August 2011 Art For Homeschool Award Winners

The results for the August 2011 art show are in!
Before I give out the results I want to tell you a little about our judge, Marcia Jackson. Marcia has a Bachelor of Fine Art in Studio Art and a minor in Art History from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. Marcia is now working towards her Masters in Curriculum and Instruction in Art. I am honored to have Marcia take the time to judge our art show. I asked Marcia if she would judge the show as well as make comments. Here is what she had to say:
 
Dear Fellow Artists,
Let me begin by saying how difficult it was to judge all the amazing and varied works of art. All of the artwork was fabulous!  I can tell that each and every artist who entered invested a great deal of creative energy and persistence in the execution of their work.  When you have a variety of mediums such as watercolor, crayon, pencil, colored pencil, photography and more in one art show competition, looking at multiple aspects and outcomes in the work is very important and challenging.  In order to fairly pick the winners, I first look for evidence of good use of the elements of art and principles of design. In addition to these formal qualities, I also look at how long the artwork holds my attention and what I think it might be conveying, or trying to say.  You see, I believe that art is a language. And, everyone who creates art is essentially using their visual voice.  Making and sharing our visual expressions with the world is a brave adventure, and I commend each of you for your bravery. I encourage each and every one of you to continue to practice your art making often; skill and quality come from experience with the art making process.  I am so proud of all of you for taking the time to make and enter these fantastic examples of your artistic creativity. Keep up the great work, and continue to use your visual voice and let the world hear what it is you want to say through your art.
~Marcia Jackson
Now for the results… All the comments about the artwork are made by our judge.

5 to 8 Year Olds:

First Place
 
 
 
 

Portrait by July - Age 6

Portrait by July - Age 6

 

This is a fantastic drawing! I can tell that you spent a lot of time and attention on the detail of the subject in your portrait. You did a great job drawing an expressive look on the face.  Your subject appears to be deep in thought as the eyes look beyond the viewer.  I also like how you placed your figure off to one side on the page. This creates a sense of space around your subject, which adds to the thoughtful mood of the drawing.  Pencil drawing is very hard. Try holding your pencil in different ways; this will allow you to create variety in the type and pressure of your lines. Great job!
Second Place
 
 
 
 

Volcano Erupting by Scott - Age 5

Volcano Erupting by Scott - Age 5

 

Your drawing is quite interesting!  It is hard to draw action in a picture.  You have done a great job illustrating what it might be like to experience a volcano erupting.  I especially like how you used collage to layer the figure into your drawing; it really adds to the drama and action that is going on in the background.  Combining cut out drawn images over another drawing is a daring way to break the rules in traditional drawing. How brave you are! Try drawing, cutting, and pasting more parts of your picture in the future; lay the parts out and arrange them before you decide where they should be glued down.  This will allow you to experiment with the composition of your drawing. Nice work, keep experimenting!

 

9 to 13 Year Olds:First Place 

 

My Little Brother by Jake - Age 10

My Little Brother by Jake - Age 10

 

 

What a wonderful and spontaneous photographic portrait!  I like how you captured your little brother’s response to his environment.  It is hard to tell whether he is covering his ears to sound or if he is just not real sure about suddenly having his picture taken.  The natural lighting in your photo really adds life to your brother’s eyes, as well as interest to the up close and personal composition you have created.  Lighting is the single most important element in photography.  Looking for and identifying the light source in photographs will help you to become more aware of its important role in the photographs you want to take.  Throughout your day, think about where the light is coming from and how it changes. Great job photographing your little brother!

Second Place
 
Path to the Beach by Graham - Age 12

Path to the Beach by Graham - Age 12

 

 The landscape scene you have made is very inviting.  It draws me in!  As the viewer, I can almost hear the wind and the waves.  I want to walk that path so I can get to the shore.  You have managed to create a very realistic atmosphere in your artwork.  You did a nice job contrasting the textures of the beach, grass, and the sand, as well as creating perspective in the foreground.  I also appreciate the clever use of purples in your clouds, as well as the sharp horizon line between the sea and the sky.  Altogether, you have created the necessary illusion of distance; an important and challenging quality in any landscape.  The more you work with a new medium, such as oil pastel; you will learn that unintended fingerprint smudges can happen.  Once you are aware of this, you will become more conscious of where you don’t want to touch as well as what is on your fingers. Great work!

That ends all the comments by our judge. Thank you again Marcia for judging our show!!!

Homeschool Parent Art Work:

summer peaches

Summer Peaches

I want to acknowledge our parent that entered the art show. Thank you Tricia Hodges for taking the time to participate in our show.  I love the simplicity of the subject matter, the neutral middle-ground, and the cool out of focus background. Parents can encourage and teach their children so much by example. I am hopeful that more parents will begin creating art work in order to teach the art process to their children. Great work, Tricia!
People’s Choice
 
People’s Choice Award is given to the artwork that gets the most votes through comments. Voting ended midnight August 14th. I appreciate all the people that took time to look at all the art entries and make their comments. This time our winner is Path to the Beach by Graham. Congratulations Graham!
Path to the Beach by Graham - Age 12

Path to the Beach by Graham - Age 12

Congratulations to all our award winners! First place and People’s Choice winners will receive a gift certificate from our sponsor, Dick Blick. I will send you an email asking for your physical address so I can get the certificates sent to you. Thank you Dick Blick for being supportive of our homeschool students!  It is greatly appreciated.
The next Art For Homeschool Art Show deadline is November 1. Don’t let it sneak up on you! I am hoping that we will receive some entries in the older age group. The last few shows we have not had any entries in the 14 through 18 year olds. I know there have to be some homeschoolers that age out there somewhere.
****Note: I am having trouble with my Wordpress theme. I apologize for the strange spacing, centering, and bolding of text. I have worked on this article for hours trying to get it correctly written. But, I figure that the announcement of award winners is more important to you. So, I am having to give into my perfectionism to publish the article as is. I hope everyone understands. I may have to change themes for this blog in order to get things to work correctly. Ugh! Computers! Aren’t they supposed to make our lives easier?

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