First Grade Color Wheels

First Graders know their colors. In kindergarten they learned many songs about  groups of colors. We read a book in class this week about color mixing and a cute rabbit that keeps jumping in the pots of paint colors and changing his fur color. Then I gave students a little plate with dollops of primary colors: Red, Yellow, Blue.
Using my document camera, so I could demonstrate each step on the projector screen, I helped the m through their color mixing.  This is a favorite project for me. The students emit lots of "oohs and
ahs" as new colors magically appear from their mixings. Come back to see what we create from our color wheels....we are not done yet!!!!!

Second Grade Elmer the Elephant

One year at the SES Book Fair, I purchased a tote bag full of Elmer stories.  I just love the bright colors on Elmer and funky jungle scenes in the illustrations.  As we have read through these in second grade, we are making art from this fun Literature.  I often use literature as a launching point for art. The characters are fun, the illustrations are inspiring, and the read-aloud time is so  valuable. We drew Elmer together and drew a grid of horizontal and vertical lines on him. Then using oil pastels, children drew mini patterns in each square. There are a lot of squares!!!!!! I told the kids they could repeat a pattern if they moved it far from the original pattern, and used a different color. We drew black oil pastel over the lines AFTER all of the patterns were created, so as not to smear back while we were still "patterning".  Come back to see the next steps!

Third Grade Picasso Self Portraits

Third Grade learned about the amazing, genius artist Pablo Picasso. They studied his Blue Period, Rose Period, Cubism and Portraits.  The portraits were something new for artists of his time. He attempted to show a profile as well as a frontal view simultaneously.  This fascinated students but freaked them out when they tried the technique on their own self portrait! They did incredibly well!
Then they learned about Complementary Colors. These are pairs of colors that lay opposite on the color wheel: Blue and Orange,  Purple and Yellow,  Red and Green.  When mixed these pairs cancel each other out and produce a gray.  When side by side,  they play off each other and do what I call "zing!" Many sports teams use complements for their uniform  colors so they are super visible on the field. Of course our Broncos have the orange and blue!  Kids were required to paint each section of their portrait using a pair of complements: The hair, the face, the shirt.  The final step involved  decorating the background with a contrast of black and white patterns of lines and shapes.

Fifth Grade Sumi-e Art

Fifth graders learned about the ancient East Asian art of Sumi-e brush work. They also learned about the Giant Panda. I showed them my 4 Treasures kit given to me from a  relative who traveled to the far east.  I am fortunate to have extra funds from my Art to Remember Fund Raiser to buy the Sumi-e ink and bamboo brushes.  This has been a very challenging art project. Traditional Sumi-e art uses one brush stroke to create the essence of the figure being painted. The painting is considered a poem. Students have struggled not to re-paint things and to live with the imperfections.

Fourth Digital Self Portraits

Fourth graders wrote 8 adjectives that described their personality. Then they painted a background paper with water colors to show lights and darks, incorporating the art element of value.
After adding their digital portrait, they drew lines above their heads to show movement,  and decorated these. They also had to use lettering as ART to write their adjectives in-between their lines.
Come back to view the final embellishment.

                                                               

                    

Kinder Shape Monsters

Kinder spent this week making hair, arms legs and other details to their Primary Colored Shape Monsters. The monsters are happy characters like their creators!

First Grade birds

First Graders finished their birds. There were so many steps involved in this fun project. After reading about lines, they painted over crayon lines. Then they read about birds and painted a bird. The bird was printed with every day objects, like a spool, a fork, and small bottle. The final step was to glue the cut out bird onto the back ground. Real feathers gave it added texture.

3rd Grade Veteran's Day Artworks

We have created Veteran's Day Chalk Artworks for the November choir concert with Mr. D.  We discussed the meaning of this day for our freedom and military. We chose 2 American symbols, the eagle and the flag. Students created this picture in one class period.

 

Fun Faces in Art

I take a lot of photos in Art. Sometimes I get requests. Here a re a few cuties. When students finish artwork in Second Grade, they may choose what art to do, or art games, in the Free Draw Area.

Showing off a play dough sculpture
during free draw time.

3 kiddos using shapes to create a figure with a
Tangram Art Game during
Free Draw Time.

Another play dough creation during Free Draw Time.
A Second Grader Showing her Scream and
her Scream!

Fourth Grade Georgia O'Keefe Skulls

Fourth graders are finally finishing up their Georgia O'Keefe skulls  by painting wet on wet watercolor over their Zentangles.