped finish it by bring in their own examples found in magazines, newspapers, the internet, or even from their own drawings.