Mr. Sznakowski's Art Blog

New Blog

2010-04-05T10:40:00.004-04:00

I have decided to move my blog to wordpress. It has a lot of cool features that I can benefit from.

The new blog address is http://artforare.wordpress.com/

Elements of Art

2010-02-06T16:05:00.002-05:00

Line - is a mark on a surface that describes a shape or outline. It can create texture and can be thick and thin. Types of line can include actual, implied, vertical, horizontal, diagonal and contour lines.

Color - refers to specific hues and has 3 properties, Chroma, Intensity and Value. The color wheel is a way of showing the chromatic scale in a circle using all the colors made with the primary triad. Complimentary pairs can produce dull and neutral color. Black and white can be added to produce tints (add white), shades (add black) and tones (add gray).

Texture - is about surface quality either tactile or visual. Texture can be real or implied by different uses of media. It is the degree of roughness or smoothness in objects.

Shape - is a 2-dimensional line with no form or thickness. Shapes are flat and can be grouped into two categories, geometric and organic.

Form - is a 3-dimensional object having volume and thickness. It is the illusion of a 3-D effect that can be implied with the use of light and shading techniques. Form can be viewed from many angles.

Value - is the degree of light and dark in a design. It is the contrast between black and white and all the tones in between. Value can be used with color as well as black and white. Contrast is the extreme changes between values.

Size - refers to variations in the proportions of objects, lines or shapes. There is a variation of sizes in objects either real or imagined.

Cool Art Advocacy Video

2009-12-03T18:44:00.001-05:00

10 Lessons the Arts Teach

2009-12-03T18:38:00.001-05:00

1. The arts teach children to make good judgments about qualitative relationships.
Unlike much of the curriculum in which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, it
is judgment rather than rules that prevail.

2. The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution
and that questions can have more than one answer.

3. The arts celebrate multiple perspectives.
One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.

4. The arts teach children that in complex forms of problem solving
purposes are seldom fixed, but change with circumstance and opportunity. Learning in the arts requires the ability and a willingness to surrender to the unanticipated possibilities of the work as it unfolds.

5. The arts make vivid the fact that neither words in their literal form nor numbers exhaust what we can know. The limits of our language do not define the limits of our cognition.

6. The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects.
The arts traffic in subtleties.

7. The arts teach students to think through and within a material.
All art forms employ some means through which images become real.

8. The arts help children learn to say what cannot be said.
When children are invited to disclose what a work of art helps them feel, they must reach into their poetic capacities to find the words that will do the job.

9. The arts enable us to have experience we can have from no other source
and through such experience to discover the range and variety of what we are capable of feeling.

10. The arts' position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young
what adults believe is important.

SOURCE: Eisner, E. (2002). The Arts and the Creation of Mind, In Chapter 4, What the Arts Teach and How It Shows. (pp. 70-92). Yale University Press. Available from NAEA Publications. NAEA grants reprint permission for this excerpt from Ten Lessons with proper acknowledgment of its source and NAEA.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T11:12:00.002-05:00

I hope all my art students are enjoying their Thanksgiving with their families. We only have a couple of weeks left before Winter Break.

When we return we will be spending some time studying the color wheel. Learning about primary, secondary colors, and intermediate colors.

See you on November 30th!

The Cathedral Arts Project Best of the Best Art Show at WJCT Studios

2009-10-15T20:52:00.004-04:00

Tonight was the Best of the Best Art Show for CAP. It was a great night! Here are a couple of pictures from the show.

New Eyes

2009-10-13T09:37:00.002-04:00

This Saturday, I decided to do something that I have been thinking about doing for a long time. I decided to have LASIK performed on my eyes.

Some of you may have noticed that I have been wearing glasses for a few weeks and now suddenly they are gone. That is because the LASIK surgery was a success and I no longer need glasses. In fact I can see better then 20/20.

If you see my putting drops in my eyes or it appears that my eyes a watering, don't worry... I have to put drops in my eyes several times a day and sometimes it appears that I have been crying or that my eyes are a little red. In a few days you won't even know that I had the procedure...

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

2009-10-13T09:32:00.003-04:00

Last week our school participated with most of the country in an attempt to break the record for consecutive readings of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

I thought it would be a great chance to teach my Cathedral Arts Project students the method and technique that Eric Carle uses for his illustrations.

Here is a picture of the finished banner they created. It was created by first painting color themes on blank pieces of paper and then cut and glued onto a huge caterpillar and letters in the same style that Eric Carle used.

Weekend is here!

2009-10-02T12:57:00.003-04:00

The weekend is here and Mr. Sznakowski is excited. Not because he doesn't want to teach, but because he is eager to do some painting of his own. It is sometimes a challenge to teach and be a practicing artist. I plan to paint most of the day tomorrow and Sunday. Check back Monday to see what artwork I created.

Pictures from the Cathedral Arts Project

2009-09-27T12:50:00.002-04:00

Georgia O'Keeffe

2009-09-23T20:58:00.002-04:00

During the next couple of weeks we are studying about Georgia O'Keeffe. O'Keeffe is definitely one of my favorite artists. It was her work that inspired me to paint my first oil painting almost ten years ago.

Here is a brief Bio about Georgia O'Keeffe:

Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American artist. Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O'Keeffe was a major figure in American art from the 1920s. She received widespread recognition for her technical contributions, as well as for challenging the boundaries of modern American artistic style. She is chiefly known for paintings of flowers, rocks, shells, animal bones, and landscapes in which she synthesized abstraction and representation. Her paintings present crisply contoured forms that are replete with subtle tonal transitions of varying colors. She often transformed her subject matter into powerful abstract images.
O'Keeffe played a central role in bringing an American art style to Europe at a time when the majority of influence flowed in the opposite direction. This feat enhanced her art-historical importance given that she was one of few women to have gained entry to this level of professional influence. She found artistic inspiration, particularly in New Mexico, where she settled late in life.

Interested in Visual Arts Classes After School?

2009-09-02T12:43:00.002-04:00

It's that time of year again. I am currently looking for students interested in taking Visual Arts class with Cathedral Arts Project on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Classes will be Monday and Tuesday from 3:00 until 5:00.

The first Class will be September 14th.

If you are interested please see me.

Ready for Art Class?

2009-08-20T22:35:00.002-04:00

Next Wednesday is the day. The first day of Art for the students. Monday and Tuesday the resource teachers will be helping with Registration, but Art is scheduled for Wednesday. This year will be similar to last year because I will teach the primary grades the first semester and the intermediate grades the second semester.

The Cathedral Arts Project's visual Art Class at Andrew Robinson Elementary will begin September 14th. I'll be signing up students all week. If you think you are interested in being part of CAP then let me know when you see me.

Beginning of a great school year

2009-08-16T13:49:00.002-04:00

The school year is about to begin. Teachers report back tomorrow and students return the following Monday. We accomplished a lot last year, we improved our school grade from a C to an A. We also made AYP which a lot of schools failed to do last year.

I am already coming up with a lot of great lessons to share with my students. I can't wait to see the students walk in the front door on the first day.

Enjoy the rest of the summer...

End of another Year!

2009-06-02T21:13:00.002-04:00

This year was a busy, yet very productive school year. I am excited for the fifth graders going on to sixth grade. I have been their art teacher since Kindergarten and now they are leaving for middle school. I even had my first student get accepted into LaVilla School of the Arts.

As I'm packing up the Art Room for the summer, I'll be coming up with more great art lessons for the students next year.

Happy Summer!

Mr. Sznakowski

More Pics

2009-04-23T21:49:00.002-04:00

More Pics

2009-04-23T21:45:00.003-04:00

More Pics

2009-04-23T21:41:00.002-04:00

More Pics from the CAP show

2009-04-23T21:38:00.001-04:00

Cathedral Arts Show

2009-04-23T21:33:00.003-04:00

We just had our annual Cathedral Arts Project Showcase. I thought it was a huge success. Once again my students have outdone themselves. Here are some pictures from the show.

Aboriginal Art

2009-03-03T13:56:00.002-05:00

The next unit we cover in Art class will deal with Aboriginal Art.

Australian Aboriginal art is the oldest living art tradition
in the world, with paintings in rock shelters dating back over
20,000 years. The art includes naturalistic paintings of human,
plant and animal figures, as well as non-naturalistic, or
"abstract" designs with concentric circles, "u" shapes, and lines.

The naturalistic style, predominant in Arnhem Land in northern
Australia, is often characterised by "X-ray" art, where the
internal organs of animals are depicted. The abstract style,
predominant in central Australia, originates from sacred
designs used in ceremonies. These designs, originally for body
painting, ground paintings, and carved on sacred stones and
boards, are now painted on canvas.

Much of Aboriginal art relates to stories of the Dreamtime.
This Dreamtime is the Creation Period in Aboriginal belief,
when important Ancestral Beings formed the land and created
the people, plants and animals. These Ancestral Beings, often
depicted in the art, may take human, animal, plant or combined
forms, and taught the people their laws and ceremonies.
(Courtesy Dr.David Welch)

Color Wheel

2009-01-27T13:22:00.004-05:00

For the next few weeks we are going to study color. Color is a very important element of art.
The first part of this until is going to be creating a color wheel ourselves.
There isn't any easier way to learn about color then to mix them yourselves.

A color circle, based on red, yellow and blue, is traditional in the field of art. Sir Isaac Newton developed the first circular diagram of colors in 1666. Since then scientists and artists have studied and designed numerous variations of this concept. Differences of opinion about the validity of one format over another continue to provoke debate. In reality, any color circle or color wheel which presents a logically arranged sequence of pure hues has merit.

In traditional color theory, these are the 3 pigment colors that can not be mixed or formed by any combination of other colors. All other colors are derived from these 3 hues

Secondary colors are the colors formed by mixing the primary colors.

Harmony can be defined as a pleasing arrangement of parts, whether it be music, poetry, color, or even an ice cream sundae.

In visual experiences, harmony is something that is pleasing to the eye. It engages the viewer and it creates an inner sense of order, a balance in the visual experience. When something is not harmonious, it's either boring or chaotic. At one extreme is a visual experience that is so bland that the viewer is not engaged. The human brain will reject under-stimulating information. At the other extreme is a visual experience that is so overdone, so chaotic that the viewer can't stand to look at it. The human brain rejects what it can not organize, what it can not understand. The visual task requires that we present a logical structure. Color harmony delivers visual interest and a sense of order.

In summary, extreme unity leads to under-stimulation, extreme complexity leads to over-stimulation. Harmony is a dynamic equilibrium.

Visiting Artist Jennie Szaltis

2008-12-17T11:34:00.004-05:00

Monday, December 17th we had a visit by local watercolorist Jennie Szaltis. We hope to have visit us again soon!

Holiday Disco

2008-12-15T09:49:00.001-05:00

Chroma key is a technique for mixing two images or frames together, in which a color (or a small color range) from one image is removed (or made transparent), revealing another image behind it. This technique is also referred to as color keying, colour-separation overlay (CSO; primarily by the BBC[1]), greenscreen, and bluescreen. It is commonly used for weather forecast broadcasts, wherein the presenter appears to be standing in front of a large map, but in the studio it is actually a large blue or green background. The meteorologist stands in front of a bluescreen, and then different weather maps are added on those parts in the image where the color is blue. If the meteorologist himself wears blue clothes, his clothes will become replaced with the background video.

Portrait

2008-12-10T10:33:00.002-05:00

Since we are studying Portraits this month, I thought I would share with you a portrait I recently finished. This is a portrait of Mrs. Brooks. She is a parent volunteer here at A.R.E. I created this portrait using soft pastels. So what is a pastel?

Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation.

The noun "pastel" gives rise to:
another noun, for an artwork whose medium is pastels
a verb, meaning to produce an artwork with pastels
an adjective, meaning pale in color

Various Clay Sculptures

2008-12-05T13:03:00.004-05:00

We have created a lot of clay sculptures so far this year. Some of them include, self-portraits, egg-shaped animals, teddy bears and more!

Self Portraits

2008-12-01T10:59:00.004-05:00

For the next couple of weeks we are going to be learning about Self Portraits. A Self Portrait is when an artist portays himself in a painting, drawing or sculpture.

Do you have a favorite Self Portrait? My favorite would have to be by Chuck Close. He painted his self portrait in a unique way. Look at the picture above. How did he paint his portrait differently then most artists?

Scream

2008-11-25T21:24:00.001-05:00

"Scream" A roller coaster created by Cathedral Arts Project students.

"Food Fight" Student Claymation Project 2007

2008-11-25T21:18:00.001-05:00

Field Trip to the Sally Corporation

2008-11-25T19:02:00.006-05:00

Today we were fortunate enough to tour the Sally Corporation. We were able to see how they created many different robots as well as some "Dark Ride" components. The students really enjoyed themselves.

First Claymation Movie, "The Lifecycle of a Butterfly"

2008-11-25T18:48:00.003-05:00

This was the first Claymation movie produced last year during the 2007 school year.

Student Created Movie, "Soccer in Space"

2008-11-25T18:44:00.002-05:00

First Movie of the 2008 school year.