Our students have been hard at work already in 2018. Enjoy the images!
Kindergarten
Rainbow Lizards: To begin, I read them "A Color of His Own", by Leo Lionni. We then learned the correct order of the rainbow. Students drew, painted, and collaged their own versions of the chameleon in the story. Here is what they are working on so far.
South African Clay Pots: AFter looking at images of pottery from South Africa, students learned about making pottery. We practiced making pinch pots with playdough first, so that our clay did not dry out. Once students had the technique down, we moved on to creating our pots from clay. After firing, we will paint our pottery.
Arctic White: With this lesson, we heard a story about a little girl that lives in a wintery land. Everything is white or a version of white. Once night, her grandfather takes her, along with many others in her village, to a special place. There, they are able to see the Northern Lights. Inspired by what she saw, the little girl paints her memories of the vivid colors. Using the story as our inspiration, the students created vibrant watercolor resist paintings.
First Grade
Charley Harper Cardinals: First graders learned about the artist Charley Harper. We created stylized collage pieces in his honor.
Second and Third Grades
Warm and Cool Skies: Students worked on patterns through this unit. Each design highlighted warm and cool colors on the page.
Fourth Grade
Tints and Shades Abstractions: In this color unit, students learned how adding white to a color creates a tint, by adding greys, one creates tones, and by adding black creates a shade.
Fifth Grade
African Masks: I am so proud of the work the students for this unit. They learned about numerous masking traditions, as well as various characteristics of African masks. In this project, they created their own characters that displayed the variety of characteristics they learned about, such as symmetry, geometric versus organic shapes, neutral versus vibrant colors, and so forth.
Art Supply Still Life: Currently, students are working on still life drawings. I challenged the students to have more creative freedom in this unit by having them select their own items and set up their very own still lifes. We discussed what creates a strong composition, and then students had to put those ideas to use through numerous thumbnail sketches. For those that aren't familiar with thumbnails, these are quick, small sketches that artists use to help plan what their final piece of art will look like.
Sixth Grade
Picasso Portraits: Previously, I had shown images of students' thumbnail sketches. Here is a reminder, plus some pieces on their way to completion.
Seventh and Eighth Grades
Altered American Gothic: Last posting, I had shared some of the unit with you. As students got closer to developing their ideas for they will individually alter the famous painting "AMerican Gothic", by Grant Wood, they spent a day learning how to draw a correct portrait and how to proportion the human body correctly. Also, here is a completed sketch, ready to be turned into the final piece!
Second and Third graders learned about the art of Pablo Picasso. They created their own Cubist portraits through tints and shades of colors. They also demonstrated knowledge of warm and cool colors.
Eighth graders are wrapping up their unit called Altered American Gothic. They learned about this famous work of art through class discussions and analysis of the formal elements Grant Wood utilized to make the work a strong composition. They then had to take what they learned about that painting and apply it to their own personal works.
In my next post, I'll be sharing completed units with you. I'll also be updating the art in the hallway near the preschool rooms, and we'll soon have a display in the church narthex to celebrate the Lenten season!
