3rd and 4th grade will be starting a drawing lesson on solid shapes this week.  A solid shape is a three dimensional shape instead of flat.  This is a math concept that they all have worked on.  We will be working on drawing 3D shapes and practicing shading. 

1st and 2nd grades are studying Marc Chagall and his imaginative paintings.  After looking at his famous picture I and the Village, we created our own stories.  After drawing, I let the students have the choice of what kind of art tool they would like to use for their pictures; markers, crayons, colored pencils, watercolor paints, or oil pastels.  We should be finishing these up this week.

I and the Village by Marc Chagall



In 3rd and 4th grade we have been studying the artist George Seurat and creating pointilism paintings.  George Seurat created 'pointilism' by making millions of dots of paint on his canvas.  He thought by letting the eye of the viewer mix the dots instead of his brush it would make a more vibrant painting.  Here is his famous painting Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Grande Jette. 




Students working on their pointilism painting with tempera paint and q-tips. 

1st and 2nd graders worked on sumi-e paintings.  Sumi-e in Chinese means 'ink'.  Sumi-e paintings are usually made with ink and a bamboo brush.  Sumi-e artists hold the brush at the top instead of the bottom so they can make flowing lines.  Sumi-e painting is very cool to watch.  Check some videos out on YouTube!

The New Year Has Begun!

We have started the new year with some new projects. 

1st and 2nd grades are studying sumi-e painting.  Sumi-e painting is an asian art where the artists take black ink and a bamboo brush to create eloquent drawings.  After watching a short video about sumi-e painting and looking at different sumi-e paintings, the students created their own sumi-e paintings.

3rd and 4th grades are studying pointilism and the artist George Seurat.  George Seurat created his paintings by using thousands of small dots or 'points' of bright color.  Instead of the artist mixing all of the colors together, pointilism make the person looking at the art use their eye to mix the colors.  It's a very cool kind of art.