new year, new art!

It's a new school year here at SACS Fine Arts-- with new faces too! Changes in the faculty mean new opportunities, new areas of expertise, and a whole new batch of amazing artists in our halls, classrooms, and studios.

The prayer of my heart for our fine arts students this year is to walk fully in the truth that "..we are God's workmanship CREATED in Christ Jesus TO DO GOOD WORKS..." (Ephesians 2:10)

What a wonderful thing to know that first and foremost, we have been thoughtfully designed and created by the Lord....and not only that! He created us to do GOOD works. Not just work that's 'meh'....GOOD Works. It's so exciting to see returning students & meet new students. I look forward to seeing the year and your work grow!

Be sure to check our blog periodically for news on our new Fine Arts Magazine, more tutorials & how to's, as well as updates about future fine arts events!



-Ms. Oppelt, HS Art Teacher, Fine Arts Department Head

Follow us on instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/sacs_fine_arts

The Quintessence of Youth

                                                   The Quintessence of Youth
                           by: mandy segura


1 Timothy 4:12
"Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe."

Psalms119:9
"How can a young man keep his ways pure? By keeping it according to Your word."

               
                   Lazy. Entitled. Self-absorbed. Mischievous. Disrespectful. All things that many would associate with today's youth.  In many ways, I have seen a decline in my generations' character, as well as, attitude. This subtle shift has caused many issues. Teens, in the past, have been known to be ambitious and bold, but now many teens spend more time staring an iPhone screens than pursuing a life of meaning. With the social media craze, many teens seem to find there identity, self-worth, and
confidence from the amount of followers they have and how many likes they get on Instagram. As they slouch on their couches waiting for another follow request, there is a grieving world waiting for new ideas, new inventors and creatives, and most importantly waiting for a new generation of leaders.

               
                   Leadership starts today, with us. The youth. 1st Timothy 4:12 says that we should set an example for the rest of the world in our, "speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity..." Rather than conforming to society's expectations, we should rise above the standard. The quintessence of youth should be a generation of young people using their different gifts to glorify God and help their community. We should walk according to His word and stand firm in our convictions. We should the generation the world never saw coming. Put down the phones and enjoy the people and places around you. Be ambitious. Be creative. Be adventurous. Be who God created you to be not what society expects.

Face Swapping Phenomenon 

by: Cameron and Morgan 

The new Snapchat filter, Face Swap, has been sweeping the nation after its recent release. This particular filter features new innovative technology that displays two smiley faces to line up the participants faces to then swap. Sacs students everywhere are swapping their faces with their buddies on and off campus. Our participant, Vicky Boi Camillo III, volunteered to swap his Dominican face with that of the many faces seen waltzing around campus. 

Vicky and Joshua lovingly swapped faces today in Photo class 

Our famously known photography teacher, Mrs. Russell posed with Vicky for an eyebrow/bangs mishap that will never be forgotten. Victor certainly makes for a beautiful lady.

We attempted to swap Vicky's homely face with that of a kitty on the prowl. It didn't work out the way we planned. #artsy

We casually interrupted Mr. Karnavas' sophomore Bible class to snap this pic of father and son.

Last but not least, after a long and treacherous journey wickle wackling around the campus, we finally happened upon Mrs. Westphal who so graciously agreed to swap her face with Vicky. #relationshipgoals

How to Create Your Perfect Portrait

By: Catarina Garza & Trisha Walters

> designate a location that will be used for the background of the portrait 

> adjust your settings to compensate for the lighting 

-if the sun is bright, adjust your ISO to a lower value such as 200 or 400

-if you want a blurred background, adjust your aperture to a smaller value of 4.5 or 5.0

-you can also use a faster shutter speed, like 1/250 or 1/300, to let less light in

> Insure that the image is in focus in the view finder

 > Take the photo

> Take additional photos with your model in different poses (smiling, smiling, etc.) and work with your model to make sure they are comfortable

>Helpful hints: Take photos at sunrise or sunset for an added golden glow to your portrait. Take portraits during overcast weather for soft lighting with no shadows in your photos!

> Congratulations! You just took some perfect portraits!

Running Photography

Have you ever wanted to work out while finishing your photo project? Well  now you can! Just follow these eight intricately simple steps!

How to be an amazing running photographer:

Step One: First off you will need one of those photo taking devices 

Step Two: Change into comfortable cloths, something you feel confident in like a suit 

Step Three: Find a treadmill (or just run outside)

Step Four: Take amazing picture while running without STOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ps: Be sure to set your shutter speed really high and have the  ISO set according to the light outside like if it is sunny have it low and if it cloudy have it set high so that your shots come out nice and clear (like the ones we took)

Step Five:Never run alone because you never know what you will encounter

Step Six: Always bring a weapon such as an axe or a lightsaber to fight off bears, cougars, and dangerous ewoks

Step Seven: Choose your very best photos and edit them to perfection 

Step Eight: Publish your amazing photos to every social media website and get the most likes to show you are the very best running photographer EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


By Matt and Vic

Photographer Joey Lawrence

Joey Lawrence, more commonly known as Joey L. is a Canadian born photographer who started at age 7, using a camera his father loaned to him to photograph his toy dinosaurs. Now 26, Joey is traveling the world, from Ethiopia to London, to take portraits of all kinds of people in all kinds of environments. Such environments include five different Ethiopian tribes, front-line guerilla fighters in Kurdistan, and even many celebrities, including the man himself Robert DeNiro.

Joey L. - NYC-based Photographer and Director

By Ben

Out of the Blue

by The Dream Team

Thence when the nights began.

Cold, once over the snow leopards ran.

Old men felled stumps lost in darkness.

How fenced felt the widowed tin can.

The sun bakes the earth, 

dry dust Engulfs the hearth.

Coals crackle as stories float;

the boat floats on the sea, warm Wind stings the skin.

Eye eat out of a trashed bin.

Thinlenced icicles drip from the frost.

Colder rooms doth till thence lost.

Mocked, yet frosted Snickery Snow;

leaped from the Penguin's slippery sauce.

Fire leaps and singes at the toes;

blistering heat destroys His foes.

Souls burn due To their sinful deeds. 

The boat floats on the lake,

let us not be Fake.

Binged heat thothed from the frozen Shoe.

The ice burned as He flew.

Mixed Intermingles dropped psychotically sane.

The Red Elephant appeared out of the Blue.

Adventures with the Holga by Makenzie + KK

by Makenzie

The Holga is a plastic film camera, made in Hong Kong, known for its simple aesthetic. The Holga's simple construction and lens create many unexpected distortions on a photograph - such as light leaks, vignette, and accidental multiple exposures. The Holga creates beautiful imperfections on a photograph, leaving it unique and interesting.

by KK

by Makenzie

In Photo IV, we were given the opportunity to work with the Holga. As many of us have only had experience with DSLR cameras (digital), we were very nervous to be working with film! Unlike DSLR, when someone takes a photo with the Holga very little adjustments can be made in regards to settings and you can't see what the photo looks like until the film is developed weeks later. Even though this seemed very difficult to us, we learned that this is essential to learning photography. Many photographers have become far too reliant on camera settings and are not as aware of their surroundings. With the Holga, one has to be completely aware of the light and backgrounds to ensure a successful shot. By not being able to see the image before being developed, a photo cannot be corrected, and so we had to pay special attention to ensure that no shot is wasted, since we only had 48 frames.

by Makenzie 

by KK

This experience forced the Photo IV girls to get out of our comfort zone! By doing this, we learned the importance of being aware of our surroundings. This process translates into our DSLR and allows us to improve our photography, even though we many have been uncomfortable or nervous!

by KK

Fine Arts Fiesta Announcement

SAVE THE DATE!!!

April 23rd from 4-8pm

Fine Arts Fiesta

SACS Student Life Center

!all proceeds benefit summer missions!

$10 gets you:

- Treat from the Missions table

- 1 cascarone

- Admission to the talent show

What will there be??

-Food truck

-Missions treat table

-Video booth

-Art making stations

-Art viewing

-Talent show (6-8)

High School students welcome to try out for the talent show during lunch April 7-10th

Photo Update by Abi and Katherine

Coming back from spring break this week everyone in photography is working on their newest projects. Coach Folley came and modeled for our Photo 3 and Photo 5 who are practicing maternity pictures. We will continue maternity portraits next week with Mrs. Martinez!

Photo 4 girls are planning their newest projects to take on this quarter.

Portrait Photography by Hannah and Keegan

This week in advanced photography, we practiced taking senior portraits. Our model, Lauren Rathbun, brought two outfits and modeled for photo 3 and photo 5 as we practiced our portrait photography skills. Here are some important things to remember when taking portraits:

1. Watch your focal length. If you’re not careful, your image can appear distorted. 
2. Light conditions play a very important role especially in outdoor portrait photography. Make sure to watch to be sure you don’t have any unwanted shadows!
3. Be mindful of your background. The background of an image can dramatically alter the feeling of an image and can potentially take away from the subject if its too busy. 
4. When taking portraits, put your aperture on the lowest possible number. A shallow depth of field makes for the best portraits. 

Hailee editing her photographs

 Some of the photo girls on editing day

Hannah's portrait of Lauren

Overall, the shoot was a complete success and we were all able to capture some great shots all while having fun and sharing tons of laughs! 

Food Photography by Taylor and Mandy

                                             

              

The Photo III girls had a blast last week while photographing food. They took pictures of coffee beans, french bread, chocolates, nuts, and kitchen staples such as jars and bowls. Creative Hailee created a design with the coffee beans and took pictures of it (which turned out amazing). The girls had fun and enjoyed taking pictures of the food, as well as eating it after they finished photographing. Overall, the shoot was a success and all the girls walked away with several excellent pictures of their subjects.

- photos: Taylor
- story: Mandy

Hi guys!

Today I wanted to share with you the creative approach I took in composing this clay art piece, as well as a few tips and tricks to ensure your process is as enjoyable as possible.

When brainstorming, I find it helpful to consider a few vital aspects of your art piece. First, make sure the media you've chosen to pursue is one you will enjoy working with! For me, clay was an ideal choice because of its flexibility and texture. Of course, as with any time consuming art piece, working with a single type of media can become tedious. Thus, to to prevent a psychological meltdown, choose a media that you find most agreeable. Also remember that it's okay to take breaks! If you find yourself frustrated with working with a certain media day after day, make sure you allow yourself time to work on other small projects. This will not only provide an outlet for the stress that a major project can cause, but also helps to keep your creative juices flowing.

Another thing to consider is what you are creating. This may seem silly, but often times we get so caught up in the process that we forget what goal we are trying to accomplish. Personally, I enjoy using animals for subject matter, because I find they create both aesthetically pleasing and personal art. What I'm trying to relate is this: if you pursue a subject or idea you find truly beautiful or interesting, it will be easier and more enjoyable to create. Although it was difficult to create the form of my Antelope piece, I felt more motivated to form it accurately in order to do its justice. The end result it much more rewarding when you can appreciate the beauty of the subject matter you have created.

Lastly, don't be afraid to make mistakes and take your time. I'll be super cliché for a moment, but Rome wasn't built in a day. Although often times we have to make deadlines for ourselves, sometimes its best to let the art decide when it's done. Only, you can decide when something truly satisfies your expectations. Don't be scared to challenge yourself, even if it means your art will be more time consuming. Furthermore, mistakes are unavoidable. No one goes through the creative process with out flubbing one way or another. What really matters is how you let those mistakes shape your art and effect your overall outcome. Often times, mistakes can actually play to your benefit and help you to view your art in a different light. In my circumstances, I am not even able to express to you  the frustration of watching the antlers tumble to the floor repeatedly, but in the end, I felt that the form I created satisfied the goal I aimed to accomplish. Remember, as the wise Bob Ross once said, "there are no mistakes, just happy accidents".

I hope these suggestions will help guide you on your next major art project! 

- Maddie Malone

Photo Class Update by Kamerin

Here is what's been going on in Photo!

Photo 2 has been doing Scanography and famous painting remakes:

 Natalie working hard designing her Scanograph

Completed Scanograph by Adisyn

Beth reenacting "Loie Fuller in La danse blanche" by Taber

Reese reenacting "Man in a Red Turban" by Jan van Eyck

Photo 3 girls have been taking photos of product like jewelry, clothing, makeup, etc.:

Keegan choosing photos to edit for her product project

Photo 4 girls have been working on individual projects like mixed media and multiple exposure:

Double exposure displayed in classroom by Makenzie

KK showing off her second mixed media project in progress

Edgar

Edgar

A Prequel to Red Elephant

By Grant Leslie

Days grew still,

as the winter grew unfixed.

O how the mornings felt,

whenst the dew remained mixed.

Edgar followed,

never stirred.

This mammal was superb,

to put such in a word.

Eye never heard

of such a marvelous disturb.

Of word.

Absurd!

What an elephant,

the crowd incurred.

Thenst how?

Why now?

A mammal of an herb!

How could they,

partake in such a preferred good word?

Eye'll tell you this.  

I'll tell you now.

Edgar no more.

A dish of caramel brown.

Why this?

Such is this,

cold winters;

whenst the dew remained mixed.

Red Elephant

Red Elephant

By Josh Montgomery 

& Grant Leslie

As we plunge,

art, imagination. 

Dreams, but wonder; 

fanciful imagery. 

Red Elephant

Clay cakes our fingers

graphite coats our toenails

our mind is painted on the canvas 

of the universe

Red Elephant

Pencils fly

the room of mind's eye

mind I, mind thy

mind trust, mind us.

Red Elephant

Time bends, time swells

I can't even tell

where I, eye belong

lets pitch a tent

Red Elephant

Whisper soft melodies.

Title the script of the soul.

Red exclaims he,

Elephant yells another.

Red Elephant

The oceans of imagination

engulf our very being.

we wild 

party on young flower child 

let thy soul fly free 

Red Elephant

Achoo. Achoo.

Train of laughter softens

the reign of Elizabeth.

Oppression.

Not here.

Red Elephant

Hear ye Hear ye

the king has spoken

have some tea

lets pitch a tent

Red Elephant

Slay the dragon of insecurity.

Guard the gold of trust.

Liquidate all uncertain fingers

Let them choose the brush

Let them choose the brush

Red Elephant

Some nights the stars burn.

Other nights they kiss the earth.

The universe bends at our will.

Don't eat the window sill,

The earth doth he till. 

Plants will grow,

Tonight we dine.

Let us pitch a tent.

Red Elephant.

A letter from the authors:

"As one can presume this was a collaborative piece.  we tried to capture the ambiguity of life using the limited vocabulary of our ancestors.  Our inspiration came from the common people who view life through a different lens. This said lens sees the world with wonder,  imagination, and fanciful imagery. We incorporated a day in art class. A class of these described beings, all gathered in a 'tent' of 'mind's eye'."

- Grant Leslie & Josh Montgomery