Gallery • 4 Photos

Photo by Elise A.

Students in Advanced Art have a variety of challenges each week for their alternate books.

The Advanced Art class has been doing ‘alternate books’ since the beginning of the year. An alternate book is a book of the student’s choosing that they have decided to create art inside over the course of the year.
Every week, the students have to create a two page spread of art in their book based on the letter they are assigned. This ongoing project requires three materials per page, and each week they have to create something new and incorporate their letter into it.
“It’s fun to express yourself and I also like following the guidelines,” eighth grader Ellie B. said.
Every Friday in Advanced Art, the students trade off their work and they do a friendly critique on each other’s two page spread for the week. In the critique, they rate how well they did with a specific criteria and give feedback. This allows the students to get an outside look on their book.
“I’m really happy about my C page,” eighth grader Madeline S.  said. “I like it because I made clouds out of cotton balls and they were really soft. I also made an angel with really good proportions.”
Students enjoy doing the alternate book because it has no limits. Every page in the book is a new concept to explore.
The guidelines of the project guide the student while helping them not get stuck, but students can also reach for inspiration in other places. eighth grader Olivia B. said.
The alternate book does not have one solid explanation; there are many ideas contributing to the book. This gives students an opportunity to create something unique and special to them.
“Don’t start working the night before because you won’t have enough time,” eighth grader Madeline S. said. “It also introduces you to a lot of art materials that you wouldn’t have necessarily used unless you were ‘required’ to.”