Novemeber 17-21

This time of year is my favorite.  The procedures of my studio are well versed. 

The student artists have mastered their sense of belonging in this space. 

 I find myself asking 'Where do you think you should put it?' less and less. 

And above all the tiniest of artists have a better understanding for how to use the glue bottle. 

That.  Is.  Huge.

 

Fifth Grade:  Monochromatic Tessellations

After years of completing a project for Tessellation and a project for monochromatic painting, I decided to combine the two.  And so thrilled that I did.  I love this project!  The student artists are showing great pride and technique in their painting by using the appropriate sized brush for spaces.  And for this painting major I love watching every second of that!

 

 

 

Fourth Grade: Moonlit Pumpkin Patch

This is one of my favorite projects to introduce oil pastel and Vincent Van Gogh.  The focus of this project is many..... drawing form pumpkins, highlights and shadow, oil pastel techniques, and Vincent Van Gogh.

 

 

Third Grade: Yarn Weaving

After several, and I mean several, weeks of this project we are finally done.  Whew!  This one was well worth it.  The student artists will each have a yarn weaving they can use decoratively or functionaly.  I'm been very impressed with the growth in these student artist. 

 

 

2nd Grade: Warm/Cool Paper Weaving

We have been working hard on this project.  It is loaded with various elements and principles of art.  We started with warm vs cool colors, moved to crayon and watercolor resist techniques, and finished with weaving.  If a student artist finished and it was clear they understood the weaving process, we added construction paper strips for a bit of sculpture.

 (pictures to come)

 

 

 

1st grade: Pumpkin Patch

These student artists finished their crayon and watercolor resist pumpkin patch paintings.

(pictures to come) 

 

 

 

 

 

Kdg: Paper Strip Sculpture

Each student artist learned to fold, bend, and twist paper strips to create their own abstract paper sculpture.  This was great fun to watch their creativity grow and expand each class period. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 6-10

This week has been filled with production completion.  It's been a real treat to see the students finish projects they've been working on for quite some time.  You can hear them discuss themes, vocabulary, and techniques throughout the room.  The 'ah-ha' moments have been plentiful!

Fifth Grade Van Gogh Group Reproduction:

Each student had a 2"x 2" square of the print and was challenged to reproduce it on a 4"x 4" square.  The students were very hesitant at first and slow to color.  But by the second class time they gained confidence and you could tell through their color.  When all the squares were put together they seemed to enjoy seeing their work in the midst of everyone elses work. 

 

When the project was complete the student artists reflected on the piece.  The were asked to compare and contrast their work and their classmates. 

 

 

Fourth Grade Henri Rousseau's Jungle Paintings:

  This project was loaded with elements. principals, aesthetic concepts, art history, and material techniques.  The student artists have been working on this project for almost seven weeks and it was well worth it!

 

 

 

Third Grade Yarn Weaving:

These student artists have been very busy learning about the Navajo Native American weavers and creating their own weaving.  This is such a relaxing time in the day because they are enojoying the repetitive pattern of weaving.   

 

 

 

Second Grade Leaf Prints:

This is an introduction to printmaking that has perfect timing.  With the leaves slowly changes colors, the student artists were able to take a collection of beautiful leaves and learn the basic techniques of printmaking.   

 

 

 

First Grade Tissue Paper Aquariums:

This is a combination of tissue collage, geometric/organic shapes, construction paper collage, and the use of space.  The fish creation was a challenge for the student artists but after much practice their confidence was built to go forward on the final production. 

 

 

 

 

Kindergarten Kandinsky Circles:

The student artists were given a 1/4 of a circle.  They could use markers, crayons, and colored pencils to design it with a variety of lines while leaving no white space.  Then all of them were put together to create several circles in a group production.  It was a great way to learn about the artist

Wassily Kandinsky!

 

 

This week's highlight came during a writing reflection activity after our student artists completed their project.  The project terms were posted on the board and they were asked to write about their production using every word.  There were stories, how-to's, and even a poem. 

September 22 - 26, 2014

The start of this school year has been off to a VERY creative start!  We have almost mastered our classroom procedures of setup and cleanup.  And with two schools, 1,100 students, 42 classes, and only 30 minutes.....procedures are key to being productive.   

Each grade level jumped right into a project filled with materials, techniques, and production.  Even kindergarten started with watercolor paints.....I was feeling incredibly determined this year!

Kindergarten's Rainbow Lines:

These artists learned the basic watercolor painting techniques and painted in horizontal rainbow order.  Then they cut a variety of vertical lines.  Finally they glued them side by side with space in between.

 

                                                 

First Grade Rainbow Danimals:

These artists learned the basic watercolor techniques

 alongside a drawing lesson of animals using the letter D.  Then they colored their 'D'animals using a rainbow pattern of crayon and painted the background with watercolor paint.

Second Grade Owls on a Birch Tree:

These artists learned primary vs secondary colors with an inclusion of texture.  Next they used thick and thin lines to paint their birch trees.  Finally the traced and cut out a variety of owls from their painted paper to create a collage.

Third Grade Visual Texture:

These artists used a variety of lines and pattern to create visual texture on their hand space.  Next they decorated them, glued them, and added more visual texture to the background.

 

Fourth Grade Henri Rousseau's Jungle:

These artists are still in progress with one of my favorite projects.  This assignment focuses on the artist Henri Rousseau and how to successfully use foreground, middle ground, and background perspective techniques.  They also are using oil pastels, crayons, and watercolor paints.

Fifth Grade Elements Cube:

These artists learned the elements of art and how to produce them.  Using a cube template they recreated their version of each element and created the three-dimensional cube.