Lines Lines Lines

Each of the lessons we do in the art room is based on the Elements of Art and are designed to start off simple and get more complex over time. The Kindergarten and First Grade students started off the year learning about all of the different lines that artists use to make art. We read the book Lines That Wiggle written by Candace Whitman, then we made a big list of all the lines from the story and looked for them around the classroom and the school. Next we explored making lines using different materials at centers; crayons, buttons, rocks, light boxes, paint and more!

Chihuly Sea forms

The first and second graders learned about the life and work of glass artist, Chihuly. Their discussion focused on his sea forms and use of  organic shapes.

Students watched this video promoting the exhibition Through The Looking Glass.  

After practicing drawing organic shapes the students worked collaboratively to make sea forms for our own art room instillation. 

Using special defusing paper students drew organic shapes and then colored them in with water based markers. 

Then they cut out their shapes...

coated them in a paper mache paste...

and then shaped them in a styrofoam bowl.

Once the forms were all dry they were installed in one of the art room's large windows.

First Grade Matisse

The first grade students have been learning about the artist Henri Matisse. He was born on December 31, 1869 and lived to be 85 years old. He grew up in northern France and as an adult he lived in Paris and was a lawyer. Until one day he became very ill with appendicitis and had to have surgery. When he was recovering in the hospital his mother bought him a paint set and he fell in love with making art! He is most famous for working with very very bright colors and was often referred to as a "Wild Beast". As he became older he started to "draw with scissors" making colorful collages using lots of organic shapes inspired by jazz music.

This video of Matisse was found here. 

After viewing this video and discussing the process Matisse was using to make his collages the students worked independently to cut out many organic shapes. They then worked together to make a large mural for the hallway with all three first grade classes and then they worked on their own individual ones. 

                            

Blue Dog

Throughout all of the grade levels one things that I focus on teaching again and again is teaching students to draw using basic shapes that they know and are familiar with. For our most recent project in first and second grade we looked at the artist George Rodrigue and his paintings of Blue Dog as inspiration.

We started off by reading Why Is Blue Dog Blue? by George Rodrigue and Bruce Goldstone, students looked at the illustrations and identified all the basic shapes that they knew and could use to help them draw their own blue dog such as oval, circle, rectangle and triangle. 

After completing several planning sketches students moved onto larger final drafts; drawing blue dog then adding in a background from their imagination. Lastly students painted their blue dog. 

Blue Dog at a Museum 

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. 

Exploring Color

The art room has transformed into a color mixing extravaganza! For the next month the first grade will be exploring color mixing at different centers; all of which encourage the students to work with the primary colors to create new colors. Throughout this process students will make several mini- projects and will be creating painted paper to use for several future collage projects. In addition to their exploration we will be reading books about colors and listening to songs about color! Please be sure to ask them about their observations.

Center 1

Here students work with light boxes and translucent color tiles to create new colors. 

Center 2

At this center students are working with tissue paper and glue to create collages that have overlapping red, yellow and blue shapes. They are trying to create new colors and observing the different combinations.

Center 3 

At this center,students work with ink pads and pencil erasers to stamp and mix colors. 

Center 4

 At this center students from each class will work with two primary colors to make a secondary color and paint paper that we will be using for collages in the near future.

Center 5

At this center students are working with iPads and play-dough made from different primary colors to demonstrate color mixing. 

As I mentioned above we are also looking at a number of books about color including Mouse Paint, Mix It Up, Monsters Love Colors, The mixed up Chameleon, White Rabbit's Color Book,  Color Dance and many more! 

We have also been enjoying this song as we work