Andrea Ferrari Studio Art

In the studio my mission in teaching is to facilitate the visual language of art to all students so they can utilize it in personally expressive ways developing an awareness and understanding of themselves and their world through art. This happens by letting them become deeply familiar with art materials and by having motivations that connect to their life experiences.

Students are taught about the world of art through its different elements, cultures, artists and time periods. Art experiences in the studio are shaped by:

Providing students with tools/techniques embedded within formal teachings of the elements of art.

Building bridges throughout the school curriculum utilizing art as a new window for learning driven by interdisciplinary experiences.

Introducing the arts/crafts of other cultures, artists and time periods recreating art work in the style as interpreted by the student.

Grade 4
· Fourth Graders began the year polishing their drawing skills working in depth about the element of line taking it one step further exploring the concepts of rhythm through repetition and variety through different qualities of marks and lines. Students closely studied the pen and ink drawings of van Gogh and developed their own pen and ink drawings adding wash for lighter values, the wooden stick and brush for variety. Motivation came from different animals set in deep space composition handling three spatial planes: fore ground, middle ground and background.
· Continuing in learning about line we explored Chinese landscapes, flowers, animals, characters and calligraphy in the format of Asian folding screens. Students used their newly honed skills in pen and ink, line, rhythm and variety and applied it to the new motivation of Asian Art.
· Basic proportions in self-portraiture is perhaps one of the hardest classes I teach. It seems awfully challenging to be able to depict oneself and meet our own ever so high expectations! Slowly but surely these fourth graders complete the task accurately and with a sense of deep pride! Please enjoy these breath taking self-portraits in dry pastel…can you guess who?!
· Moving into printmaking students created collographs using mixed textures to create rich surface area using printing inks on luster paper applied with brayers over a metal tray. Motivations included geometric vs organic shapes and of course pattern with textures.
· The discovery of the Rosetta Stone by Napoleon’s French troops at Rosetta and the deciphering by experts including Jean Champollion is always a subject that provides deep inspiration and motivation as students “decipher” Egyptian hieroglyphs and discover the different royal symbols and amulets to carve in their own “cartouches” or name tags. This is done out of plaster using cutting tools and metallic paint for a “royal” finish!

Drawings in pen, wooden stick, brush, ink and wash. Students explore the element of line drawing about their favorite animals.

Students learned some of the traditions in Asian folding screens applying images of Chinese landscapes, animals and characters.

Fourth graders explored creatures from myths and ledgends and re-created these on sheets of aluminum using the counter-répousée method from Nigeria, Africa.Minotaur