December 2014 Art Blog

Kindergarten:

Winter Scene inspired by Grandma Moses:

It has been feeling like winter all around our campus, and our Kindergarten students have been working on their Winter Landscape paintings. 

Students were introduced to the life and works of the American Folk artist Grandma Moses. Students used different kinds of art tools, such as brayers, sponges and paint brushes to paint their winter landscapes. Following Grandma Moses’ style combined with basic sketching, drawing and coloring skills, students created their own interpretations of familiar and cherished family traditions that are celebrated during the winter months.

1^ST GRADE:

Polar Bears Portraits:

To start this lesson we did a read aloud of the book: White Bear, Ice Bear by Janne Ryder. Using white chalk on black construction paper students sketched a polar bear portrait. Students used the sides of white chalk to rub a round shape for the head and a body.  Two smaller circles made the ears.  Students used their fingers to gently blend the chalk to remove any harsh lines that may have been created.  Black oil pastels were used to create the facial features and the inner ears.  Students rubbed a little bit with the black pastel under the head to create a bit of a shadow. Then they cut our the whole polar bear shape. With a tear and paste technique students created a background. The final display turned out to be adorable. 

2^ND GRADE:

Owl Moon/ Light and Shadow Study:

Second grade students read the picture book Owl Moon written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by John Schoenherr. Students were introduced to the basic art concept of light and shadow. Students carefully looked at the illustrations in the book and pointed out shadows. Students noticed that the moon (light source) illuminates the trees (subject) and the trees (subject) cast shadows on the surface of snow. The location of the moon (light source) determines the location and the directions of the shadows. 
Students started their Owl Moon study with a light pencil sketch on 140 lb watercolor paper. Students were also introduced to the art concept of space. To create a sense of space in their Owl Moon composition, students sketched a horizon line, tree trunks and branches; overlapping and changing in size from large trees in the foreground to smaller trees towards the horizon line (background). Students used a fine brush and cool hues of liquid watercolor to color the sky around the full moon and the trees. Once the students painted in the shadows the three-dimensional, spacial, composition came to live. To complete these eye catching, beautiful piece students added a silhouette of an owl. 

3rd GRADE:

Snowman Peeking in the Window:

Third grade students studied the art concept "Composition" and "Positive and Negative Space". Students sketched unique snowman figures conveying the idea a snowman is peeking in the window. Students payed special attention to creating interesting compositions, counterbalancing positive and negative design space. Over their sketches students laid a transparency film and traced their composition with sharpie pen onto the foil. Oil pastels were used to add the final color touches. Ready for winter and the holiday season, displayed in a window, these whimsical snowman compositions put a smile on everyone's face.  

4th GRADE:

Transparent Star: 

Fourth grade students were introduced to the art of paper folding. This project is based on a Swiss holiday tradition to decorate windows with geometric, transparent "Sternli" (Swiss German for little star), illuminated by natural light falling through a window. Students used transparent kite paper (craft parchment paper). They showed great perseverance through all the steps necessary to fold and assemble an eight point star. Students figured out a variety of patterns and designs by alternating colors. The finished stars, display in unison on our classroom widows created a dazzling effect of transparent and opaque hues. In order to transport the delicate "Sternli" home safely students folded a packaging out of a large white paper. 

Special Maker Project

4th GRADE:
Musik Sacker: 

The music teacher Mrs. Poon and the art teacher Mrs. Libby collaborated together to worked on music shakers with the fourth graders. Students helped collect recycled bottles and containers, filled them with lentils or rice, and decorated them with colorful duct tape and masking tape. Teachers and students alike had lots of fun creating the instruments and making music together. The 4th grade students will be using the shakers in music class in the spring. The students are so excited that they cannot wait to take their instruments home.

November 2014, Art Blog

Kindergarten:

Tree of Life inspired by Gustav Klimt:

Our Kindergarten students were introduced to the Austrian “Art Nouveau” painter Gustav Klimt (born in 1862). Klimt had created many world famous paintings such as “The Kiss” and the painting the Kindergarten students were introduced to called “The Tree of Life”. Gustav Klimt painted the Tree of Life, during his Golden Era as seen by the extensive use of the golden color on this piece.
Gustav Klimt’s decorative art nouveau stile, with his use of colors and abstract shapes, is full of symbolism and can be interpreted in so many ways.  

1^ST GRADE:

Self-Portrait a la Picasso:

Our first grade students have been studying the works by Pablo Picasso. Students were introduced to the true story: Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail written and illustrated by Laurence Anholt. The story illustrates how Picasso’s work went through many changes and stages, from realistic portraits-to scrambled and obscured compositions, collages, and studies like Cubism. 

Students painted one realistic self-portrait, and created a second self-portrait in a cubistic collage form. Students especially enjoyed “braking the art rules” in creating the cubistic portrait, moving the facial features around and designing a scrambled look of themselves. 

2^ND GRADE:

Warm/Cool Color Dragons

Our second grade students continued their studies with color theory working with the two color schemes warm and cool. Each student cut and pasted imaginary dragons out of paper, representing either the warm or cool color family. With black pen and oil pastels, details such as, sharp teeth and claws, scales and spikes, horns and wings were added. 

As a whole class we celebrated our fantastic warm and cool color dragons by displaying them in a pretend art museum and sharing compliments about each others work. 

3rd GRADE:

Constellation Illustrations

What do you know about constellations? A constellation is a group of starts forming a recognizable pattern that is traditionally named after its apparent form of an identified mythological figure. Astronomers today recognize 88 constellations. Most of the constellations were identified long ago by the stargazers of Ancient Greek and Egypt. 

The constellation of the Great Bear-also known by its Latin name Ursa Major contains an easily recognizable group of seven stars called the Big Dipper. In their science class, third grade students were introduced to the most common constellations seen in the northern sky.  During art class students were introduced to the basic artistic background of how artists have illustrated constellations in the past and in the present. Using the ipad app called “star walk” students were able to view constellations in the sky in an interactive way.  

Students were asked to chose a constellation they felt drawn to and excited about. Using white sketch pencils students carefully mapped out the exact number of stars in their constellations and sketch the mythological figures and creatures around them.  For finishing touches gold start stickers were put in place and students used high quality prisma-colored pencils to render their fantastic illustrations in a cross-hatching technique. 

4th GRADE:

Tree Wire Sculpture: 

The fourth grade students were introduced to the basics of sculptures. They learned the difference between abstract and representational sculptures and what the difference is between two-versus three-dimensional art. Students were directed to use 10 strands of aluminum wire to bend and twist a representational sculpture of a tree. Thinner steel wire, aluminum wire, colored twisty wire, beads and buttons were added for volume and color accents. The fourth grade artists created amazing tree sculptures with unique characteristics.  

Along with this sculpture unit 4th grade students were introduced to the "Visual Literacy" concept of "How artists can convey meaning, a message, idea." In a class discussion students were responding to two different titles for the same piece of artwork. Students shared great connections and insides about how a title of an art piece can change a viewers perception or opinion.  Students practiced critical thinking in developing a fitting title for their tree sculptures. They revised their titles and came up with thought-provoking, clever titles to support their message or meaning of their tree sculptures. Have a conversation with your child about the message/idea she/he is communicating. 

October 2014 Art Blog

Kindergarten:

Recycled Robots:

The Kindergarten students studied basic geometric shapes and used the shapes to sketch a whimsical robot. Using the sketches as their guides, students cut out geometric shapes out of recycled materials to build and collage the structural parts of their robots. Recycled metal and plastic washers were added for details such as eyes, wheels and buttons. To finish off the robot piece, students created a fancy frame our of recycled materials. 

1^ST GRADE:

Color Theory: Fall Colors/Leaf Composition:

The first grade students were introduced to their first color theory lesson. We read the wonderful book titled “Mouse Paint” by Ellen Stoll Walsh and learned about primary colors. Students used the primary colors to mix beautiful fall colors and painted an entire large background with colors you might see looking at fall leaves. 

During the second part of this painting unit, students were introduced to the concept of how artists compose/arrange and plan their paintings. By overlapping and cropping leaves, students created interesting, dynamic compositions of fall leaves, outlined with black paint on their previously painted backgrounds. 

2^ND GRADE:

Eric Carle Inspired Insects:

The 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 whimsical insects. This lesson correlates with the second grade core science unit “The Life Cycle of an Insect”. 

3^RD GRADE:

Chinese Brush Paintings:

The third grade students have been studying the amazing art of Chinese Brush Painting. The students were introduced to the Chinese child artist Yani, who became famous with her whimsical depictions of monkeys when she was only 4 years old.  

After a lot of practice, how to use a Chinese brush and ink correctly, students worked with their subject of choice. The final paintings were painted on rice paper and each student created a “seal/chop” to print onto their finished piece. 

4^TH GRADE: 

Nature Installations inspired by Andy Goldsworthy:

The fourth grade students were introduced to the Scottish artist Andy Goldsworthy. He is known for his collaboration with nature.  Using snow, ice, twigs, leaves and stones, he creates one-of-a-kind sculptures.  As is the case with most of his works, the materials Goldsworthy uses to create his artistic pieces eventually return to their natural state, leaving no trace of the artistic piece.

Students were paired up and asked to collaborate to arrange, shape or in some way temporarily alter nature to create a fragile “masterpiece” of design in our school backyard. The students’ sculptures were photographed and their pictures were used in their 4th grade homerooms to extend the learning through writing.  Back in their homerooms students explored their descriptive writing skills by writing an artist’s statement.