Game On!

Heather LOVES art but isn't sure what to do with it after graduating from high school.  She found an art studio workshop at a local art college that teaches computer game design and thought that might be a fun career.  The workshop was three days long.  Day 3 was a half day and was mostly a parents' day.

Heather was quite excited that they used special laptops that flip down so they lie flat like a drawing board.  Students use a stylus and actually draw on the screens and then can flip them back to a vertical position. Very cool.  Too bad they are $1,000+ just for the monitor. 

Day 1 drawings:

Indian maiden

 

Monarch butterfly wing close up

Girl with a kite

Day 2 drawings:

 

 

 

 

Baby Dragon

 

Her teacher really liked this one. 

Fairy becoming a bird

Annual Art Show

Heather had two pieces in the annual school art show this year. 

This is called a Zentangle.  She drew the picture of her dad in the middle, then drew all kinds of crazy patterns around the outside.  She based the drawing on a photograph of her dad and it looks JUST like the photo!

The other piece is a batik.  She used wax to protect parts of the picture of a peacock feather, then dyed the fabric.  When it dried, she took off the wax, put on more, dyed it a different color, and so on.  It is Heather's favorite project this year.

 

I am so proud of how hard she works on her projects.  Her dad and I tell her to put less detail in because she is always pushing the deadlines to finish, but I also love the part of her that refuses to settle for less than her abilities simply to make life easier on herself.

 

Heather is also taking an art workshop later this month at a local art college where she will learn how to use computer programs to do her artwork.  She knows she wants to do something with art after college but doesn't know what field to go into.  This workshop will help her explore her options. Who knows?  Maybe one day she will display her art at her own art show!

Exceptional

About this time last year I posted about Heather's paper cut project.  Not only was her art included in the 2012 school art calendar, but she won recognition for the project at the school art show last spring. 

Heather was invited to skip sophomore art and go straight to junior art this year.  However, when it was time to submit an art project to the state fair, Heather chose her papercut.  Although the project was the most time-consuming of any project she has done, it is still her favorite.  The art teacher helped students prepare their projects for submission to the state fair.

Today, my niece Stephanie and her friend went to the state fair.  Heather asked them to go find her artwork.  Stephanie took a picture with her phone and sent it to us.

Heather won First Place and Exceptional Merit.  She is so excited she cannot focus on her homework now!  She posted this picture on Facebook and then sent an e-mail to our extended family and to teacher who have encouraged her. 

Heather's art teacher responded almost immediately.  She said, "Do you realize that not only did you win first place, but you earned BETTER than first?  The purple Exceptional Merit ribbon is very special indeed!"  

I am so proud of Heather!  Congratulations, sweetheart.

Art Show

Heather's high school held an Art Show a few weeks ago. Heather was REALLY excited because four of her projects from this year were displayed.

Everyone in the class had to replicate a picture from the book "The Z was Zapped." 

 Each letter of the alphabet had something happen to it. Heather's B was bitten.  This was done with just pencil and a blending stick. 

The students also replicated black-and-white ink drawings of animals.  One of Heather's favorite animals is the cheetah.

 This is my favorite project of the year.  You cannot really see it but most of this is just dots.

Heather's mandala on display 

She was  quite excited to see her art work on the walls at the show. 

This is her papercut project.

By the time she was done, she hated this project.  Ha Ha   It was a lot of work to cut out all the little pieces of hair.

Heather with her art teacher.

Heather and I had a great time walking through the art show and looking at all the projects students have done throughout the year.  There are some incredibly talented artists in her school.  And it was fun to see Heather get excited about seeing her work on display.  Good motivation for her to keep working hard!

Artist at Work

Heather is an incredibly gifted  artist.  Her class did a mandala project.  Most of us have seen mandalas without realizing what they are.  Typically, they have a basic shape in the center and then flow out in designs that are meant to convey balance and symmetry.  I always think of the view from a kaleidoscope since mandalas are usually created using bright colors.  Mandalas are common in Hindu and Buddhist religious worship.  As worshippers meditate on the mandala they find their balance with the infinite.
Heather's art class was more focused on the technical aspects of creating a mandala than on the worship part.  Here is Heather's mandala in progress:

She drew the design in pencil and then outlined it in black ink.

She colored the design...

and then got it wet to blend the colors.  Here, she used shades of yellows and oranges and then blended them.

Then she colored in the designs. 

The squiggle flowed symetrically through the entire mandala (orange and red). The background is in shades of purple, but the purple didn't come through in the picture very well.

Paper Cut

Heather is a very gifted artist.  She was very excited to have Art class every day now that she is in high school.  Their first project was to complete a paper cut of themselves. 

Their Art teacher explained that "Paper cuts orginated in ancient China, but are still popular today.  With the help of Photoshop to manipulate their photographs, students used three sheets of paper that were light, medium, and dark colors or tones.  Each shape was cut out using exacto knives and glue sticks to create a beautiful high-contrast self-portrait."

Heather wondered if she would ever finish.  Most of the students had dark hair, so their hair came out one solid color.  Heather's lighter hair caught the light and created much more work for her (aka, lots of little pieces!).  It must have been worth the effort because her paper cut was selected for inclusion in the 2012 Art calendar the school produces.  Congratulations, Heather!

It looks just like her!