Flip through the months for the Montara lighthouse, rural or oceanside idylls, young athletes, the Hispanic culture, an ostrich named Gaylord, pumpkins and scarecrows, a corn-and-pumpkin field.
These images of the coast, seen through the eyes of ninth- through 12th-grade Half Moon Bay High School art students, were done in pointillism and picked by a panel of judges for the 2008 calendar, now in its 30th year. Art teacher Larkin Evans has been involved since 1993, and says the calendar is available at the school office or through any art student.
 Camille Conran, left, and Danielle Hutchins stand beside their artwork from the Half Moon Bay High School Coastside Calendar 2008. |
The calendar begins when the students study pointillism, sometimes called "stipple," which simply means constructing an image with dots. They can be concentrated or manipulated to convey texture, shape, shadow and light, or depth. A similar technique, called "hatch" or "cross-hatch," does the same thing with small dashes. Shadowing comes in with filled-in patches of solid ink.
Or students invent techniques, said Evans, using India ink and quill pens.
Pointillism is an old technique. "Benjamin Franklin used it, probably with feathers," Evans said. "That's why (pens are) called quill."
Some people think students pull images off the Internet, Evans said, but they don't. Typically, after picking an image that captures a special spot or memory for them, they take photos. Then they draw it in pencil with a grid: placing a grid over the photo and reconstructing it, square by square.
As a result of working by hand instead of computer, "They learn more about depth and texture selection and pattern," Evans said. "Basically, they're learning to see through drawing the old-fashioned hard way."
Senior Jessica Ormonde tried her own approach to her abstract May sketch of pumpkins, half-moons and a girl (herself) on a surfboard. Bored with just one image, Ormonde did it "in more my style" by blending the elements.
Sophomore Ashley DiNapoli also did it her way. Her February sketch of a cypress tree overlooking a farm contains an artistic melee: hatch and cross-hatch in the grass, flowing lines that look like bark on the tree's trunk and overlaid "X"es in the tree's foliage.
About 300 students entered this year's contest, said Evans, though most were at the upper-class level, with three or four years of art behind them.
"But there are a few beginners in there," she said, noting that the cover image had been done by sophomore Chrissy Kemling. "The whole two-dimensional art department was in the calendar, or at least entered."
Out of those hundreds, the winning images were chosen, in November, by three professionals: Sheila Edwards-May, owner of Tokenz in Half Moon Bay; Half Moon Bay High photography instructor Richard Braun and Cabrillo Unified School District Webmaster Betsy Gallagher.
Art met technology through El Granada resident Patti Appel, who teaches graphic arts at the College of San Mateo and was instrumental in scanning the original art into Photoshop to be readied for the calendar. Further help came from students Molly Becker, Robert Lowman, Ava Vakili and Camille Conran - some of whom have images in the calendar - in scanning and creating the design.
The technical part filled two weeks of after-school time, Evans said. But the lessons in the process spilled over into life.
The goal of the art program, Evans said, is "to teach (students) how to see and how to think. It's like learning how to read. You learn to see more clearly and more graphically, (and how to) make creative decisions."
Each month includes a featured sketch plus one or two smaller ones. "We like to get as many students in as we can," Evans said.
The school's art teacher since 1983, Evans took over her part with the calendar from former art department chair Barbara Ogarrio, who initially had students doing pencil sketches (ink came a few years later.)
Evans said that pumpkins, Pumpkin Festival or the Montara lighthouse are frequent calendar images. But this year, she said, she noticed more open space and open vistas. "I don't know why," she said.
The calendar does more than give students a creative outlet, she added. She enjoys encountering parents who see their children's work or recognize familiar scenes. "I find it to be a very connecting process," she said.
The artwork will transcend Half Moon Bay. Every year, two or three images are enlarged and displayed at the San Mateo County Office of Education in January. Some are also displayed at the Cabrillo Unified School District office. "For us, that's a big deal," Evans said.
Work by current senior Conran and 2007 graduate Danielle Hutchins has been selected for permanent display in the county office of education.
And in August, some of the art work will go into "Our California Landscapes," a first-time exhibit by Filoli Gardens.
Copies of the calendar go for $12. Proceeds will go to student programs like college scholarships, field trips and student-chosen new equipment.
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ART STUDENTS, MONTH BY MONTH
A list of the Half Moon Bay High School students with art in the Coastside Calendar 2008.
Month by month, the featured and small sketches are:
The cover: "Pumpkin Childhood," Chrissy Kemling;
Introduction: "Welcome to My Home," Jesse McKnight, and "Anchored to Half Moon Bay," Alassandra Hnatt;
January: "Montara Lighthouse" by Cameron Tatton, and Half Moon Bay street scene by Leticia Ramirez,;
February: "The Lone Tree" by Ashley DiNapoli, and two cars by Ava Vakili;
March: "Seagull Post" by Sam Vingo, and a fish by Marissa Buell;
April: "Take Your Marks," Monica Tolar, and a rustic building by Robert Lowman;
May: "Cultura," Lupe Anguiano, and an abstract portrait of a girl and half-moons by Jessica Ormonde;
June: "Gaylord, Still Alive in Art," Luke Giese, a trotting horse by Jessica Ramirez and a cow by Rebecca Alger;
July: "Hero Awaiting Danger," Chelsea Michaels, and a harbor building by Eric Tierney;
August: "Waiting for the Wave," Jill Lorack, and a fish by Sanne Bergh;
September: "Artichoke Invitational Training," Sammy Hamilton, and a fish by Eric Tierney;
October: "Pumpkin Truck," Elaine Casey, a ghoulish face by Kelsey Trautman and Pumpkin Festival crowds by Ian Zell;
November: "Pumpkins in a Cornfield," Kelly Kaine, figures in the field by Callie Pacheco and a pig by Ariana Adams;
December: "The Nest," Joshua Cussins, and sea life by Kelly Kaine;
The back cover: "Time Stands Still," Cami Conran.
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