February 2016 art blog

Transitional Kindergarten

Modern Art, Abstract Art Inspired by Mondrian

Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) wanted to create pictures to express thoughts and feelings entirely created with straight lines and simple,flat colors. He created designs that felt just right, with the perfect harmony between the lines and colors. 

Students observed Mondrina's works. Using a ruler and a black marker students practiced drawing vertical and horizontal straight lines. Students crossed some of their vertical and horizontal lines to divide the picture plain into rectangles and squares. Students used primary colors plus a few "sneakky" colors (colors that are not primary), to color in areas of choice. 

Kindergarten       
Paper Making

To complement the Kindergarten science unit “Wood and Paper”, students got to make their own handmade paper from paper scraps. Students got to experience, that from recycled paper new, beautiful, hand made paper can be made. Together with an adult, Kindergarten students got to dip their paper making molds and screens into a water bath, in order to capture the paper/cotton pulp. To give the paper a unique touch students added flower petals, and glitter to complete the stationary look. Thank you to all the parents who helped us with the paper making. It was messy, but sure a lot of fun!

1st GRADE        
Royal Portraits

In connection with the first grade core Language Arts “Fairy Tale” lesson, students sketched a large sized “Royal Self-Portrait”. Students were encouraged to use their imagination and visualize what it would be like if they were “King or Queen.” Students painted the large scale portrait with tempera paints. To make the “royal look” perfect, gold and silver paints will be applied to the King’s and Queen’s crowns by the artists. 

2nd GRADE        
Trout Collage Inspired by Eric Carle

Second grade students were introduced to the illustrator Eric Carle. He is one of the best-known creators of contemporary children’s books. Carle has had an enormous impact on children's literature since the late 1960s. He developed a technique of painting tissue paper in brilliant colors and applying texture with a variety of tools. Carle calls this “painting pretty papers". He uses the papers to create colorful collages to illustrate his stories. 

Just like Eric Carle, students painted “pretty papers” and used the collage technique to illustrate rainbow trout and habitat. This lesson correlates with the second grade core science unit “The Life Cycle of a Trout”. 

3rd GRADE        

Advanced Paper Making with Cherry Blossoms

The first papers are thought to have been made from mulberry and other bast fibers along with old rags and hemp waste in 2nd century China. Later in the West, paper was largely made from old clothes. Similarly, the third grade students made their paper from recycled materials - newspaper, cotton rags, and plant fibers. 

With the help of a partner students created one sheet of hand made paper with a deckle edge. 

To capture the first signs of early spring students painted branches with cherry blossoms onto the wet paper with water soluble oil pastels. 

4th GRADE        
Accordion Bookbinding

Over the past few weeks, 4th grade students worked on watercolor books with the theme California. To complete this project students were introduced to the basics of bookbinding. Students explored a book construction which does not require stitching. 

The accordion book is a folded structure; the book block is made by simply folding a sheet of paper back and forth in page-width increments. Students accordion folded their paper strips, which they have illustrated with beautiful watercolor techniques and California landscapes. Students crafted gorgeous book covers using a variety of textured papers. The assembled book structures look amazing and are on display in the library for the month of March.