Experimenting with Color

Since this week is right before our Winter Holiday break, I didn't get the chance to see all of the classes this week. I decideded not to start a new project that would have to wait until after the holidays to be worked on again. Instead, 1st and 2nd grade artists took this opportunity to experiment with color. They were given primary colored tempera paint and told to mix away. They recorded their color mixing on a sheet of paper and used their imagination to name the colors that they came up with. Not only did they love this chance to "play with paint" but came up with some oh so creative color names as well! Check these out...

3rd Grade Calaveras

3rd Grade Artists are finally finishing their Dia De Los Muertos Calaveras! Whew! These were a long time coming and totally worth it! They created forms with cardboard tubes and newspaper. Then they used paper mache to cover their form to make a solid body. When finished with that, they painted them white and added the bones with sharpie. To finish up, 3rd grade artists used paper folding/cutting techniques to create paper collage accessories for their calaveras. Some artists chose to have their calavera represent someone that they have loved and lost, while some chose to have their calaveras represent themselves. Enjoy!

2nd Grade Chinese Landscapes

2nd Grade Artists have been learning about China. In a previous post, there were pictures of students practicing painting hills showing atmospheric perspective, bamboo stalks, and trees. These pictures show the finished product using all of the skills that 2nd grade artists learned and practiced earlier in the unit. 2nd grade kiddos created Chinese landscapes by using chalk pastels for the mountains. They first made mountain stencils and then brushed the chalk dust off of their stencils to create the shape of the mountains. They made sure to make the farther ones lighter and the closer ones darker showing atmospheric perspective. Then they added bamboo and trees using Chinese painting techniques with bamboo brushes and Chinese inks. They then added a bit of color with the inks. To finish the pieces, they signed their work with a fingerprint in red, the Chinese lucky color. These are really cool!

1st Grade goes Matisse

1st Grade artists learned all about the artist Henri Matisse. He was known for his bold use of color and simplified shapes. They studied his paper collages and used his work as inspiration for their own paper collages. 1st grade artists first spent time learning the difference between geometric and organic shapes. Then they started on their artworks. They started by filling the background of their pieces with large geometric shapes that were overlapping. Then they added organic shapes. They layered the organic shapes, overlapping to create visual interest. Many 1st grade artists discovered how to create pieces that had some shapes that were 3 dimensional. These are great! See the featured artists tab to learn more about Henri Matisse.

Clear Falls Art Buddies for 1st and 3rd Grade Artists

Yay! 1st and 3rd Grade artist have Clear Falls Art Buddies! Clear Falls Art Studentshave paired up with our Mossman Artists and are sharing artworks through a pen pal, or should I say, paint pal relationship. Our Falls buddies have initiated contact by creating a card with a piece of Op art on the front, a short letter of intruduction inside, and a small clip gift inside. Wow! They are really cool! Our 1st and 3rd grade artists are so excited! They can't wait to respond...which we will do in the art room after the holiday break. I asolutely love that we are part of the Education Village where collaboration like this is possible!
Here is an example of the great cards that our Falls buddies sent us!

2nd Grade Artists Visit China

2nd Grade Artists are currently out of the country...in China! China is our 2nd stop on our trip to discover art around the world this year. They have explored China through artificts and images. They are learning how to create are like the Chinese, using the same kind of rice paper, bamboo brushes, and inks. 2nd Grade Artists are using what they learned to create a landscape piece with atmospheric perspective. That is when things that are farther away appear lighter in color and things that are closer appear darker in color. They have also experimented painting trees, which are commonly included in Chinese landscape paintings. I can't wait to see how the final pieces turn out! Check out what we've been exploring so far...

Warm and Cool Quilts by Kinder

Kinder Artists explored color and shape with these warm and cool quilts. They were introduced to geometric shapes and some basic color theory. Kiddos first created the background for their quilts by using warm or cool tissue paper and transferring the color onto their paper using water. Then they drew shapes of all sizes and colored them in using the group of colors they chose for their tissue paper painting.

To finish these masterpieces, Kinder kiddos cut their shape papers into strips and arranged them onto their background. They then used paper collage to add overlapping quilt squares in either warm or cool colors. These quilts turned out beautifully! When displayed in the hallway, they look like one giant quilt! Check them out...