Kindergarten Jack O' Lanterns

These little guys were drawn in black crayon (with curved lines to make our pumpkin look round and real) and painted with warm colors. Next we used black paper and cut different shapes for the face, discussing how many sides a triangle has, how to cut a circle from a square, etc. They are very cute and they are on display in the staircase across from the gymnasium!

3rd Grade and 2nd/3rd Grade Mulit-Age Ceramic Leaf Forms

We are very excited about these Ceramic Leaves in 3rd grade! These leaves are not geometric, but organic forms made from clay. Clay is an excellent material to use because it challenges us to think about the spatial quality in art and requires a specific process to follow. We wedged our clay, rolled a slab, and traced the shape of a leaf using a real, "up-north" leaf. Next we added lines and texture and worked the clay into the form we wanted. They were put into the kiln, we glazed them (making sure to organize our colors and design), and now we are just waiting in anticipation for them to come back out of the kiln! More pictures to follow...

1st Grade Spiderwebs

First grade are completing their spiderwebs in Art right now... We learned and used directional lines like HORIZONTAL, VERTICAL, and DIAGONAL to draw a spiderweb on a black piece of paper. Next we traced our lines in glue and after the glue dried, we used oil pastel to create a pattern with colors. We read "Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti", learned about the characteristics of spiders, and cut and glued a spider from geometric shapes. They did a great job with the glue and these are just in time for Halloween!

5th Grade and 4th/5th Multi-age Silhouettes

5th Grade just finished up their silhouette mixed media pieces. These were painted in tempera first and then the silhouette was cut and glued on top. We discussed using similar colors on our paper, like warm, cool, or analogous (next to each other on the color wheel) colors and then painted our paper. Next, we created a sketch in our sketchbook for our silhouette that used the space on our paper well. Learning about contour lines from our previous lesson helps us fully understand the outline and shape of objects, so that we can create interesting and recognizable silhouettes. Finally, we cut our objects out of black paper, arranged them, and glued them to our painting.

Kindergarten Color Mixing Finger Paintings

Color mixing is one very important component of Art! In Kindergarten we learned the Primary colors (red, yellow, blue) and how we can mix them to create new colors (green, orange, purple). We used fun finger paints on paper to create an entire rainbow of colors, and while we were at it, we created different kinds of lines in our paint after we were finished mixing the colors.

First Grade Abstract Art

First Graders learned about the abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky for their first lesson. We looked at Kandinsky's paintings and found and described the different shapes, lines and colors he used. Since Kandinsky was inspired by music to create his paintings, we listened to "I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash while we drew a moving and changing line all around our paper. We traced the lines in Sharpie and then added more lines, patterns, and shapes in crayon inside the different sections created by our line. To add much more interest and color, we used watercolor paints on top of our crayon. We sure have some fabulous first grade abstract artists!

Some days we have Art and some days we have ART!!!

 

Last Wednesday in Mrs. Woody's 2nd grade we realized that half of us had completed our scarecrows and half of us needed studio time to finish them. So for those who were finished, I gave them a word to create a piece of art based on:  FALL. Most of us are extremely excited about those beautiful fall colors, Halloween, pumpkins, and everything else that happens in Fall. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited, too! So we got creative and some of us even collaborated with a partner to create a piece of art...

3rd Grade Geometric/Organic Shape Designs

3rd Grade has been working on these Geometric/Organic shape designs. We used geometric shape stencils to create an interesting composition or arrangement on our paper with pencils. Some of us built a specific animal, person, or object, and some of us created an overlapping design. We traced the shapes in Sharpies, added color using markers, and then painted with water and paintbrushes. Since the colored markers are water-based, the ink dissolves in the water and you can paint your paper. Our last step was to look for changes of lightness and darkness, as well as changes of color, and to trace these interesting lines and organic shapes with a detail Sharpie.

4th Grade Pumpkin Patches

4th Grade is finishing up their Pumpkin Patch chalk drawings this week. First, we sketched our ideas, and were asked to create depth by using a Horizon Line and the size and placement of the pumpkins and other objects. Next, we drew our image on black paper. We learned how to blend our chalk to create richer colors, as well as using white and black to create highlights and shades (to make our pumpkins look more realistic).

2nd/2nd 3rd Grade Multi-age Scarecrows

2nd Grade and 2nd/3rd Grade Multi-age has been working on some watercolor scarecrows in Art. These were drawn in pencil first and then traced in Sharpie marker. Everyone created such unique scarecrows and very interesting details in the background. Next, we used only the primary colors, black, and brown for painting, so we had to mix the secondary colors. Finally, we glued some raffia in place where hay or grass might be. There may be some of these in local business windows for the Scarecrow Festival this weekend!!! (Oct 5,6, and 7)