WELCOME to ART CLASS at PATAPSCO MIDDLE with Mrs. Mitchell!

6th GRADE: In 6th grade, we've been working on contour line drawings of still life objects from observation.  Students have been practicing using Pen and Ink, and they just started to overdraw their pictures in this time-honored medium.  I have to say, the drawing talent of our incomming 6th graders is SO impressive!  I can't wait to display their first works.

7th GRADE: In 7th grade, we started the year with a Linear Perspective drawing unit.  Building upon the knowledge of perspective gained in their 6th grade Tech Ed class, students are creating their own cityscapes using 2-Point Perspective.  It's a challenging but rewarding system of drawing a realistic representation of 3-dimensional deep space on a 2-dimensional surface.  These students are definately up to the challenge!

8th GRADE:  In 8th grade, students are immersed in a self-portrait unit that will also explore their relationship to nature and the natural world.  The students have put in a great deal of effort learning the correct proportions of the human head and facial features, and they have been doing a stellar job drawing themselves from observation.  Working on large canvas board with pencil, the class is just about ready to move onto painting.  This past week, we studied the work of environmental sculptor Andy Goldsworthy and went outside on the grounds of the school to create our own intuitive sculptural responses to the natural world.  Take a peek at their exciting experiments right here on this website!

In Blair's exploration of natural materials, we can see some fundamental art elements working together.  The grey stones against the golden sand create contrast.  She has arranged the stones to create a specific shape.  The green grass creates contrast in both color and texture, and functions as a line moving around the centralized shape. 

Click on the photo to get a closer look!