In my attempt to bring travel into my life, I created this 8th grade art lesson.  Students selected famous buildings – the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal, the White House….  Places all over the world.

This was a materials-driven lesson.  Colored pencil on black Strathmore drawing paper with the addition of Sharpie metallic markers in silver, gold and/or bronze.

The strength in these works comes from the students’ commitment to creating their own styles and in addition, to utilizing consistency in that style.  I was looking for rhythm and texture here, as well as detail and composition.

I am always inventing my own projects and the only problem-o in sharing them is that another local or otherwise art teacher might stumble across them here and decide to use the lessons with their students.  That’s flattering, not really a problem.  It only becomes so if the projects compete against one another at Scholastic Art Awards.  Judges are always looking for the unique.  Seeing a “lesson” is basically the kiss of death. Then the judges don’t see originality and I have to go back to the drawing board (ha, ha – because I am using it figuratively and literally) and come up with a new inventive project.

But let’s face it – that is my strength.  I have ideas flying out of my butt.  Are you liking that pun?  Flying, get it?  The jet-setters do.