Hearts! We love February! These were made by Grade 1 artists. They formed pinch bowls out of earth clay, poked in patterns with a toothpick. Once they were fired, we colored them with crayon and liquid watercolors. 

Me in My Snow Clothes

by Grade 1. These were drawn in waterproof black marker, after a lesson in drawing the human body, all bundled up in snow gear. They painted them with tempera paint, with a focus on using small amounts of paint at a time and blending their own colors. 

                                      

Arts from Antiquity! 3rd graders studied artifacts from Ancient Egypt, then imagined themselves as a member of Egyptian society, 4000 - 5000 years ago. They colored the drawings with crayon, crackled the picture by scrunching it into a ball, then dipped it into a bath of black watercolor to make it look aged. They touched it up with a bit of precious gold paint for luster.

Outdoor Winter fun: Grade 2 made torn paper collages. They studied how to show the parts of the human figure in action using simple rectangles for the torso, arms, and legs. They were asked to include at least 3 people playing in the snow.

Grade 4 studied the use of scale in art, first by viewing and discussing many works of interest in a slideshow: 

Giant Clothespin by Claes Oldenburg 

Their task was to draw an insect using observation skills from a photo, making it look as realistic as possible. Then draw the insect 2 more times so our eyes will pick up on the rhythm of a repeated image. The insect could go off the page partially for a more interesting composition. Finally, fill in some kind of background that reverses the scale of the insects, making them look large and the large elements of the picture appear small. The results were some very imaginative scenes, which they narrated to their classmates. 

Grade 5 learned about color theory and practiced painting and mixing technique by making their own color wheels, including tints and shades. The results were some lovely looking abstract paintings. 

First grade artists viewed and discussed the work of self-taught French artist Henri Rousseau (1844 - 1910). We focused on making a picture with many layers and tried to make it as full as a jungle in the Rousseau style of 'Magical Realism.'

Rousseau created his jungle paintings in France, using his imagination and studies gathered from books, as well as museum and conservatory visits.