Chicken feet, pigs’ feet and shrimp were just a few of the options that art students had to choose from last week as they focused on painting unique objects with different textures.

“We painted the feet neutral colors and I used a cool palette too, since I used a warm background,” sophomore Taylor DeCarlo said. ”I thought it was fun, but it smelled really bad.”

Students painted the parts of animals to get a better understanding and idea about how to paint objects with different textures. The next project students are doing involves painting subjects with unique textures, so painting objects like chicken wings and stew bones helped them develop a better idea of how to do it.  

“Everything we do in here, we do practice beforehand,” art teacher Brice McCasland said. “It’s never just about production, there’s always a build up to it. So we want to practice those techniques and then choose how to apply them. So before they paint a still life, I wanted them to explore painting things that were a different texture than what they’re accustomed to.”

McCasland said requiring the students to use unusual objects forces them to focus more on the project in front of them.

“So it’s not just about doing something sick and gross like a split pig’s foot, but it’s about getting them to look and use their eyes so they can be more ready and prepared to paint other things like horse apples,” McCasland said.

Sophomore Grace Kirby said she enjoyed painting the feet from real life rather than a picture and called it a “unique opportunity.”

“At first I was kind of grossed out, but then I realized it was a good way to practice painting textures, values and blending, and mixing colors,” Kirby said.