Kindergarten students have been gaining some foundation experience with numerous art materials. They have used a variety of crayons, markers and colored pencils in multiple two dimensional artworks. Our young artists have also been introduced to some Color Theory by discovering that red and yellow will create orange.
The most exciting news for our kindergarteners, and all parents, is that they received their sketchbooks! Periodically throughout the year we will work on small drawing assignments to document the present (self portrait, members of your family, your teacher, a recent memory, etc.). These mini assignments will continue until the end of fifth grade, at which point the sketchbooks will be sent home (and cherished!).
First Graders started their year with an inspiring book called Ish! by Peter H. Reynolds, a story of a young artist discovering that Art cannot be summed up by one aesthetic or one right answer. Our first grade students also completed a tempera painting based on simple shapes. This colorful project enabled the students to practice making controlled brushstrokes, and introduced them to the concept of craftsmanship and “touch up.”
More recently, they have begun making their clay pinch pots. These little treasures will be coming home soon!
Second Graders began with a fall collage using construction paper and glue sticks. Next, they created a watercolor painting of a pumpkin patch using a few different watercolor techniques: wet on dry, wet on wet and blotting.
To complement their study of Native American cultures, students began a basic color block yarn weaving, and the upcoming project will be clay seed pots.
Third Graders have had a two lessons in portraiture. They learned that when drawing the human head it is important to place the eyes halfway between the top of the head and the bottom of the chin. Many beginning artists (adults included) mistakenly place the eyes higher on the forehead. Also, rather than putting a small bit of manicured lawn on the top of the head, students learned to draw the hair as a shape.
Fourth Graders became young designers while learning to use a compass to create artworks that exhibit radial symmetry. They then created circular designs freehand onto thin styrofoam which was then printed on colored paper using multicolored inks.
One of the most exciting fourth grade projects has just begun. Students are using clay to create unique coil pots. Students are asked to try to create a coil pot that is not just one coil upon the next, upon the next. I ask them to think about texturing some coils. They should also consider incorporating some vertical coils or spiraled coils or small slabs of clay into the wall of the pot.
After the pots are fired, students will have a few surface design options to complete their pot.
Fifth Graders spent the beginning of the year looking into a mirror to study proportion in portraiture. We started with a pre-instruction self portrait in their sketchbook. We then began another self portrait over the period of four classes noting and drawing proper placement of facial features (always amusing to watch elementary students confronted with a mirror).
Recently, they have begun a printmaking unit making winter cards that can be personalized and mailed.
After the Winter Break, we will begin designing our squares for the annual Square One Art fundraiser! This project is always a big hit with our young artists while also generating funds for our PTO.
