5th Grade Project: Impressionism - Watercolor 1: Color Bands

Continuing in our study of Impressionism the 5th graders began their work with watercolor.  To introduce the medium and help with controlling the elements of watercolor: paint, water, and brush.  To to this we are working in a series of watercolor exercises.  

In this particular exercise the students were to use the colors of their choice and create a series of lines that bent through the page, overlapping, curving, crossing, etc. but never touching.  This help specifically with paint and brush control.

Even though it was "just" an exercise, the results showed both the individuality of the students and their design sense. It was really enjoyable to watch them work.

1st Grade Project: Paul Klee - Castle and the Sun

In this project the 1st grade looks at the beautiful painting: "Castle and the Sun" by Paul Klee.

The students really enjoy this painting.  They respond so well to the colors and shapes, I also think that they particularly enjoy the structure of the piece - as something that they can grasp.

Students began the work on their own project by building their castle with some basic shapes: triangles, squares, and rectangles.  Once their castle had been built the students outlined their work in black crayon to resist the watercolors that we would add later.

After all the outlining with crayon was done, students began to add colors to their castles with watercolor.
They were instructed to take special care to paint one shape and to not paint all the shapes one color.

8th Grade Project: Value Unit 3 - Grid Portraits

As part of our value unit we used grid portraits to familiarize students with the particulars of portraiture.

The boys drew Martin Luther King, while the girls drew Anne Frank.

This focus on drawing the details of the face: noses, ears, teeth, etc. really helps the students as they prepare for their own portraits.  Students are generally less intimidated attempting another's face rather than their own, once introduced however, the students are far more comfortable in the work on their own portrait.

3rd Grade: Wassily Kandinsky - What does music look like?

The 3rd grade students were introduced to Wassily Kandinsky and his Abstract Expressionism.  We talked about that "Abstract" means "not realistic", and how Kandinsky's art became more and more abstract.

We then focused on the idea of showing sound - specifically what music looks like.  Students talked about what they saw in Kandinsky's work, and how it may look like music.  Then students were asked to pick things out of what they had seen that they recognized: circles, zig zags, color, etc.  These are the things Kandinsky used and that we would also use in our projects.

Students added lines that they matched to the rhythms they heard.  Once the line work and shapes had been added, students then colored the shapes that their overlapping lines had created.

Kindergarten Project: Eric Carle - Animals

The Kindergarten students continued their study of Eric Carle.  They did this by enjoying another of his stories and reviewing what he kind of techniques and ideas he liked to use in his art.  We then chose an animal to draw.  

Then using our "Painted Paper" from our previous lesson, students cut and then paste to give their animal its

color.  It was a very colorful bunch of animals that emerged from our classes.

Kindergarten Art Project: Painted paper and Eric Carle

We started this project by learning about Eric Carle and watching the story of "The Hungry Caterpillar".

We then began the task of creating the paper we would be using for our entire Eric Carle unit.  Each student had the opportunity to create two painted papers.  They chose their colors as I walked around the room with the different paints.  Once a student chose a color they would proceed to use proper brush technique (which is reviewed before the painting) to spread the paint as they chose.

Once the students had finished their paint work.  They received their secret tool to add their finishing touches to their art.

The students' special tool was an ear swab.  With this they were able to create the line work in the paint as you can see above.

The painted papers we prepared were long and thin, it was trim from another project.  The dimensions were not important since it was going to be cut up.