Saturday, December 15, 2012

5th Tessellations!!!

Congrats 5th grade! Great work!


Lots to Share!!!

Despite a few field trips this week and the growing excitement of the upcoming Christmas break, the Art room has been booming with work!

The K5 has been learning about the Element of Art, line. Students have created turtles and used a variety of lines to create the design on their turtle's shell. This week, students cut out their turtle, glued it to construction paper, and added a border displaying a pattern.





The 4th grade is still working hard on their radial name designs. Many of the students are close to completion. It has been wonderful to watch them create this artwork, surprised every time they notice how their name is creating a unique and interesting design :)




The 3rd grade recently finished their Tangram project, which they looked at the connections between art and math. This week, students started a new project where they are looking at the connection between art and science. Students learned that observation is important to both subjects, allowing the individual to learn about the object or thing they are viewing. We discussed how explorers, like Lewis and Clark, would observe wild life on their journeys and would record what they saw by drawing. Students in this observational project will be looking at photographs of their favorite animal in order to create a realistic depiction of their animal. This week, the students practiced sketching their animal, but after Christmas break, we will be creating this artwork with watercolors.



The K4 students had a ton of fun on Friday when they created String Paintings. Like the K5, the K4 students have also been learning about lines, so instead of painting lines with paintbrushes, I thought they would enjoy using pieces of yarn :)



Last but not least, the Art Club Littles members recently finished creating their collages (pictures coming soon!). I did not want to start a new project before we had a two week break, so instead we had a little Christmas fun by creating Christmas pictures and frames.





We will not have Art classes again until after Christmas break, more specifically January 3rd and 4th. I will hopefully be posting some additional finished projects in the next week. However, my husband and I will be heading back home to western Kentucky on Tuesday, so I may be unable to post. If that is the case, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and is able to enjoy time with family and get some much deserved rest!!!!!



Saturday, December 8, 2012

Painting all the way...

This week, the 1st grade began painting their Jasper Johns inspired artwork. 1st graders have really put a lot of effort in preparing for this project. We discussed different color families (warm/cool, primary/secondary, and complementary colors) and decided what colors we wanted to use for our artworks using our planning chart. 1st graders also practiced painting, making sure that their brush had a "good hair day". By the time we started painting this week, they were experts :)




For this project, I also decided to do something a little different. So I am able to help students who are painting more, I decided to split the group into two. While half of the 1st graders are working on the Jasper Johns project, the other half just started working on a fall self portrait project. To begin, they designed a sweater that displayed a pattern. I am hoping that in the spring we will be able to do another self portrait to see how they have changed throughout the year. Next week, the groups will switch, Group A starting the self portrait project and Group B beginning to paint their Jasper Johns project.



On a side note, one of the first graders, H.R., has been working on a cool and  interesting project during his free time in Art Club. Two weeks ago, he created a sleigh for Santa using only copy paper and glue. This past week, he created the reindeer. I can't wait until next week to see what he adds!




Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Oh What Fun!

This past Friday, the Art Club Littles students (K5-3) finished up their collages half way through our meeting. Looking for something to do besides free draw, I asked the students if they wanted to have a painting day. Of course, they were very excited! Just for fun, we decided on painting robots :) Here's what they came up with...








Sunday, December 2, 2012

3rd Tangram Collages!

Here are the completed 3rd grade Tangram Collages!!! Great Job 3rd!!!


Saturday, December 1, 2012

Back from Break

Well, I am back from Kentucky and things are back in business in the Art room. Many of the grades are getting very close to finishing their projects. I cannot wait to share them with everyone! The kids are begging to take them home to hang up on their own wall. Here are just a few examples...




The third grade has just completed their Tangram Collage project. Hopefully, I will be able to pictures of those today and post them later this weekend.

As promised previous to the Thanksgiving break, I will be sharing with you what the 6th grade has been working on lately. I am very excited about this project! On the first day, we discussed the careers of architects and interior designers. Students talked about their own houses and how they thought they were designed, built, and decorated.
For their project, students had to develop and create the idea for their own "dream house" and by dream house, I mean be creative as possible. Some students have rooms devoted to their favorite cartoon, several students have swimming pool rooms, and of course an art studio :) They began by just drawing the floor plan with no furniture. Yesterday, students laid a piece of transparency over their drawing and started adding their furniture to their designs.



I cannot believe we will only have two more Art classes before we go to Christmas break! There's a lot of things to be done in a very short time, but with the new semester coming up, there are some very exciting things to look forward to! I am already planning for our spring art shows and several other special events. As we get closer, I will make sure to fill everyone in on the details!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

K4 and K5 Landscapes

Both the K4 and K5 recently have finished their warm and cool color landscapes. Students learned the differences between warm and cool colors and then created a landscape inspired artwork using the warm colors (red, yellow, and orange) for the ground and the cool colors (blue, green, and purple) for the sky. (Thanks to dalimoustache.blogspot.com for the great inspiration!!!) Check out the finished artworks below...


Time for updates!

This has been a crazy week at school with all the coughing and flu cooties going around! Hopefully the weekend and our upcoming break will be good for everyone and we will all feel a lot better the next time Art class comes around!

Anyway, this week I promised to show what the 3rd and 4th grades are up to. Starting with the 3rd...

Tangrams Collages!!!

Tangrams are a dissection puzzle or transformation puzzle that originated in China. Using all 7 geometric shapes (2 large triangles, 2 small triangles, 1 medium triangle, a parallelogram, and a square) the objective is to create a specific shape, in the 3rd grades' case it is animals. Students started by creating the shapes out of construction paper. They then practiced creating several different animals. After choosing their favorite, students created the sky and the ground for their collage. This week, students have added their tangram animal and have began creating details. Below are a few that are close to being finished...



Sadly, I don't have images to show you what the fourth grade is working on. This week, I only had two students come to class...the rest were either resting in their classroom or out sick :( Since so many students were gone, I decided a free paint day was in order.





However, the 4th grade is currently working on a radial balance name design. After we come back from Thanksgiving, I will post pics and a better explanation of that project. They are all off to a great start though!

Next week, I will be gone to Benton, Kentucky to visit all of my family! I can't wait! As soon as I return, I will post what the 6th grade has been up to. Hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving!!!

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Happenings of the Week

What a busy week the art room has seen! As I mentioned last week, the next couple of posts will be what all of the different grades are doing. This week...the 1st and 2nd!

The first grade has recently started learning about Jasper Johns. As I mentioned last week in my clue, he attended the University of South Carolina for three semesters, which the 1st graders thought was really cool :) Since we are currently exploring the relationship between art and math, we looked at John's artworks that involved numbers. The 1st graders thought it was really interesting how some of the numbers were camouflaged with the background, while other numbers in some pieces were viewed upside-down. They found it interesting to look at something that we see everyday in a new way! Inspired by his artworks, the 1st grade will be creating their own number paintings, using foam numbers and acrylics. This week they chose their numbers (as seen below).


The 2nd graders also learned about an artist recently. It was Andy Warhol! Students viewed many of his artworks, including his early shoe advertisements, as well as many pieces he is well known for such as his celebrity portraits. However, we focused mainly on his Campbell's Soup cans. Students instantly recognize the cans are cylinders, connecting it to math as well as the element of art, form. For this project, students are creating their own soup. Students this week began painting their cans and labels.




I also wanted to share the progress of the Art Club collages. Students have really worked hard over the last couple of weeks and have really accomplished a lot. Below is a look at how they are progressing...


As promised, next week I will post a few pics showing you what the 3rd and 4th graders are up to. Although I do not have a very good clue for the 4th grade project, I will show you a picture clue for what the 3rd grade is doing :)




 

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Something New...

What a week!!! Almost every class in the last week started a new project. After exploring the Elements of Art in our brochures, students are now exploring the relationship between art and the other subjects that they learn in school. In this first round of new projects, students are learning about the connections between Art and Math!

Throughout the next several weeks, I will be sharing some pics of the new projects that we have started in each grade. This week I am sharing with you what the 5th grade is up to...


Tessellations!!!

After learning about the life of M.C. Escher and viewing several of his artworks, students began creating their tessellation inspired designs. Students learned that to create a traditional tessellation, you have to create a design that does not overlap, nor creates any gaps. Pieces must fit together like a puzzle. Some students decided to create interesting shapes, imagining what their design could be and others decided to try to create a recognizable object in their tessellation. I can't wait to see what their artworks will look like when they are finished!!!

Next week, I will be sharing with you what the 1st and 2nd grade students are working on! Just a hint for you...the 1st graders are learning about an artist that attended the University of South Carolina and the 2nd grade students are learning about an artist who started out by drawing shoes for advertisements. 

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Look at what we did!!!

Great Job Art Club!!!! I recently visited our newly displayed art and I am soooooooo proud! The artworks look so good grouped together in one big Picasso inspired display. Keep up the great work!
*Thank you so much to the individual that created the display for us!!!


 
I was also very impressed by our artworks that we created for the Appreciation Dinner! Everyone did a great job creating their idea, incorporating the elements of art and writing a wonderful "thank you" message. Our "helping hands" looked fantastic displayed on the tables for the dinner :)
*Thank you to all the wonderful ladies that set up this dinner! I am so glad that my art classes were able to help!
I also wanted to share what I have been up to. You may have noticed that I have not included anything about art classes this week. Well, that is because I was attending the South Carolina Art Education Association's annual conference in Myrtle Beach. I had a wonderful time and have so many great ideas that I can't wait to share with students! Below, I have include a sneak peek of what I worked on during the last couple of days...