5th Grade Zoetropes

Zoetropes are an animation form that dates back to the 1800’s. The device is a cylinder with slits in it for viewing. Inside one places a strip with the frames of animated action on it. The spinning action of the cylinder and the black spaces between the slits acting as a shutter, give the illusion of movement.

Fifth graders began their study of animation by thinking about sequence, and how traditional animation breaks longer actions down into individual moments that play out in a specific order. After building up from the creation of short sequences of simple shape transitions in 4 frames, they worked to create longer sequences of simple animation ideas of their own on 16 frame strips.

Below you’ll find a still image of each student’s zoetrope strip, as well as a short video of the action as viewed through a zoetrope where one is available.

QUICK NOTE ABOUT THE VIDEOS: As you’re watching it will seem out of focus and hard to see what’s happening at first. Keep watching! As the zoetrope spins it will eventually reach the right speed for the shutter of the camera. For just a bit it will seem like the spinning isn’t blocking the camera anymore. Even though the animation will still be quick it will be much easier to see at that point!

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Cosi Croquet

Francesca Cueto

Harry Davenport

Caitlynn Hurst

Jack Masamitsu

Milo O’Hagan

Josh Olusheki

Gisele Putka

Zoey Samuelson

Olivia Weil

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CK5 Single Point Perspective Drawing

Perspective techniques are a way to give a 2 dimensional drawing a sense of depth and 3 dimensionality. Fifth graders learned the basics of single point perspective, using a horizon line, vanishing lines and a vanishing point. After a series of shape drawings to help build understanding the students had a chance to develop a more in-depth drawing using a street scene. The composition and what was included all up to them, with each element a chance to implement the techniques in creative ways.

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Ryder Brownell

Cali Greenspun

Cooper Hofmann

Jacob Samuels

Shaian Udani

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8th Grade • Portrait in Masks

Samuel Vuvu

Portrait in Masks

In the second trimester, the entire eighth grade read and discussed This Book is Anti-Racist. The book inspired the Identity Mask and Portrait projects, in which students explored what it means to be an anti-racist. For the first part of the assignment, students drew symbols on a mask template to represent who they are. In the second part of the assignment, students learned how to proportionally build and accurately draw a self-portrait. Students used their understanding of value to complete their portrait and combined it with their mask.

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7th Grade • Two-Point Perspective

Elodie Harris

Two-Point Perspective

After studying the techniques of two-point perspective earlier in the year, the seventh grade students selected a photo of a building and used it as reference for their two-point perspective drawing. Many students chose favorite places on Google Maps to draw, some chose interesting, far-away places, and others chose to document their home street corners. Some students struggled at first, each coming to their “Ah-ha” moment at different points in the project. Once the technical process was understood, the students really dug in, adding light, shadows, and surrounding architectural and natural elements that brought their locations alive.

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7th Grade • Eye Portraits

Tristan Goris

Eye Portraits

In this project students explored the different values of pencils. Using 6B, 4B, 2B, B, HB, and 2H pencils students examined drawing techniques and then applied them to their eye drawing. Students completed this project while reading Lois Lowry’s The Giver in Humanities and exploring the concepts of utopian vs. dystopian societies. Students had the opportunity to further explore the ideas of color and gray scale in the context of utopia and dystopia, while learning how to combine technology and art.

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7th Grade • BLM Posters

Stella Ward

Black Lives Matter Posters

Students used inspiration from the artwork of the Black Lives Matter movement to create posters. Students were able to use their real-world experience and express their personal connection to the movement. Each poster embodied what the BLM movement means to the student. The students then used Book Creator, a web-based program, to design the overall layout. Students used basic design principles during this assignment. This was a cross-curricular project with the seventh grade humanities pods.

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Nina Sengupta van de Weerd (Breonna Taylor)

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8th Grade • Watercolor Triptych

Olivia Atienza

Watercolor Triptych

The triptych, or three-panel work of art, painting was the first assignment in the eighth grade curriculum. Students began the project by creating a color wheel. This activity enabled eighth graders to work on their ability to combine secondary and tertiary colors. While creating the color wheel students also worked on creating a value shift with the watercolor paint. Each student then selected a unique landscape and divided the image into three, equal sections. Each panel was then separately painted.

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7th Grade • Window Project

Anais Cornfeld

Window Project

In this project, students selected two different materials to complete an observational drawing or painting. Students used all that they have learned over the year to complete this assignment. The contrast between the two materials can create a wonderful effect, but more importantly, students will learn the materials that compliment each other.

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5th Grade Journalbean Collages

Brianna Collins is an artist who posts photos and videos of her collage-based journaling style on Instagram under the handle @journalbean. Her pieces use images, drawing, snippets of text, paint, ink, and a plethora of other media.

The students looked at selections of her work, watched several of her process videos, and then created their own collage pieces inspired by her. To add an additional layer to their pieces they were asked to make them somewhat autobiographical. The elements they chose should speak to pieces of their own identity, or personality or experiences.

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Ryder Brownell