Encaustics

This was the second year of experimenting with encaustics, painting with melted wax pigments. I use this as my "after AP project" the portfolios have been submitted but we still have about a month of school so we need to do something fun.





This year we tried using other media with the wax. To start with, we added color to our boards with DynaFlow. You can't use acrylics with the wax because it needs an absorbent surface. Watercolors might work but I haven't tried them yet.












To melt the wax pigments, wax medium, and beeswax I use these metal tins and an electric griddle. Next year I'm getting a small crock pot for the medium.





Students add the wax in layers.






Between each layer the piece needs to be fused with the heat gun.






This year we tried out powdered pigments with the wax. I have metallics, some colors that were donated, and graphite powder. After the wax layer cools, pigments can be brushed on. Depending on how close you hold the heat gun to your work when you fuse this layer, you can get some neat effects.






The other media we used is oil paint. You can incise lines and texture into the cooled wax then rub oil paint into the lines. We used vegetable oil and paper towels to remove the excess.





Some students also embedded string into the layers of wax.






We used clay tools and razor blades to cut into the wax or smooth out the surface. When the wax is completely cooled we buff the piece with paper towels to make them shiny.





The students were quite successful with this project. My focus with this is experimentation rather than a perfect finished product, this allows the students to have fun with it.

My next post will have student examples.

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Guest Post: Andrea

The following is a guest post by Andrea sharing why she has chosen the college she will be going to next year.

After four challenging, yet rewarding years of high school, I refuse to treat college as just another building, a simple change of setting. For college to be a truly transformative experience, it must create the foundations from which I carve my dreams. I cannot say that ‘art’ was my first word. (It was ‘uh-oh.’) However, when paper and pencil are more appealing to a child than a stack of blocks or a bag of candy, I think that is called a sign.
Regretfully, I cannot recall how I felt the first time a stroke of lead caressed the thin surface of a page. But now, drawing is far more than a simple hobby. It is my center of personal expression, my source of empowerment, and my cherished haven of rest. This sensation may seem incomprehensible, but this is a passion Ringing College of Art and Design both understands and seeks to nurture. The aspect which distinguishes Ringling from all other is its resources.

As the #1 Most Wired Campus, I can look up information on artists and art movements at any time. With a vast array of digital computer programs and professional media, I will always be equipped to create. Lastly, the frequent recruiter visits from major animation studios will inform me of the essential responsibilities and skills involved in the production process.

Despite all of these resources, countless people have dismissed art as an illegitimate career. They scoffed at my dream, calling it childish and unrealistic. However, Ringling’s very existence validates my dream. So for every sketchbook that burst from all my lovingly hand drawn images, for every pencil sharpener whose blade went dull, for every pile of shavings that was formerly an eraser, for every festering blister that pulsed beneath the fierce grip of my pencil, for every paint stained shirt and lead covered desk, I choose to attend Ringling and make all those long hours of drawing worthwhile.

scholarship is sponsored by CenturyLinkQuote.com

Another Successful Senior Class

Tomorrow is the senior's last day before they leave for exams. Their art exam is done, we had a great show with an excellent turn out for the opening. It's really something to see all the artwork mounted and hung together. It's a great end to 2 years of hard work to see the portfolios like that. Even though IB is moving to a digital format for exams, the senior show is an important part of the process that won't go away.

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Central Park Art Festival

The Central Park Art Festival in downtown Winter Haven is this weekend.  You'll find lots of local artists and most are very nice and love meeting students.  I'll be there Saturday afternoon.

If you want extra credit for going:

1. find an artist you like (hopefully it is one whose artwork relates to yours in some way, for IB juniors and seniors)
2. talk to the artist, get a picture with them, ask them about their work, tell them about your work
3. do a page in your IWB about the artist and your conversation with them

If you want this credit to be on third quarter you need to show me your work before March 26.

Mixed Media

In Pre-IB Art 1 students learned to mix media while creating pictures of the bicycle.  The students had to make choices about color and composition while mixing tempera and soft pastel, combining drawing with repeated patterns.

Nathan

Anmol

Sianna

Melissa

Sasha

Casey

Guest Post: Leah

Artist: Kay Sage

Style: Surrealism

Danger, Construction Ahead is one of Sage’s earlier pieces. The piece focuses largely on perspective, using line in the drawing to create movement toward the back corner of the page, establishing a focal point. The painting uses a monochromatic scheme; using these colors, Sage creates a balance between the darker foreground of the left side of the piece and the lighter background on the same side. This same technique is reversed on the other side of the page, further contributing to the balance. The painting is reflective of Sage’s emphasis on line and lone figures in a desolate background.

Le Passage was painted in 1956, less than ten years before Sage ended her own life. Once again, the painting depicts a barren landscape with a monochromatic scheme. Unlike the previous work, Le Passage includes a human form. The slumped posture and dark shadows that surround her depict an air of loneliness, a common element in Sage’s work. Perspective continues to be an important element of the piece, as the landscape becomes less defined as the lines fade into the background of the work. Both works depict a world that is removed from reality, an idea common to the surrealist movement.



Guest Post: Angie

JASON MECIER

      Jason Mecier is a very unique artist who creates elaborate portraits of celebrities using “junk”.  Mecier’s technique is very captivating because of the false sense of dept he gives his viewer, accurate physical traits, and the intricate detail he accomplishes by using simple everyday objects. When looking at his pieces you are able to immediately recognize the celebrity Mecier has chosen to portray. Viewing his pieces is similar to a visual illusion, first you see the person and then you begin to focus on the microscopic elements, like what materials make up the celebrity’s hair and what was used in the background, how did Mecier achieve his sense of shading in the portrait? What is the significance of the materials used and how do they relate to the overall idea.  The photo to the right is a prime example of the how initially the viewer sees the piece and recognizes the person portrayed. Because of the intricate details the viewer is able to immediately recognize that this work is a representation of Tina Fey.



The photo to above demonstrates Mecier’s shading technique. All of the objects chosen are largely selected upon their shade. When Mecier selects his materials he does not see them as everyday objects but features of his work contributing to aesthetics of his piece. These aspects of the piece are important because they allow us to see how the everyday objects are transformed, and what we once saw as a piece of rubber is now seen as the shaded region above the characters eye. If we look carefully below the chin, we can see that what we know to be a tire is now seen as a highly shaded region of the neck. The fact that we have to strain to put an everyday name to the materials used is proof of how our sense perception of the objects has been altered by Mecier’s technique.