If you’ve visited the cafeteria this past week you will notice the walls are covered with beautiful paintings in the style of Wang Yani like sneaky monkeys (gr 1) , awakened lions (gr 2) , schools of fish and beautify bamboo trees (gr 5). After watching a video of her, students used sumi brushes with simple brush strokes to create their paintings. The beautiful paintings have been a big hit! In k2 we are working on finishing up our painted panda bears. The children opted to add bamboo trees to the background and will be able to display them soon.
In grade 3 the geodesic domes are mostly completed with 3 groups finishing this week. We used more masking tape than we ever thought possible! What fun! In grade 5 we got a chance to finger paint with the iPads. Students used Doodle Buddy and learned how to create color gradients. We printed the paintings wallet sized and have displayed them in the hallway. Grade 6 has been creating mandalas and they are absolutely beautiful. I am very impressed by their concentration and design skills. January finds the art room in full mode and the students working on architecture projects. In grade 1, we used the painting “This is Harlem” by Jacob Lawrence to inspire paper collages of our own towns. To add an interesting finish to the art, students created roadways around the border of the picture using toy cars driven through paint and then glued on their paper cars. Kindergarteners are making blue prints with cardboard, dipped in paint and stamped on blue paper. They are using real architecture plans (donated by a local architectural lawyer) as tablecloths underneath the paintings and inspiration for their plans. In the next class we’ll be using construction crayons to add details and color. Student have been talking about drawbridges, moats, crenels and merlons while drawing castles in grade 2. They’ve even been doing a little 3 d drawing! In grade 4 we’re drawing minarets, onion domes and reflecting pools as part of learning about Islamic architecture and looking at the Taj Mahal. Students have learned how to use one of our 2 art room light tables to create a reflection in the pool and are using watercolor paints to create a colorful background around the white marble structure. In grade 3 students are building geodesic domes. Both third grade sections have completed rolling over 300 paper tubes each which they will be using to construct a structure large enough for the class to gather in! One point perspective has fifth graders using the vanishing point and drawing amazing cityscapes. They have been using T-squares and using parallel, orthogonal and perpendicular lines to create the illusion of space. Also using one point perspective, grade 6 students are designing their dream bedrooms at the same time they are finishing up their IPad animations. After reviewing the in-progress animations students thoughtfully suggested improvements and we’ve been adding more sound effects. They can’t wait to share the finished film.
The weather forecast in the Art Room this week has been Snow, Snow, and Snow! Thankfully it has not been snowing outside the school yet, but in the classroom we are in the mood. Kindergarten used rectangles, squares and triangles to plan out their neighborhood street, making sure to add lots of details like windows, chimneys and doors to their picture with construction paper crayons. Using Q-tips and white paint they whipped up a giant snowstorm to finish their picture being careful to think about where the snow would land and create snow piles and drifts. Grade 1 started their paintings by drawing a tree branch and then using an oval, circle and triangle they proceeded to paint their amazing cardinals. After the red paint dried they finished their cardinals by painting a beak, eyes and feet and then added a quiet snow storm all over their pictures. In grade 2 students created giant snowmen using an “ant’s eye perspective”. They filled in the background in watercolor paint and then added the tempera paint snow. Grade 3 has just begun an oil crayon “painting” of an outdoor ice skating rink. Inspired by Van Gogh’s The Starry Night they are creating a sky filled with stars and spirals. As they continue, they will be adding reflections on the ice along with a Christmas tree lighting the scene.
In grade 4 and 5 we are weaving! One of our favorite things to do. Students in grade 4 have warped their cardboard looms and will be weaving a bag. In grade 5 students created belt looms from straws and are flying through the weaving! They love thick and colorful yarn, so if you have some hanging around that you don’t need, please think of donating it to our pile. Grade 6 is moving right along on their animations. They have learned how to use IMotion, Green Screen and Camera-Lucida. We have some children who have completed their animation with an intro, a cut paper animation with added sound and voice over while other students are still filming, or cutting paper for the animation. I look forward to combining all the finished animation into a single movie for the students to share as soon as they finish. Please check out Artsonia.com to see all our student’s completed art work! I can’t say thank you enough for all the wonderful generosity toward the art room! First a big thank you to the South Boston Community Development Foundation. Their grant is funding animation in the art room and has allowed us to purchase 10 IPad minis and related supplies. Sixth grade is working diligently on producing an animation about South Boston and we can’t wait to share the finished film with you. We also have been blessed with 3 additional angels who have generously donated supplies and a gift card. These donations will allow a wider variety of art experiences and activities! October has been filled with painting, drawing, collage, monoprinting and sculpture. Kindergarten was very busy drawing skeletons one week, mixing orange paint for their goofy pumpkins and creating collages like Henri Matisse. Grade 1 did a great impersonation of a scared cats before painting them and their monster close-ups are amazing. In grade 2 students drew giant leaves and used watercolor paints to bring them to life. They also learned how to create mono-prints using cardboard and crayons. Third grade learned about symbolism while looking at “Ladder for Booker T. Washington “by Martin Puryear and then created family portraits using flowers to symbolize the members of their family. Grade 4 continued their landscape art with tree drawings. They have been carefully using horizon lines, texture and diminishing size perspective in their creation. Grade 5 are finishing up their haunted house tunnel pictures before beginning a unit on weaving. Art Club just learned how to enlarge drawings using grids and have made wonderful animal portrait close-ups. They have also created sculptures from crayons and painted plaster masks. I don’t know who is having more fun, them or me! Please remember to visit Artsonia.com and leave a comment for your favorite artist. We are exhibiting more than 600 new artworks since the start of school. Here is a link to our classroom YouTube page where you can see our animations in progress. We, (yes, me too) have been learning how to use Imotion and Green Screen apps. First, we used our classroom manikins and created a short animation in front of a green screen. Next we combined the animation with a background that we created and photographed.
Now that we are becoming very proficient in the apps we are continuing with cut paper animation and will be updating the site with new videos as they are completed. We have been exploring line in our art classes these past few weeks. In grade 6 students created op art designs and learned how to shade with color. K2 students discovered monsters on their paper by just adding curvy and zigzag lines. Landscapes in grade 4 used foreground, middle ground and background with a collection of different lines in beautiful watercolors. Stacks of pumpkins were the magical result of touching lines in grade 2 and inspired beautiful fall creations. In grade 3 marker lines created more wonderful landscapes. View finders aided first graders in emphasizing their wiggly line pictures with color. In g rade 5 students use their observational skills to draw their own shoe and transform it with backgrounds.
Art club has begun and the artists used canvases and easels with acrylic paint this week making awesome name signs. Students at South Boston Catholic Academy, in preschool through grade 6, collaborated on a giant portrait of Pope Francis as their first art project of the year in honor of his U.S. visit. The 7 by 8 foot portrait, inspired by artist Chuck Close, is made up of 238 individual 5 inch colorful squares created with oil crayons. In preschool and k1, led by their teacher, students all added their individual touch to a single square while the rest of the students in school completed individual squares in art class. The squares were then carefully assembled into the portrait which is being proudly displayed in the school lobby. Prints of this beautiful artwork are available for purchase on-line at Artsonia.com!
Welcome to the art room blog where I look forward to sharing this year's projects with you. I beg your patience as I get used to the format but in the meantime please feel free to visit the children's past work at Artsonia. Additional links:
Belt Weaving Instructions Wish List at Blick.com These are supplies we would love to have! Art Room Aid Fund a new art project for September |
Visit our Art Gallery!
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Mrs. Putnam
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