Pencil shading, water color, and handmade stamp prints were only a few of the techniques on display during Wareham Middle School’s Winter Fest Art Show on Thursday, Jan.19. 

“We wanted a chance for the community to see the amazing artwork that our students do every year,” said art teacher Andrea Ericson. 

Light classical piano music played as members of the community admired the artists’ work in the Middle School library.

Artist Jordan Ellwood, 12, smiled brightly next to her self portrait, complete with a background of red and blue stripes. 

“The hardest part to do was the nose,” said Ellwood.

She explained that getting the accurate shading was difficult. 

Alongside the finished self portrait, a draft sketch was also on display as an homage to the process. 

“First we started off in the sketchbook doing proportions of the face like the eyes and nose,” said Ellwood. “Then we used the [sketchbook] to create a pencil drawing. Once we liked the pencil drawing we traced it onto the big paper.”

The self-portrait project for seventh graders was inspired by artist Kehinde Wiley,  known for creating the famous 2018 portrait of President Barack Obama. 

“Usually the backdrops of his artwork say something about the person,” said Ericson. 

For her background, Ellwood chose a pattern including her favorite colors, and a basketball print to show her love of sports. 

The background was created using prints from handmade stamps. 

“We used markers on a piece of foam, but first we had to make a design on the foam and we had to use a pen to dig into [the foam] then we colored it and laid it down on wet paper,” said Ellwood. 

In addition to self portraits, students also worked on watercolor landscapes and written artist statements.

The next Middle School art show will be held in June.