PROJECT ONE
Students had the opportunity to visit with graphic novelist G. Neri as well as illustrator Jesse Watson. Students put into immediate practice many of the skills gleaned from these two wonderful accomplished professionals. Many thanks to Mrs. Phillipe for bringing such a great opportunity to Nichols.
I took still shots of the students work, then as a twist, filmed them reading their "novels". Everyone had fun and we hope you will too.
I took still shots of the students work, then as a twist, filmed them reading their "novels". Everyone had fun and we hope you will too.
PROJECT TWO
Students learned about perspective by copying photographs, adding their own personal creative twist, and then fitting drawing into the fore, middle, and back ground areas. Additionally, students wrote stories that went along with their compositions, however, specifically in terms of perspective, (e.g.., "John stood in the doorway of the theater by the back alley, waving to Sarah as she ran towards the trolley in the intersection..."). I hope you enjoy their creativity.
The Mason family was visiting Isla Contoy, Mexico. It was spring break and the family was definitely ready for a break. No school, no teachers begging for homework. The Mason’s had 4 children. Clara who was 15, Brendan who was 13, and twins Noah and Britt who were both 10 years old. They were going to go to an abandoned city with a big tour group. Clara wasn’t really looking forward to this trip. But when she heard about the all inclusive hotel she was all in. The boys were so excited to go on the tour to the abandoned city! That next day they arrived at the bus station to go on the tour bus. “Hurry, hurry! Everyone must hurry!!” said the tour guide. He motioned his hands towards the bus. People started walking faster into the bus. Once everyone was seated the bus driver came around with bags. “Mom what are these bags for?” asked Britt. “These bags are for when people don’t feel well and get sick,” Mom said quietly. The tour guide turned the microphone on. “Hello travelers! I am Marvit and I’m from Bolivia.” He repeated himself in Spanish. “We are going to visit the old city of Jussarö, no one lives there and there is barely any life. I would just like to warn parents that there may be sights not appropriate for younger kids.” He then repeated himself in Spanish. “I hope it doesn’t scare you Britt, hehe,” Brenden said creepily. “STOP!” Britt yelled. “On our left you’ll see the ruins of the old house of the mayor of the city.” he said. “As you can see it covered in insects and a person.” “Oh gosh can parents please sheild your childrens eyes. Please drive faster!” Marvit yelled. “Mom I thought that no one lived here,” Clara said while she was rolling her eyes. “Clara do you think I knew? I had no idea that there would be things like this here,” Mom said angrily. “We are going to turn around now. We will get you your money back right away.” The bus turned around and went back to the bus station. “That was a strange trip guys, let’s just go back to the hotel and relax.” Dad said.
It was another Sunday morning and the Stover family were entering their local church. As Mr. Stover was opening the main door, for his family, he heard the sound of glass breaking followed by multiple loud screams. He reassured his family that everything would be okay and quickly ushered them inside the building. As he ran back outside, he stood towards the back of the church entrance and froze. He saw a large hole in his car window and multiple figures in the car. To his surprise he saw a group of figures standing in and around the car. There was one figure standing out in the front of the group. The figure pulled up the hood to reveal their face. They were wearing goggles and in their hand, they held a large hammer. With all the commotion behind the figures, Mr. Stover hadn’t noticed the little boy holding his legs and crying. The little boy was in the middle of the car and Mr. Stover. As Mr. Stover ran towards the boy, the figures packed into the car and drove off. When Mr. Stover looked for the boy, it seemed that the boy had vanished. Mr. Stover rushed away the thought that that had actually happened. As he turned around, he saw the same boy crying directly in front of him. Mr. Stover could not process this appearance and ran away from the church.
One sunny day, Jack was looking for a birthday present for his niece, Rebecca. Rebecca was turning 7 years old the next day and he didn’t know what to get her. She liked girly toys and dresses and such. Jack was walking around, not knowing what he was doing. He suddenly saw something small sitting on the floor on Asbury Ave. It had green tangled hair. Jack remembered it from when he was younger. It was a troll doll! It was the perfect present. He could tell Rebecca how much he loved troll dolls when he was little. Jack bent down to reach for it when a little girl in a pink tutu out of nowhere and snatched the doll before he could grab it. Jack started running after the girl down the block and around the corner but she was too fast and Jack was reaching his 40s. He was out of shape and not very fast. He chased her for a couple minutes and wondered why she was alone. She finally lost him when she kept turning corners. He saw her running down the street and take a right turn. Jack yelled for her to stop and give it back but she was too far away. He found himself on a street lined with stores like Toys R Us and Forever 21. There were big department stores like Macy’s and Jc Penney. There was a Super Target too. He was delighted because there were so many things he could get. Jack was no longer confused on what he should get for Rebecca. He had so many choices. He went into Macy’s and didn’t find anything he wanted to get for Rebecca. He went into the Super Target and Jc Penney and didn’t want to buy anything. He finally went into Toys R Us and walked through all the aisles of puzzles, race cars, and dollhouses. He saw action figures, blocks, and stuffed animals. As he was looking through the aisle that had stuffed animals, he saw green, orange, and pink hair peeking out behind a big stuffed teddy bear. He sprinted over there and he saw a row of troll dolls. He grabbed a troll doll off the shelf slowly and examined it. It looked nothing like the one he found on the ground because the hair was sticking straight up and wasn’t tangled. Its clothes weren’t ripped and its head wasn’t falling off. He went and checked out. He was very happy for the rest of the day and the next day he gave the present to a delighted Rebecca.
On a sunny day, two secret agents and a radioactive spider land in china-town.
Godzilla is one of the agents from Derp-Landia; he liked pudding for all occasions, but this was a special day. This day he wanted something different. And so he was sent on a top secret mission to get an unknown artifact. Another agent was also going to investigate, but he was from a space planet called “Three”. This planet was a tropical and rainy and had lots of hailstorms, so many people became derpy, because they lost brain cells all the time. An alien was named Paul liked trains. Paul also had a brother named Raul. Godzilla parachuted into China town at around the same time that Paul arrived. As soon as they got there Paul investigated while Godzilla stayed in the back on buildings investigating the setting.
In another facility a radioactive spider is being tested on...
Godzilla is one of the agents from Derp-Landia; he liked pudding for all occasions, but this was a special day. This day he wanted something different. And so he was sent on a top secret mission to get an unknown artifact. Another agent was also going to investigate, but he was from a space planet called “Three”. This planet was a tropical and rainy and had lots of hailstorms, so many people became derpy, because they lost brain cells all the time. An alien was named Paul liked trains. Paul also had a brother named Raul. Godzilla parachuted into China town at around the same time that Paul arrived. As soon as they got there Paul investigated while Godzilla stayed in the back on buildings investigating the setting.
In another facility a radioactive spider is being tested on...
There once was a man named Bilyy. Now, I know what you’re thinking, Bilyy is an ordinary name, with most likely, an un-interesting, lame, and an un-creative story. But that is where you are wrong.
It was a sunny warm day, and Bilyy was out on his morning walk. Billy was never a believer in ghosts, so when a man came rushing up with a crazed look in his eyes, Bilyy was surprised. The man crashed into Bilyy, knocking him to the floor.
“Watch it!” Bilyy yelled.
“Y-You!” The man said “It’s yours n-now,” the man’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he slumped to the ground. Bilyy stared dumbstruck at the man’s corpse, wondering what could have possibly killed this man. And to his horror, the man’s hand suddenly flew up, jerking around as if someone had electrocuted it. Bilyy tried to jump up, but his knees buckled in fear. He watched as the mans eyes flew open, but the color was gone. They were just pure white eyes. The man’s body jerking wildly, a green liquid oozing out of his nose and mouth. As writhed and squirmed on the ground, the dead man’s hand flew open, to reveal a gold ring with a black diamond on the top. The ring jumped, then launched itself at Bilyy. Bilyy tried to pry it off his finger, but it wouldn’t come off. Bilyy looked up, and noticed that the dead man’s mouth hung open, and what looked like a green ghost flew out of his mouth.
“AHHH!” Bilyy screamed. Bilyy had never seen a ghost before, and definitely not one so ugly.
“I’M COMING TO TOUCH YOUUuUuUUuuuuuu,” the ghost wailed. Bilyy jumped up and started running. Not knowing where he was running, he just wanted to get away from that evil ghost. He did not want to be touched by that thing. As he was running, he heard the ghost following him shouting, “You can't escape MEeEeee!”....
It was a sunny warm day, and Bilyy was out on his morning walk. Billy was never a believer in ghosts, so when a man came rushing up with a crazed look in his eyes, Bilyy was surprised. The man crashed into Bilyy, knocking him to the floor.
“Watch it!” Bilyy yelled.
“Y-You!” The man said “It’s yours n-now,” the man’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he slumped to the ground. Bilyy stared dumbstruck at the man’s corpse, wondering what could have possibly killed this man. And to his horror, the man’s hand suddenly flew up, jerking around as if someone had electrocuted it. Bilyy tried to jump up, but his knees buckled in fear. He watched as the mans eyes flew open, but the color was gone. They were just pure white eyes. The man’s body jerking wildly, a green liquid oozing out of his nose and mouth. As writhed and squirmed on the ground, the dead man’s hand flew open, to reveal a gold ring with a black diamond on the top. The ring jumped, then launched itself at Bilyy. Bilyy tried to pry it off his finger, but it wouldn’t come off. Bilyy looked up, and noticed that the dead man’s mouth hung open, and what looked like a green ghost flew out of his mouth.
“AHHH!” Bilyy screamed. Bilyy had never seen a ghost before, and definitely not one so ugly.
“I’M COMING TO TOUCH YOUUuUuUUuuuuuu,” the ghost wailed. Bilyy jumped up and started running. Not knowing where he was running, he just wanted to get away from that evil ghost. He did not want to be touched by that thing. As he was running, he heard the ghost following him shouting, “You can't escape MEeEeee!”....
On a cloudy Saturday morning, Luna was preparing to go out to Chinatown, she put on her hat, and her warm jacket on. Before she left she put her cat, Tabby, in her bag so that she wouldn’t be waiting alone for her friend who was just arriving from France: Romain. She went inside her Toyota Sienna and drove from Evanston to Chinatown. When she arrived at Chinatown she went eat at a restaurant across her parking spot where she ate really good Chinese food. After that she looked at the map and went on a little walk around Chinatown so she could visit and wait for her best friend to come. Her cat was scared every time they saw the dragon or other statutes, including dogs. She was also very excited because Romain’s dog was going to be here and they played a lot together. On her way back to her car she met some of her friends that were visiting too. When she arrived at her car she saw a seagull fly over the lamppost on the never-ending highway going to another place maybe. As she watch the seagull she said, “I wish I was free to fly like you, fly around the world brushing the fluffy clouds that look like cotton candy.” She sighed. As the day went by it got colder so she took two blankets from the back of her car and took one for herself and one for Tabby. Then I took her in my car and waited and waited until after two hours of waiting I heard barking coming our way. So then I stood up and spooked my cat who jumped and sat on the edge of the sidewalk, and a dog started running in our way so I knew Romain had arrived. He peeked out from behind the face and ran toward me, and we hugged for about 5 minutes watching our pets run after each other in the cold of winter. After our embrace we got in the car and said, “ It has been so long since we saw each other!” he said. “ I was so excited this morning that I almost forgot to take my shoes of!” I said and in response he giggled. We drove back to my house and we ate my favorite French dish “La raclette”. And we went to sleep that was the end of our exciting day.
There are more stories, but little space... however, enjoy the slideshow of the compositions. :-)
Project THREE
Students were given copies of Van Gogh's Bedroom at Arles and instructed to make their room their own, however, keeping the same perspective. How they interpreted the room is delightful. Here is a small sampling below.