Texture

Second graders have been learning about texture in art.  Students learned the two kinds of texture; visual texture, and actual texture (tactile texture.) We practiced finding texture around the art room.

 the walls, erasers, shoes

 Step stool

We also read the book "Where the Wild Things Are," and learned about different kinds of visual texture and practiced making textures on a monster creation of our own. Each monster had to have geometric shaped eyes, organic shaped mouth, and an organic shaped body.

 After drawing monsters, textures and details; students outlined with sharpie, then painted with primary colors and even practiced mixing secondary colors with a new medium, watercolor

 Students cut their monsters and prepared to make an abstract background.  To learn about abstract art, we studied the artist Kandinsky and his use of organic and geometric shapes.

 Students cut organic shapes they had previously painted with secondary colors to use as the background for this monster.

 Here are a few of the in-progress examples

first and second grade

Second graders became interior designers last week, mapping out their bedrooms from an overhead perspective.  Students created a key and symbols to stand for each piece of furniture, toys, door, or window.

They also did a watercolor emulation of Vincent VanGogh's  "vase with 12 sunflowers" painting

They first drew with pencil, followed by tracing over the lines with a crayon, the crayon serves as a wax resist for the watercolor, it helps paint stay in the lines.

Finished work will have the table and background painted.

 First grade was eager to bring some spring flowers and color to our snowy community, they folded and cut out petals, stems, and leaves to make a paper flower

Finished work will have a pointillism butterfly flying over the flowers.

Warm/Cool Hands

Second grade learned about warm and cool colors.  We also learned about patterns. 

Students first placed their hand on the paper and traced around their fingers and hand.

They then chose a pattern to make: circle, triangle, square, diamond, heart, and repeated that pattern bigger and bigger all the way to the corners of the page.

 Students used warm colors (Red, Yellow, Orange) inside their hands and cool colors (Blue, Purple, Green) outside their hands.

Finished product has cool colors outside the hand and warm colors inside the hand

Clay finishing touches

Second Grade is working on painting their clay food.  We looked at the work of Claes Oldenburg and his clay food, then painted our foods in local color (The actual color of the food)

Fruit bowl

Doughnut - Strawberry

First grade also learned about mixing colors, they mixed primary colors and were able to paint their clay pinch pots

Clay Clay Clay

It has been a big couple of weeks with clay as students are finishing clay coil pots in 5th grade and starting pinch pots in 1st grade. Here are some finished 5th grade coil pots.

and first grade pinch pots!

Second grade has also been working on replicating the work of Claes Oldenburg, our December artist of the month.  Claes is best known here in Minnesota as the artist of the Spoonbridge and Cherry

 Bowl of cherries

 Fruit Bowl

Bacon and eggs, waffle (Bottom right), Pie (Top left)