Sunrise, Sunset Silhouettes

Our sixth and seventh grade classes worked on similar projects recently which allowed them to explore color, value and blending in painting. We first reviewed the meaning of silhouette, then viewed a selection of photographs featuring images of trees and animals against rising or setting suns. Students then composed their own images to be drawn in solid black with permanent marker. Seventh grade students painted their backgrounds first in tempera paint, then added their black images. Sixth grade students drew images first, then painted over the marker with watercolor paint. The black marker resisted the watercolor, and students could go over the black image again to sharpen it if they chose. Both classes learned and practiced painting and blending skills before they worked on their final pieces. Take a look at the beautiful results!

Monochromatic Monsters!

Using tempera paint in only one color plus white, our 2/3 students created these monochromatic monsters. It was a good way to learn about hues, tints and shades in art and how artists can mix colors both on a palette and right on their paintings. The added bonus: monsters are FUN to make! Clicking on any image brings you to the monster gallery.

Colored Alphabets in the Style of Jasper Johns

To start off the new school year our kindergarten and first graders created their own alphabet art in the style of the American contemporary artist Jasper Johns, b. 1930.

Jasper Johns, Colored Alphabet
Oil, encaustic and paper collage on panel

Our versions were done on 9" x 12" white sulphite paper divided into 25 rectangles (the letters I and J shared a space.) Kindergarteners traced over the lightly pre-printed letters in crayon, then painted over each rectangle with water-color paints. They watched the crayon magically "resist" the paint while the bare paper absorbed it. Oohh, it's fun to see that process for the first time! First graders were challenged to draw their own letters before painting. The artists had their choice of color selection, and it's interesting to see how different each piece looks. Click on any image below to see more of their terrific work.

We love Dinosaurs!

Most young children seem to have a never-ending fascination with dinosaurs, and our K/1 students got a chance to explore that passion this week. After examining some photos first, we learned how to draw a basic dinosaur. I was pretty impressed with how much some of our students knew about the names and types of creatures that existed so many millions of years ago. The topic promoted a lively discussion about what size each creature was and who could eat whom if necessary! The creatures were drawn with black crayon then watercolors were used to add color to the art. The students added whatever features they thought might exist in their dinosaur's environment. As always they were encouraged to be creative with their color and design, and they tried very hard to fill their entire paper with their art. I think the results are pretty great, please take a look. Clicking on the photos below will get you to the gallery for more dinosaur viewing.

 

Shape Murals

One thing I think Art can help develop in children is the ability to work collaboratively. That ability is so important to both a student's performance in the classroom and their future in the 21st-century workplace. I have been so pleased with our 2/3 students these last few weeks! Together they created these fabulous paintings which we call "Shape Murals". Working in groups of three or four, they first painted various shapes onto 22" x 28" paper. The only rules were the shapes had to be outlines and they were not allowed to paint over anyone else's shape. They then connected each shape to another one with black lines, creating more shapes.

The next week each student was given a unique paint color with which to fill in shapes on their own and the rest of the class paintings. They focused on choosing shapes for their color with the design principles of variety and harmony in mind. The last step was to go over the outlines again to make sure the original shapes were still visible. It was wonderful to see the students making great artistic choices while showing respect for their classmates and working so well together! Congratulations, class, here is your beautiful art!

Batik Pumpkins

I love the art of batik and the colorful cloth it produces, but the traditional hot wax and dye process can be difficult to do in a classroom. Our 4/5 class used a modified form of batik to create these colorful pumpkins, then added some leaf prints in gold and silver to finish their designs. 

After closely studying pumpkins we brought into our classroom, students practiced making contour drawings to gain understanding of their shape and form. They carefully drew their own pumpkins using warm fall colors in crayon, the wax part of the process. The drawings were crumpled up to brake up the surface of the crayon, but not tear the paper. The pumpkins were then completely covered in black tempera paint in place of traditional dye, and the paint was wiped off the surface. The black paint stayed only in the areas where the crayon surface had been broken up. The results are shown below, aren't they great? Click on any image to get to the picture gallery for closer viewing.

 

Kandinsky Circle Paintings

Wassily Kandinsky was an influential Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited with painting the first purely abstract works. His painting Colour Study: Squares With Concentric Circles (1913) is one of his best known and most treasured works. Our 2/3 class created their own circles starting with oil crayons and adding watercolor backgrounds. Click on the large image to see indivdual student work.

Outdoor perspective

Here’s a challenging project our four/five class just completed. They used the rules of one point linear perspective to create the illusion of three dimensions on a two dimensional surface. We looked at examples of landscape paintings to understand the idea of a single vanishing point located in the center of the paper at which all points converge. After drawing a road (or a river) starting at the bottom of the page, they added barns, buildings, trees and the like. Clouds, birds and airplanes filled the skies, and the addition of watercolor paint completed the project. Click on any image to see more.

Overlapping Circles of Color

Here’s a little project our kindergarteners had fun doing this week. We explored the concept of overlapping circles by printing in black tempera paint with the ends of paper towel rolls. When the paint dried, we colored in the circles. The idea to grasp was that when colors overlap, they combine to make a third color. Sometimes it shows in the artwork and sometimes it doesn’t, but we all had fun naming color combinations and filling circles with lots of different hues! Click on any image to see more circles.

More Beauty in Symmetry

The butterflies and symmetry project for the 2/3 class was so sucessful (see the "Of Butterfies and Mathematics" post) I decided to give the first graders a try at creating their own butterfly art. They did an excellent job and all of them really understood the concept of symmetry, which they are also studying in their regular classroom.

Instead of perching on a tree branch, these butterflies are resting in cut paper grass, accompanied by all sorts of other little insects. The students enjoyed the challenge of cutting grass and removing every other blade. When one student was struggling a little with how to do it, another said to her "Just do a pattern; one, two, cut on two" and the first child immediately got it. It's so great to see how they look out for each other! Click on any image to see more.