Watercolor Masks of Nepal

International Academy students created these traditional style masks from Nepal. We began by learning about the country of Nepal. We looked at the native people, discussed the religions and languages spoken there, as well as the geography of the country. We saw that seven out of the 10 tallest mountains in the world are in Nepal, including the tallest; Mt. Everest. Students learned the uses of these masks for ceremonies and why they are so fierce and vibrantly colored. Students created sketches of several masks and chose the strongest designed to create a larger version. The masks needed to be drawn and painted symmetrically, have a third eye and sharp pointed teeth, as well as contain some type of color blending.

Graffiti Color Wheels

Color theory and mixing is vital for art students but can become very tedious and boring. This lesson was a fun and different way to teach color mixing and give students the chance to experiment with different lettering styles as well. We started with drawing out names in any chosen font- I gave my students the choice of bubble letters, block, graffiti or three-dimensional.Next, students divided the paper up into 12 sections. These 12 sections would include all 12 colors on the color wheel (primary, secondary and intermediates). They would have each color appear twice- once around as the letter and its complement as the background. This was a great lesson that got students to understand color theory but also put their own style and creativity into the lesson.