Miro's Motifs

7th graders studied the Spanish Surrealist Artist Joan Miro. Miro's "Chicago" is a large sculpture found downtown across from the Daley Center.

They looked at Miro's Constellation Series and found some of his motifs (a distinctive feature that is repeated in an artist's work).


We discussed surreal and abstract art (abstract art=from your imagination; surreal art= using your subconscious). They began their piece by closing their eyes and making three "squiggles". Next they added some of his motifs. They used pastels, crayons, and markers for the color.

Artwork by Johntaye and Shakeyah
Artwork by Mikayla and Kiara B
Artwork by Deja
Artwork by Tjena
Artwork by Ellusion
Artwork by Crystal and Lashamere
Artwork by Jamerah and Cartez
Students were encouraged to use their imagination and find things amongst their squiggles. Cartez was very good at this and found a dragon/monster type creature. He went around the room helping other students find things.

Our Great Waves

6th graders have been studying different types of wavy and curved lines. Also with it being hurricane season, we re-created "The Great Wave", one of the most recognizable works of art from Japan. They also recently practiced drawing trees using spiral lines, so some students chose to have trees growing in their water. As always I was impressed with the variety of styles.

"The Great Wave off Kanagawa" by Hokusai.

Artwork by William
Artwork by Constance


Artwork by DaMarques
Artwork by Kiara L and Michael
Artwork by Ahmad
Artwork by Triniti

Artwork by Makayl
Artwork by Kiara R
Artwork by Gabrieal
Artwork by Jevon
Artwork by Lawuan

"The Great Wave" is seen often in pop culture (popular culture like t-shirts, advertising, etc) and reproduced in other type of artwork such as the sculptures below.

Below are examples of "The Great Wave" as seen in pop culture that I found online.

Back to Drawing!! Grades 4-8

We are back in school! Our first project was decorating the cover to our sketchbook. This year's group colors are orange, purple and green. Every class had the same guidelines of wavy line in middle, box on the wavy line, sun by their name as well of a zig-zag line, spirals and other shapes. Even with the same guidelines, everyone's unique style shined through!!
On the back side they had option of free draw and writing their name in different styles. Here are some of my favorites:

Sketchbook Covers by Kiara B, Crystal, Marvelles and Tatyana

Sketchbook Covers by Yahzyah, Deja, and Lorraine

Sketchbook covers by Jevon, Kiara R, Brianna, Indiya

Sketchbook Covers by Kori, Tysean, Juavonte, and Emonie

Back to Drawing!! Grades 1-5

We are back in school! Our first project was decorating the cover to our sketchbook. This year's group colors are orange, purple and green. Every class had the same guidelines of wavy line in middle, box on the wavy line, sun by their name as well of a zig-zag line, spirals and other shapes. Even with the same guidelines, everyone's unique style shined through!!
On the back side they had option of free draw and writing their name in different styles. Here are some of my favorites:

Sketchbook Covers by Avionne, Caiya, Sereniti, and Jaren
Sketchbook Covers by Kamaree and Carson
Sketchbook Covers by Jherrone and Marion
Free Draws by Joseph and Andre
Sketchbook Covers and Free Draws by James, Noah, Bianca, and Mikayla
Sketchbook Covers by Marquis, ChynaC
Sketchbook Covers by Shaionta and Amillion