Week 8

1st Grade - All first graders are starting an "artist" week.  I am adding tempera paint to the painting center.  Tempera is a thick, creamy paint that is much different that watercolor paint.  We also have the choice to use oil pastel this week since we have used these once this year already. 

2nd Grade - Second grade is starting to paint their self-portraits.  We are doing it in a very interesting way with our fingerprints.  Chuck Close made a portrait where he used only his fingerprints to creat the picture.  An example of his work is below.

3rd and 4th Grade - This week all of South Elementary is starting their Red Ribbon Week project.  Each year the students make a "Scare Away Drugs" mask.  We will be using a paper plate and then anything the students bring from home (yarn, string, buttons, etc).  On October 29th the masks will be judged by the teachers at South.  The categories for this year's contest is Most Creative, Best AR Book Character, Nicest Looking, and Funniest.  Good Luck!  Below are some examples of the students' first ideas!

Week 7

1st Grade - We finished up our Keith Haring characters by adding oil pastel and then displayed them all over the school.  We learned that when your art is out where everyone can see it, it is called public art.  The first graders had a lot of fun with this one.

2nd Grade - We started learning about an artist names Chuck Close.  Chuck Close loves painting and drawing portrait.  A portrait is a picture of a person.  We started drawing pictures of ourselves while looking in a mirror.  This is a self-portrait.  Next week we'll start painting them!

3rd and 4th Grades - After having several "Apprentice"  weeks of studying Pablo Picasso and T.C. Steele, all of my classes at South started their first "Artist" week which means they choose what they want to make and how they will create it.  This is a great time for everyone.  Many of my students are bursting at the seams by this time to do something of their own.  It is very exciting for me to watch them go.  This week we had a drawing center and watercolor painting center open.  Many students did both of these!

Week 6

1st and 2nd graders are studying the artist Keith Haring.  We remember his name by rubbing our hair and then acting like we ring a bell; hair-ring.  Keith Haring was a famous artist who made lots of public art.  We talked about public art and how lots of people see it.  Mr. Haring made his art down in the New York City subway stations.  After studying Keith Haring, 2nd graders went outside to make contour drawings of each other's bodies.  We did this at a place around the school where lots of people go, so we made public art.  1st graders each picked a colored piece of large construction paper and drew people on them.  After drawing the bodies we cut them out.  Next week we will be using oil pastel to create designs on our cutout body.  Down below is a picture of Keith Haring creating his artwork in a New York City subway station.
 

Artists of the Month

Each month I pick eight artists from North and South Elementary Schools to be the Artists of the Month.  These students worked very hard and came up with creative artworks!  Congratulations!

Week 5

My 3rd and 4th grade classes did some 'en plein air' painting this week.  'En plein air' is a french saying meaning 'in the open air' which, of course means we went outside to paint!  In 3rd grade we studied the artist Thomas Moran.  He was a landscape artist and explorer who painted the western United States before many people had seen it.  Moran was a big part of making Yellowstone our first National Park!  4th graders studied the artist T.C. Steele.  T.C. Steele was an Indiana artist who painted 'en plein air.'  Instead of going to New York City or Paris, Steele enjoyed painting right here in Indiana!  After looking at pictures from these artists, we headed outside to create our own 'en plein air' painting.  We've had a beautiful week to be outside painting.

1st and 2nd graders had their first "Artist" day.  An "Artist" day is where the students are the master artists.  Instead of studying a master artist like Henri Matisse, Paul Klee, Michelangelo, or Pablo Picasso, the students must come up with their own ideas and how they will create their masterpiece.  Many students paint and draw different things.  They draw from a books, animal figurines, real life, or just something that they think of in their imagination!  The students love these days because they have more decision-making power.

Week 4

1st Grade - We are studying the artist Helen Frankenthaler and her soak stain painting technique.  After looking at several of her artworks, I demonstrate how watercolor paint.  We learn a three step process: go for a swim (with your brush), drag and dry, and pet the paint.  Afterwards we are ready to go!  This is a very exciting project because we get to do something we never normally do and that is to paint on the table.  Yes, we paint right on the table.  When we finish our painting, we take a piece of watercolor paper and push down on top of the painting. All those beautiful colors 'soak' into the paper and 'stain' it.  The kids were really creavitive with the whole process and really enjoyed being surprised by the results.

2nd Grade - All 2nd graders are finishing up their Paul Klee pictures.  This week we are watercolor painting the pictures that we created with crayon last week.  The watercolor paint goes right on top of the crayon, but doesn't cover it up.   The results are pretty magical.

3rd Grade - We are finishing our study of Michelangelo and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  Last week students went underneath their desk and paintings on the 'ceilings' of their tables to get a feeling of how Michelangelo might have felt.  This week we are back on top of the tables and just finishing things up. Next week we'll be starting a new project.

4th Grade - Our Pablo Picasso projects are wrapping up.  This week we are cutting out all of our eyes, noses, ears, etc. and glueing them onto a new sheet of paper.  After that we draw and color in a new face.  The results are fantastic.