Saving Endangered Species, Sunshine Studio students’ artworks gained success

Jointly organized by The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Endangered Species Coalition, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and the International Child Art Foundation , 2015 Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest had announced its winners a few days ago.  Three students from Sunshine Studio, NJ, stood out.

Out of the 40 artworks selected for the semi-final, there is one Grand Prize, one 2nd place, and four Grade Category Winners.

The three students from Sunshine Studio are among the 40 of semi-finalist, of which Difei Li earned 1^st place of 3-5 graders, Anne He and Kelly Xu won the prizes for Excellence (top 10) in their respective grade category.  Last year from kindergarten to high school teens throughout the nation there were over 2000 pieces of artworks entered for the contest.

The parents attributed their children’s success to the training received from the studio.  At Sunshine Studio, children learn more than doodling.  Here the emphasis of teaching is on mastering the basic skills.  Whether it be marker, color pencil or watercolor, watercolor pencil, regardless of the material, all drawings need to go through the steps of boarder and structure outline, positioning, composition and coloring.   In the process students learn to observe, to recognize basic shapes, and to understand color scheme, as well as sense of space.  Once they master the essentials of painting, children can learn and comprehend by analogy.

In addition, Sunshine Studio had established a set of unique teaching approach, the “inverted pyramid method”, which is quite appreciated by both students and parents.  Under this teaching method students keep their unique characteristics, rather than becoming a bulk copy. The “inverted pyramid method” changes the pattern from that the instructor commanding from the top of the pyramid, producing students with similar style as they all imitate the teacher on their journey to the top of the pyramid.   With the new method, the teacher climbs alongside the students to help them improve their skills along the process. With this approach, students gain two abilities, generalization and in-depth capability.  The stronger these two capabilities are, the more opportunities the students will have.  Basic skills training produces students that are ultimately unique. ◇

拯救瀕危物種 陽光畫室學生作品獲佳績

由美國魚類和野生動物管理局（U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service）、保護瀕危物種聯盟（The Endangered Species Coalition）世界動物園暨水族館協會（The Association of Zoos and Aquariums）和國際兒童藝術基金會（The International Child Art Foundation）等機構聯合舉辦的2015年全美拯救瀕危物種青年繪畫比賽（2015 Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest）結果日前揭曉，新澤西陽光畫室三名學生獲得好成績。

本次大賽最終在進入半決賽（semi-finalists ）的40幅作品中，評選出一名冠軍獎（Grand Prize），一名亞軍獎（2nd place），四名分年級組第一名（Grade Category Winners）。

陽光畫室共有三位學生入選前40名，其中，Difei Li獲得3-5年級組全美第一名（Grade Category Winners），Anne He和Kelly Xu分別獲得半決賽優勝獎（contest semi-finalists），進入所屬年級組前10名 (the top ten in each grade category）。據了解去年全美各地從幼稚園到高中的青少年拿出的參賽作品有2000多幅。

談到獲獎的原因，家長表示，陽光畫室平時對孩子們的訓練方法非常有成效，孩子在這裏學畫畫並不是簡單的塗鴉。陽光畫室特別重視教學生掌握方法。不論是用馬克筆、彩鉛，還是水彩、水彩鉛筆畫，全都經歷造型、構圖、色彩等步驟，培養了孩子的觀察能力、找型能力、配色能力及對於空間的感受。孩子在掌握作畫的要領後，就可以做到舉一反三，觸類旁通。

此外，陽光畫室老師的一套獨特的「倒金字塔式教學法」，也頗受學生和家長的喜愛。這种教學方法讓學生保留了自己的先天特點，而不是批量複製。一般的繪畫教學方式是正金字塔形，也就是老師在金字塔尖，居高臨下指揮學生往上爬。越接近老師越像老師，最終所有的學生都像一個模型複製的。而「倒金字塔式教學法」，讓師生能夠一起提升，過程中學生會獲得能力的提高，既有概括能力，又有深入能力。兩種能力都變得更強，路也會更寬。能力訓練，使得學生最終都是獨特的。◇