Showing posts with label collagraph. Show all posts
Showing posts with label collagraph. Show all posts
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Oh Geez
Really calendar. Why must you be so mean to me? I realized yesterday that we are three short weeks, and only two more art classes away from spring break. EEK! Where has all the time gone? That means we only have 3/4 classes left before our big Art Show on May 8th! Despite the recent reportings of "spring fever" around the school, students have been really focused in Art and I am hoping that we can get a few more pieces done despite the time crunch we have now entered.
Got a big update for you today, picture heavy too...but well worth it I promise :)
K4: Big news...I have decided to change our project slightly. I was talking with Mrs. R, the K4 teacher, about how I intended for students to create necklaces which display a certain pattern (through color). As students finished busily working on creating their beads using Model Magic, Mrs. R had an epiphany...why don't we use the beads to create caterpillars? Yes! As we further collaborated on this new idea, she suggested that it be based on Eric Carle's book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and I suggested that we could display the caterpillars on a paper plate that students will paint to look like food (like a watermelon, cookie, pancake, orange...) I am very excited about this newly developed project! Students will still be fulfilling all of the objectives from the past project (creating beads from clay, creating a pattern, threading a pipe cleaner through each bead) however, I feel that this project is a little more solid and will be a ton of fun!
K5: Most students spent this week coloring a full piece a paper using as many colors as possible. Why you might ask? Well, this paper will become the stripes for our rainbow zebras. Many of the students were able to finish, however we will need to spend a few minutes finishing up next week. I am hoping that I am able to share a couple of pictures with you next week of much more colorful zebras.
1st: Tuesday was a big day for the 1st grade because they were able to come to Art twice (the second class was a make-up session since I had to miss the past Tuesday). During the first class, students were introduced to artist George Braque and Cubism. Students discussed his different artworks and loved trying to guess and find all the objects included in his Cubist paintings. After completing our discussion, I introduced the new project to students which will be to create a Cubist style artwork of a musical instrument. During the second class, students were able to begin sketching, drawing, and coloring their favorite instrument. Next week, we will start working on the background and preparing it for a big Cubism makeover!
2nd: We are still hard at work on "constructing" our Hundertwasser houses. Students are in love with this project! They are having such a good time creating their house, choosing the "paint" colors and "landscaping". After a quick demo about using markers to their fullest potential, students did have the opportunity to begin coloring, however, I wanted to wait and show you their houses once they are fully completed.
3rd: After only having a very brief period to plan out their artwork last week, I decided to give students a full class to think, prepare and plan for their Kandinsky Circle Assemblage project. Students had to have two things planned before the end of class on Wednesday, what color each layer of their circle is going to be and what materials they will be using to construct their assemblage. Beginning next week, we will be putting them all together!
4th: Students spent Tuesday planning for their photography project. I asked students to think of two different locations where they would like to take their picture and how they will alter their photography to create a fictional narrative. We are all crossing our fingers that it doesn't rain on Tuesday this upcoming week. Over half of the students want to take their picture outside. Here's hoping for a sunny day!!!
5th: I am so happy with the results of our collagraph prints! Students have worked so hard and are so pleased with the results of all of their efforts! I can't wait until we add our relief prints on top next week!
6th: With most students having completed the weather vanes, I decided to go ahead and teach students about Fauvism! After a brief discussion about key characteristics of the style and showing students several different examples, including a few by Matisse and Derain, I demonstrated how students will be painting a Fauvist inspired Palmetto Tree. Students will be creating this for not only our next project, but also as a fundraiser for the 6th grade's Washington DC trip. We will be having a silent auction during the Art Show on May 8th where these pieces will be for sale! Before creating our final paintings, students will be doing a lot of practicing. Wednesday marked the first practice day for 6th graders.
Art Club: Everyone is now working on their Paul Wacker's inspired tapestry. The older students just started this week discussing the concept of collecting and Wacker's work, while the younger students began creating their tapestries. Here's how they are looking so far...
In other cool news...I was walking around the room as the first graders finished up their instrument drawings and noticed a pretty cool free draw. "Z" started with nothing but a line, but by adding layers and a few squares here and there came up with an awesome cityscape. Nice Job!
Got a big update for you today, picture heavy too...but well worth it I promise :)
K4: Big news...I have decided to change our project slightly. I was talking with Mrs. R, the K4 teacher, about how I intended for students to create necklaces which display a certain pattern (through color). As students finished busily working on creating their beads using Model Magic, Mrs. R had an epiphany...why don't we use the beads to create caterpillars? Yes! As we further collaborated on this new idea, she suggested that it be based on Eric Carle's book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and I suggested that we could display the caterpillars on a paper plate that students will paint to look like food (like a watermelon, cookie, pancake, orange...) I am very excited about this newly developed project! Students will still be fulfilling all of the objectives from the past project (creating beads from clay, creating a pattern, threading a pipe cleaner through each bead) however, I feel that this project is a little more solid and will be a ton of fun!
K5: Most students spent this week coloring a full piece a paper using as many colors as possible. Why you might ask? Well, this paper will become the stripes for our rainbow zebras. Many of the students were able to finish, however we will need to spend a few minutes finishing up next week. I am hoping that I am able to share a couple of pictures with you next week of much more colorful zebras.
1st: Tuesday was a big day for the 1st grade because they were able to come to Art twice (the second class was a make-up session since I had to miss the past Tuesday). During the first class, students were introduced to artist George Braque and Cubism. Students discussed his different artworks and loved trying to guess and find all the objects included in his Cubist paintings. After completing our discussion, I introduced the new project to students which will be to create a Cubist style artwork of a musical instrument. During the second class, students were able to begin sketching, drawing, and coloring their favorite instrument. Next week, we will start working on the background and preparing it for a big Cubism makeover!
2nd: We are still hard at work on "constructing" our Hundertwasser houses. Students are in love with this project! They are having such a good time creating their house, choosing the "paint" colors and "landscaping". After a quick demo about using markers to their fullest potential, students did have the opportunity to begin coloring, however, I wanted to wait and show you their houses once they are fully completed.
3rd: After only having a very brief period to plan out their artwork last week, I decided to give students a full class to think, prepare and plan for their Kandinsky Circle Assemblage project. Students had to have two things planned before the end of class on Wednesday, what color each layer of their circle is going to be and what materials they will be using to construct their assemblage. Beginning next week, we will be putting them all together!
4th: Students spent Tuesday planning for their photography project. I asked students to think of two different locations where they would like to take their picture and how they will alter their photography to create a fictional narrative. We are all crossing our fingers that it doesn't rain on Tuesday this upcoming week. Over half of the students want to take their picture outside. Here's hoping for a sunny day!!!
5th: I am so happy with the results of our collagraph prints! Students have worked so hard and are so pleased with the results of all of their efforts! I can't wait until we add our relief prints on top next week!
6th: With most students having completed the weather vanes, I decided to go ahead and teach students about Fauvism! After a brief discussion about key characteristics of the style and showing students several different examples, including a few by Matisse and Derain, I demonstrated how students will be painting a Fauvist inspired Palmetto Tree. Students will be creating this for not only our next project, but also as a fundraiser for the 6th grade's Washington DC trip. We will be having a silent auction during the Art Show on May 8th where these pieces will be for sale! Before creating our final paintings, students will be doing a lot of practicing. Wednesday marked the first practice day for 6th graders.
Art Club: Everyone is now working on their Paul Wacker's inspired tapestry. The older students just started this week discussing the concept of collecting and Wacker's work, while the younger students began creating their tapestries. Here's how they are looking so far...
In other cool news...I was walking around the room as the first graders finished up their instrument drawings and noticed a pretty cool free draw. "Z" started with nothing but a line, but by adding layers and a few squares here and there came up with an awesome cityscape. Nice Job!
Saturday, March 22, 2014
A Shout Out to Pollen
Thank you pollen for what you do to me every spring. Not fun. As soon as Christmas ends, I know a day will be coming when my allergies will go crazy. That day came this week. I woke up Monday coughing and sneezing and only was able to get 2 hours of sleep Monday night/Tuesday morning. I had to miss school. I hate missing, I really do...especially when we are starting new things or things I have been waiting to do with the kids for weeks (like printmaking). However, I am incredibly lucky. The teachers at my school are extremely flexible and are happy to reschedule any class that I miss. I was able to make up two of the four a couple of days ago.
I am happy to report that my allergies are now straightened out. I am feelin' good and am ready for next week! But first, here's this week's update...
K4: Before we start our new project next week on jewelry, I wanted to see what students knew about patterns. To begin our activity, I read students the book "A Pair of Socks" by Stuart J. Murphy (illustrated by Lois Ehlert). Students looked at each sock and we discussed if the patterns of the socks made a match. After we finished reading our book, I gave each student a handout I made. Since our project will be about jewelry, the handout I created displayed three pieces of string, two of which had beads. Students were asked to color their beads in such a way that it created a pattern. I will be reviewing patterns again with students next week and then we will be creating our own beads using model magic.
K5: When students were sketching their zebras last week, I asked all of them to choose two papers that will become the background of the art. We put both of those papers together when students arrived and spent the remainder of the class period creating the bodies of our zebras. They look at little more like little white horses right now, but we will be adding our rainbow stripes in a couple of weeks.
1st: Sadly, I was not able to see the 1st grade students this week. Good thing is, I will be seeing them twice this coming Tuesday!
2nd: His name is fun to say, his artworks are even more fun to look at...Hundertwasser! Students started learning about this artist/architect yesterday. After looking at many examples of both his paintings, stamps, flags and the buildings, students started sketching ideas for their own artworks. To start this project, students will be designing their own Hundertwasser inspired houses. I love how fun they are, how almost Dr. Seuss-like they are in their design. The kids had a blast making them!
3rd: Students in third grade also started a new project this week about the works of Wassily Kandinsky. There are a lot of Kandinsky inspired projects out there on the Internet, mainly those with circles. Now don't get me wrong, I think this is a great project for the little ones (K4-5) but for third graders...not so much. A little too easy, I think, just to paint some circles. So, instead of painting, we are going to be using found objects to create our circles. I have been saving marker caps, boxes, wrapping paper and several other materials since about Christmas for students to use for this project. Students also have the option of bringing in their own materials to use...of course with parent permission. To plan this week, I asked students to think about what colors they would like to use and what materials they believe will make an interesting artwork.
4th: I am also sad to report that I didn't get to see the 4th grade this week either. Next week, we will start planning out our photographs before taking them during the first week of April.
5th: Students finally got to start printmaking this week!!! Things are looking great so far! Can't wait to pull more prints on Tuesday :)
6th: Most students have finished their weather vanes now. Things have been a little interesting due to a number of absences because of events at school. Due to students missing classes, its pushing them further behind. I will be starting a new project with them next week, but those that are not finished with their weather vanes will be using half of the class period to work on finishing up. I am hoping that in a couple of weeks, I can post the finished artworks. They look so cool!
Art Club: Younger students were introduced to the works of Paul Wackers this week. His modern still life artworks display a number of objects often arranged on shelves. Really cool. If you haven't heard of him, check his work out. I love it! For our projects, students will be making a tapestry inspired by Wackers' works. As I explained to students, we will be making a self-portrait without using a picture of ourselves. We will instead use items/objects we enjoy to represent ourselves. Here are some of their sketches...
The older students have almost finished their Palissy Ware. They will be joining the younger group next week by starting their tapestries. Here are some of their finished artworks...
I am happy to report that my allergies are now straightened out. I am feelin' good and am ready for next week! But first, here's this week's update...
K4: Before we start our new project next week on jewelry, I wanted to see what students knew about patterns. To begin our activity, I read students the book "A Pair of Socks" by Stuart J. Murphy (illustrated by Lois Ehlert). Students looked at each sock and we discussed if the patterns of the socks made a match. After we finished reading our book, I gave each student a handout I made. Since our project will be about jewelry, the handout I created displayed three pieces of string, two of which had beads. Students were asked to color their beads in such a way that it created a pattern. I will be reviewing patterns again with students next week and then we will be creating our own beads using model magic.
K5: When students were sketching their zebras last week, I asked all of them to choose two papers that will become the background of the art. We put both of those papers together when students arrived and spent the remainder of the class period creating the bodies of our zebras. They look at little more like little white horses right now, but we will be adding our rainbow stripes in a couple of weeks.
1st: Sadly, I was not able to see the 1st grade students this week. Good thing is, I will be seeing them twice this coming Tuesday!
2nd: His name is fun to say, his artworks are even more fun to look at...Hundertwasser! Students started learning about this artist/architect yesterday. After looking at many examples of both his paintings, stamps, flags and the buildings, students started sketching ideas for their own artworks. To start this project, students will be designing their own Hundertwasser inspired houses. I love how fun they are, how almost Dr. Seuss-like they are in their design. The kids had a blast making them!
3rd: Students in third grade also started a new project this week about the works of Wassily Kandinsky. There are a lot of Kandinsky inspired projects out there on the Internet, mainly those with circles. Now don't get me wrong, I think this is a great project for the little ones (K4-5) but for third graders...not so much. A little too easy, I think, just to paint some circles. So, instead of painting, we are going to be using found objects to create our circles. I have been saving marker caps, boxes, wrapping paper and several other materials since about Christmas for students to use for this project. Students also have the option of bringing in their own materials to use...of course with parent permission. To plan this week, I asked students to think about what colors they would like to use and what materials they believe will make an interesting artwork.
4th: I am also sad to report that I didn't get to see the 4th grade this week either. Next week, we will start planning out our photographs before taking them during the first week of April.
5th: Students finally got to start printmaking this week!!! Things are looking great so far! Can't wait to pull more prints on Tuesday :)
6th: Most students have finished their weather vanes now. Things have been a little interesting due to a number of absences because of events at school. Due to students missing classes, its pushing them further behind. I will be starting a new project with them next week, but those that are not finished with their weather vanes will be using half of the class period to work on finishing up. I am hoping that in a couple of weeks, I can post the finished artworks. They look so cool!
Art Club: Younger students were introduced to the works of Paul Wackers this week. His modern still life artworks display a number of objects often arranged on shelves. Really cool. If you haven't heard of him, check his work out. I love it! For our projects, students will be making a tapestry inspired by Wackers' works. As I explained to students, we will be making a self-portrait without using a picture of ourselves. We will instead use items/objects we enjoy to represent ourselves. Here are some of their sketches...
The older students have almost finished their Palissy Ware. They will be joining the younger group next week by starting their tapestries. Here are some of their finished artworks...
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Project Wrap Up, Project Wrap Up!
For the next couple of weeks, many students will be participating in, what I call, a "Finishing Day". On "Finishing Day" students have the task of putting the finishing touches on their artwork, as well as completing a self-critique. I find "Finishing Day" to be one of the more exciting days in the Art room. Students are not only able to see the results of weeks of hard work, but they are beginning ot look forward to a new project right around the corner!
There were only a couple of classes that participated in a "Finishing Day" this week. The majority of my classes will be starting to wrap things up next week. Anyway, here's what everyone was up to the past couple of days...
K4: Similar to what we did last week, a second group of students printed their gumballs using corks and tempera paint. Now that everyone has had a chance to create their gumballs, we are now ready to put our machines together.
K5: This week began the start of our new project...well kinda. This year, I have decided that before we start our final artwork that we will have a whole day dedicated to practice a new skill or idea. Since the beginning of the year, students have been learning about the Element of Art color. Starting this week, we are on to line! To practice for our upcoming project, I read the book "Extra Yarn" by Mac Barnett. The illustrations (by Jon Klassen) often depicted long lines of yarn. When I finished reading the story, I handed each student their own piece of rainbow yarn to practice creating lines on their table. Once they had created a line that they thought was cool or interesting, I asked them to draw it. Students had a ton of fun with this activity...so much in fact that I gave them the yarn to take home to make more awesome lines.
1st: I have said it before and I will say it every week...I am so proud of the work ethic that the 1st graders have been showing. Their project has been no small task. They have been working for 3 weeks now on coloring their American Realism inspired drawings and are still going along with no complaints! I am so proud that they are beginning to see the pay off of all their hard work. I still have 6 students that are working, but I am hoping that soon I can share their creations with everyone :)
2nd: After our fire drill day last week, students were ready and eager to paint. A couple of weeks ago, students had painted their first layer, making them ready this week to start adding details. They will be participating in their finishing day next week.
3rd: Almost every student except for around 4ish finished their Impressionistic landscapes. Much like the 2nd grade, they will be participating in their "Finishing Day" next week.
4th: 4th grade students participated in their "Finishing Day" this week. After putting the finishing touches on their artworks, students filled out their self-critique. Next week, students will be starting to learn about photography!
5th: Students have now completed their collagraphs! Next week we will be creating our relief from Styrofoam and then we will be ready to print!!!
6th: The 6th grade weather vanes are really beginning to take shape! Many students this week were able to apply copper acrylic paint to their designs. It is amazing what a little paint will do to really transform something!
Art Club: Over three quarters of the younger group finished their Palissy Ware this week. I will be taking pics of all their projects and hopefully will be posting them next weekend. On the other hand, the older group just began applying paint to their sculptures. Because the older group will still need several more sessions to finish their projects, the younger group will be moving on to a new project soon. The older students will eventually move to the same project after all of their Palissy Ware is completed.
In other news: First a couple of weeks ago, Kim of Art on my Hands suggested that the next time I have awesome sink art created by the paint that is washed out of my palettes to use paper to try to create a print. So, after once again washing out my palettes and dumping the muddy looking water in my sink, I was left with awesome sink art. I grabbed a piece of paper, placed it in the sink on top of the paint and here's what I got...
In some other Art room realted news that I wanted to share, you might have noticed that I use aluminum foil frequently. I use it not only for our projects, but also to protect the tables from paint or clay. When I arrived at my current school 4 years ago, I found a gigantic, industrial, cafeteria size roll of aluminum foil. Not wanting it to just sit around in my closet, I have used it regularly since then. On Friday, I was experimenting with a new discovery that I will discuss in detail next week. I grabbed the aluminum foil and pulled...turns out it was the last little piece. I thought that I surely could do without it. Nope. Not gonna happen. In fact, I found myself repeatedly heading for the closet to grab it during Art Club only to realize "Oh, yeah...its gone." Guess I know what I will be getting this weekend :)
There were only a couple of classes that participated in a "Finishing Day" this week. The majority of my classes will be starting to wrap things up next week. Anyway, here's what everyone was up to the past couple of days...
K4: Similar to what we did last week, a second group of students printed their gumballs using corks and tempera paint. Now that everyone has had a chance to create their gumballs, we are now ready to put our machines together.
K5: This week began the start of our new project...well kinda. This year, I have decided that before we start our final artwork that we will have a whole day dedicated to practice a new skill or idea. Since the beginning of the year, students have been learning about the Element of Art color. Starting this week, we are on to line! To practice for our upcoming project, I read the book "Extra Yarn" by Mac Barnett. The illustrations (by Jon Klassen) often depicted long lines of yarn. When I finished reading the story, I handed each student their own piece of rainbow yarn to practice creating lines on their table. Once they had created a line that they thought was cool or interesting, I asked them to draw it. Students had a ton of fun with this activity...so much in fact that I gave them the yarn to take home to make more awesome lines.
1st: I have said it before and I will say it every week...I am so proud of the work ethic that the 1st graders have been showing. Their project has been no small task. They have been working for 3 weeks now on coloring their American Realism inspired drawings and are still going along with no complaints! I am so proud that they are beginning to see the pay off of all their hard work. I still have 6 students that are working, but I am hoping that soon I can share their creations with everyone :)
2nd: After our fire drill day last week, students were ready and eager to paint. A couple of weeks ago, students had painted their first layer, making them ready this week to start adding details. They will be participating in their finishing day next week.
3rd: Almost every student except for around 4ish finished their Impressionistic landscapes. Much like the 2nd grade, they will be participating in their "Finishing Day" next week.
4th: 4th grade students participated in their "Finishing Day" this week. After putting the finishing touches on their artworks, students filled out their self-critique. Next week, students will be starting to learn about photography!
5th: Students have now completed their collagraphs! Next week we will be creating our relief from Styrofoam and then we will be ready to print!!!
6th: The 6th grade weather vanes are really beginning to take shape! Many students this week were able to apply copper acrylic paint to their designs. It is amazing what a little paint will do to really transform something!
Art Club: Over three quarters of the younger group finished their Palissy Ware this week. I will be taking pics of all their projects and hopefully will be posting them next weekend. On the other hand, the older group just began applying paint to their sculptures. Because the older group will still need several more sessions to finish their projects, the younger group will be moving on to a new project soon. The older students will eventually move to the same project after all of their Palissy Ware is completed.
In other news: First a couple of weeks ago, Kim of Art on my Hands suggested that the next time I have awesome sink art created by the paint that is washed out of my palettes to use paper to try to create a print. So, after once again washing out my palettes and dumping the muddy looking water in my sink, I was left with awesome sink art. I grabbed a piece of paper, placed it in the sink on top of the paint and here's what I got...
In some other Art room realted news that I wanted to share, you might have noticed that I use aluminum foil frequently. I use it not only for our projects, but also to protect the tables from paint or clay. When I arrived at my current school 4 years ago, I found a gigantic, industrial, cafeteria size roll of aluminum foil. Not wanting it to just sit around in my closet, I have used it regularly since then. On Friday, I was experimenting with a new discovery that I will discuss in detail next week. I grabbed the aluminum foil and pulled...turns out it was the last little piece. I thought that I surely could do without it. Nope. Not gonna happen. In fact, I found myself repeatedly heading for the closet to grab it during Art Club only to realize "Oh, yeah...its gone." Guess I know what I will be getting this weekend :)
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