Art Exhibitions Ahead!

Next week, seventh and eighth grade students give their first exhibition of the year, the art exhibition. This year, Ms. Decker and Ms. Buckley collaborated on the theme: Children's book illustration. 

At the start of the year students looked in picture books for examples of the elements of art; line, color, shape, value, form, texture and space. We observed how illustrators made choices in these elements to change the feeling and atmosphere of an illustration.

Next we explored the different media illustrators use when creating children's books. We tried oil pastels, watercolors, charcoal, wax crayons, and collage. Illustrations made with different media also changes the feel of a book.

In Language Arts, seventh and eighth grade students began to critique the writing of children's books, looking for themes and patterns. Using this knowledge, they wrote their own story for children.

Now we are deep into illustrating our books. The complete, illustrated book is due to be handed in on Monday, November 6th. Later that week, on the morning of Thursday, November 9th, seventh and eighth grade students will present their children's book, and share about the life and work of an illustrator who inspired them. Parents are welcome to join us.

Here is beautiful cartoon by the illustrator LeUyen Pham about the importance of picture books in her childhood.