Point of View, Collage, and Diaramas are just a few...

....of the things that we discussed this week.

2nd Grade discussed Point of View and why artist chose to illustrate the same idea, but in different ways.  We look at artwork about snow, flowers, people, and animals.  Art is not always just about the act of create, but the sharing of that creation with others.  It is important to make sure that the way which we dipict our idea helps us  share that idea with our views.  If we draw a growling tiger, it really does not show the playful side of tigers that we wanted to show our viewers.

I presented Kindergarten with a demonstration on Collage.  The demo went through the collage process step-by-step from idea to a finished picture.  I also show them several kinds of collages from non-representational to realistic.  This seemed to get them motivated to get them to try Collage.

Lastly, 1st Grade was introduced to Dioramas.  I love that Dioramas are 3D scenes that capture an idea.  I play a sort video that show them not only the steps to make a Diorama, but how different artists have made art in this manner.  To help the further, my 393 student, Ms. Holmes, made an example for them.  This way they could really see how they could use the space in the box.  Here is her example....

We mainly got our boxes and got the background started.  Next week they will be working on bringing their ideas to life!

As always here is a highlight of our busy week....

Week 5

This week all of my classes discussed pattern and how they can apply what they have learned about pattern in Math and incorporate that into their art.  I showed several artist examples, but what I really tried to emphasize was the student artwork over the last 4 weeks that included pattern.

This is a picture given to me by one of my 1st Graders.  He worked on this picture outside of class and gave it to me as a gift.  I just loved how he applied the pattern to the background and thought it would be a great starting point for a lesson.

This is by a 2nd grade.  He told me that he wasn't sure what he was making, but that he was just going with what came into his mind.

Finally, a Kindergartner finished this last week just in time for our lesson on pattern.  The first week she started on it she used a photograph of Zebras to help get her started.  The second week I was expecting to see the traditional black stripes, but fell in love with her interpretation that was filled with colors and patterns.

Patterns were not all we worked on this week.  Here is a sample of what has been keeping us soooo busy.

On the first Thursday of every month, all teachers meet with their grade level in our building.  For the specials teachers this means that our classes run a little differently.  For me and the Art Room this means, I have the 1st group of 2 classes for 25 minutes and then switch with PE and have another 2 classes.  This means I see 40 students at a time and that I see a total of 12 of my classes in the day.  It is kind of crazy, but we are figuring this out.  Usually it is really hard for 40 students to draw at our tables, so I decided to ditch the tables for Thursday and we drew on the floor.  I introduced Zentangles to my students.  Since Zentangles are all about pattern in fit in with this weeks concept and reinforced what they hard learned earlier about pattern.  I usually let my students talk as they work, but I instead played music and had them focus only on their artwork.  Most found it relaxing to listen to the music and draw.  These are just a few of the ones that finished most of the students have just a little more work to do.  Not bad for our first Zentangles!

Week 4

Week 4 is starting with a refresher on Caring for Our Art Supplies.  my students do really well with this, but it never hurts to remind them why it is so important.  For this refresher course I found a fun video about "Young Sloppy Brush" who is a paint brush that was not properly cared for.  (To see this video, click the link below)

Young Sloppy Brush

The video was made by the talented Dryden 5th Grade students of Mrs. Fuglestad's Class to educate us all on Paint Brush care.  "Young Sloppy Brush" now travels the country educating classes about his experiences.

The 2nd Graders are really catching on to the freedom of choice without getting overwhelmed by it.  Other classes seem to love choice, but have trouble finishing artwork before moving on to a new choice.  Here are some of the fantastic pictures by the 2nd Grade.

This first picture was the completed over a 3 week time period, as was the one below.  I have been really impressed with the determination of these students to finish it to their best effort no matter how long it takes them.

This collage was created by another 2nd grader.  I loved how the artist gave the Flamingo not only a name, but a personality as she talked about her artwork.

This young lady wrote a very nice story on the back of her paper to accompany the artwork.  Here is what she wrote:

Me and my Mom love to dance!  So we put on a show and they love it.  They threw roses at me and my Mom.  Then they threw more stuff.  Soon it was time to do another dance and they love it.  They threw more roses at us.  Soon it was time to go home and we danced even more and more.

Here are some other fantastic artwork by 2nd Graders!

This little girl made the picture to cheer her mom up.  She said "Mom doesn't usually wear dresses, but I put her in a dress anyway.  I want to make her feel happy."

1st Grade Artwork

 This picture was painted by a young man in 1st grade.  While some parts of the dragon's colors may not be completely filled in the lines give a texture to the skin and dynamic to the body of the the dragon that brings him to life on the paper.

Kindergarten Artwork

When asked about the Dinosaur in the picture, the artist stated that "it's a dinosaur cloud."  I know that as children we all see shapes in the clouds so it was really neat to me to see this in a child's artwork.