THE SCIENCE OF ART To some, art and drawing may seem abstract, complex or even spontaneous. But in reality, art, specifically portraiture, as our grade three students have come to learn, is quite the opposite. Each year, as the first art project of the school year, our students in grade three learn the science and mathematics behind portrait drawing and the human face. Of course, like any good artist, our students need a muse - someone to inspire their creativity. To find the perfect subject, art teacher Ms. Beth Hymel, looks to her annual theme to find the perfect portrait study. In the past, this has included Frida Kahlo and the Sphinx. This year, the theme weaving through all of the art projects is African art, drawing influence from
traditional African style. So, of course, Ms. Hymel identified anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist Nelson Mandela as the subject of the portrait study. Before the drawing begins, the students first learn about the individual they are going to artistically honor, sharing facts with Ms. Hymel. For Mandela, they learned that he was nicknamed “Troublemaker,” they tried to grasp the tenacity of his unrelenting plight until his death at age 95 and, most importantly, that the focus of his struggle was to end the apartheid in South Africa, earning all citizens the right to vote. Portraiture, as the students learn, is all about proportions and reconfiguring some misconceptions about the human form. After learning that the head is in fact an oval and not a circle, Ms. Hymel goes into detail about the lines of sym-
DONATA CUCINOTTA: CLASS OF 1996 WMA had a very rich music program; it was always my favorite part of the day. I made sure to join every extracurricular music related activity I could and that inspired me to become a musician. I attended Ithaca College where I received a bachelor of music. Ithaca is well-known for its high caliber of music education, as well as its musical theater program. By that time, I had fallen in love with opera (which to me just seemed like a musical theater on steroids) and decided to continue my studies in New York City at Mannes. My first professional job was at Ohio Light Opera, a company specializing in musicals and operetta. I completed my training as a young artist at Shreveport Opera and Opera Colorado. Since then, I have performed with the Queens 12
Waldron Mercy Academy
Symphony Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall, played Josephine at Knoxville Opera, Aldonza at Asheville Lyric Opera, First Lady in Die Zauberflöte at Opera Tampa, and had leading roles with Opera Colorado, Indianapolis Opera, Amarillo Opera, Salt Marsh Opera, Ohio Light Opera, Shreveport Opera, Opera in the Heights, Opera New Jersey, Opera Fort Collins, GLOW Lyric Theater, Opera Ithaca, The Indianapolis Symphony orchestra, Prince Music Theater, and the American Music Theater Festival. My favorite roles are the ones where I get to use all my unique abilities. For me, that stand-out role is Nedda in Pagliacci. Since the show is usually set in a circus, I get to juggle, stand on my head and sing beautiful music, all at the same time.
metry, crossing the face horizontally and vertically. The students then measure the distance from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin and determine that, even though it seems the nose lives in the center of the face, it’s the eyes that rest in the center of the face. Fun fact: a third grade student’s head is approximately eight inches, compared to Shaquille O’Neal, who may have a 14-inch head, and an infant, who may have a four-inch head; all of whose eyes live in the center of their face! The students learn that the space in between the eyes, which are lemon-like in shape, is the size of a third eye. They further discover that the bottom of the nose resides halfway between the eyes and the chin and that the iris lines up with the edge of the mouth and continues down to the outside of the neck. As Ms. Hymel asserts, like mathematics, “once you know the formula, it’s really easy to put everything in the right place.” Once all of the measuring is complete, the creation can begin. The students fold a sheet of paper in half to find the lines of symmetry on the page, take pencil to paper and create life. With all of the detailing, the hair takes the longest to complete, especially on Mandela with all of his curls. After the pencil is complete, the students outline parts of the portrait in marker and paint the entire image with tempera cakes paint. As the first art project of the year, the portraiture study aligns nicely with the grade three library project in which the students conduct a research project on a famous Pennsylvanian and finalize the project with a drawn portrait of the historical figure. After all of the practice in the art studio, the students are equipped with the artistic skills and confidence to complete their library research project. This year, Mandela proved not only to be a beautiful subject for a portraiture study, but also a beautiful human after whom we can all model a merciful existence. Above: Ms. Beth Hymel instructs her class in painting techniques and measures Isabella Arias’s head for proportions. Third graders Kinsley Jackson and Sean Gorman detail their portraits of Nelson Mandela.