Whiz Kids of the Week: Katie Ambrozy and Eric Zimmerman

Fourth graders, Katie Ambrozy and Eric Zimmerman from had artwork that was selected by art teacher Richard Andersen to represent the best examples of what the students were able to accomplish in the so far this year.

Katie Ambrozy did a drawing of a sunset in colored pencil on paper and Eric Zimmerman did a black and white piece using a crow quill pen and India ink on paper.

“He was teaching me to blend colors and make scenes,” said Katie about her piece.

The kids used pencil first to learn value of light and dark. They then went on through a series of projects into color to learn about hues.

When asked about her favorite technique Katie said, “That’s a hard one. Pretty much everything as long as it has color.”

Katie found the reference material for her project in the classroom files and said she picked it because it looked “really cool.”

Andersen said that Katie is prolific in her art.

“I can’t give her enough, fast enough,” he said.

Eric's piece showed what the students did in black and white.

“We have to do an ink project,” said Eric. “I like making things old fashioned with no colors.”

Even though the black and white reminds him of old times the inspiration for the piece came from something thoroughly modern.

“It’s from a video game called Bioshock,” Eric said. “I love video games and it seemed very familiar to me.”

He found the reference material for the artwork he produced in the draws of the art room.

“Surprisingly I found it in a pile of animal pictures,” Eric said.

Andersen said that the students experiment in a series of techniques throughout the year and Katie’s and Eric’s piece were especially good at representing their respective stages.

“They started off with positive and negative space,” he said. “Then they use the same concept but asymmetrically.”

The kids then learn about the repeating patterns of artist M.C. Escher. They learn more about positive and negative space on metal using a technique called repoussé.

Andersen explained repoussé as a metalworking technique used by early Americans and the French. The lesson is not just useful for producing a fun piece of art but it gives them some hands on lessons of things they are learning about in history.

“It ties in with early American studies in fourth grade,” he said.

The kids then move on to pen and ink drawings and then to color learning about hues with colored pencil. The steps will conclude with three-dimensional art. They will produce a sculpture with wires and then clay.

“We also squeeze in some art history whenever we can,” said Andersen.

Many projects reflect the historical significance as with the repoussé technique. The kids get to use the quill to learn how ink was applied in the old days and they learn about printmaking. They also hear about M.C. Escher’s work and his importance to art history and the Japanese Notan technique of interplaying light and dark in compositions.

Want to nominate a ? Send their name, age, info and a JPG photo to lon.cohen@patch.com.