Wayne Thiebaud Ice Cream

The Third Graders have been learning about the artist, Wayne Thiebaud, most famous for his paintings of cakes, pies, ice creams and other treats.  He is sometimes affiliated with the pop art movement. Students looked at many of his paintings and made observations about the subject of his paintings, the colors he used and the textures of his paints.

They are currently working on a papier-mâché ice cream cone sculpture inspired by his paintings. First, the students built an armature out of newspaper, oak tag and masking tape. Next, they worked with paste and news paper to build on top of their armature, making the scoops of ice cream rounded and smooth. When they are finished constructing, they will work with paint to complete their sculpture.

When Wayne Thiebaud was asked about what he wants people to see when they look at his pictures in a CBS Sunday Morning interview, he said, "I'd like for them to laugh a little. If we don't have a sense of humor, we lack a sense of perspective." I think it is safe to say that the art room has been filled with laughter and fun as we have been making these sculptures. 

1st Grade Paul Cézanne Still Life

We're already getting back into the swing of things here in the art room. This week the first grade classes have started a new project inspired by the art of Cézanne and his style of breaking everything down into basic shapes. This is a strategy that students will use again and again in drawing. When they find the basic shapes, they can fit them together to make more complicated drawings. 

After reading a book about Cézanne and looking at some of his paintings the students look at and identify shapes in a still life that has been set up for them. I use the document camera to project the display so that all students can see it. Next they begin to draw thinking about the shapes and sizes.  

Students will do several planning sketches and then will either turn them into a final drawing or a cut paper collage.