Lines, Lines and More Lines!

All year, our Chargers are learning the building blocks of art - the Elements of Art and Principles of Design.  Each month in the Art Room, we study a different topic. In the case of the middle school artists, we often study many Elements together.  During the month of September, students have been looking at LINE - its purposes and how it functions in art.  Here are some samples!

Kindergarten began with a reading of The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds (great books!).  We then explored art-making through a lesson I call "What Can You Do with a Dot?"

     

The young artists then moved on the make their own Line Charts and showed me their drawing talents.

        

                                       

First Grade create "Lines That You Can Touch".

    

       

    

Second and Third Graders are taking influence from Vincent van Gogh to create their own versions of his famous work "Starry Night"!

Fourth Grade created portraits having a "Bad Hair Day"!

Fifth Graders are working with lines PLUS value!  They created their own intricate sets of plumbing, and then they are shading them with values, using charcoal, to create the illusion of depth.

Sixth Grade is working on a very detailed unit.  It is called My Mexican Folk Art.  We began with looking at art, reading about folk art traditions in Mexico, and we practiced reading and writing strategies.  The students then began to learn how to draw the human figure, using the skeleton.  Since they just started the drawings, I'll post them in my upcoming blog.

Seventh and Eighth Graders gave me the inspiration to begin the year with contour and simple drawings.  A few of our students are obsessed with shoes. . . who can blame them?  You know I love fashion!

   

    

I'll keep you posted on how we do as we move through the rest of the month. . . I can't wait to see what develops!