Grades 3, 4 & 5: Op Art

We enjoyed exploring Op Art as our first project this school year in these three classic projects. We viewed the work of Victor Vasserly (the 'Father' of the Op Art movement) and the mesmerizing designs by Bridget Riley. 

The kids were really into it and we could have viewed images on the Epson for much longer. 

Speaking of the Epson. This past summer, the art room changed drastically. The wall space that housed the SmartBoard that I have been fortunate to have for all these years was finally replaced, at my request a couple years ago, with an Epson projector and new dry erase board. The span of white board space now spans over 15 feet. The once cumbersome SmartBoard and wasteful wall space that it took up is now a clean and fantastic wall of instructional space that we use every single class period of every single day. We have always utilized the carpet space and SmartBoard but not to this degree. It's fantastic. Everything looks brighter.

Back to the Op Art. So we are viewing these incredible illusions and the kids could feel immediately what I was saying about Op artists trying to irritate their viewers eyes. Some of the illusions of the high contrast designs gave us headaches! In all of them we saw lines and patterns used to show movement and dimension. 

On the left of the white board I keep samples related to grade 3,4,5 projects and to the right are grades k,1,2. Closer to the door I have another board that has all of our current projects hanging along with objectives(not viewable in this picture taken in Sept, will post in the future). The kids see what Op art projects are planned for the other grades and ask if they can try the other illusions. 

So basically, 4th and 5th graders chose between the converging cones and the checkered spheres and grade 3 did hands and a few requested to try out the spheres. 

I am really proud of the results. The hands ended up being the most difficult of all. Each project required the use of a ruler, patterns, precision and planning. The STEM classes enjoyed these projects for their mathematical connections. 

Grade 4: Radial Designs

4th grade just finished their rotational/radial designs this week. I have another class and a half who need to finish but they all worked really hard on these. 

Using color pencils, my students created a design using simple lines and shapes. Just like last year, the designs, color schemes and overall product was as individual as my super star artists.

I am really, really proud of how focused and hardworking my students were to achieve their results and with absences and days off galore, I am particularly impressed with how so many students took the initiative to complete their designs outside of class. 

Here are some of my 5th grade girls Curating the display. (Not sure what I'd do without them!)

... And yes, that's Devin behind the glass.

Grade 5: Op Art

After working so hard on their candy paintings, my 5th graders needed a project that was far less labor intensive. They worked SO hard on the candy paintings that this simple (in comparison) Op (tical) Art project was relaxingly perfect and they loved making these illusions. 

After viewing, dissecting and discussing the work of Bridget Riley... and then giggling at my reaction as my eyes had a hard time adjusting to some of the Op Art images we viewed on the Smart Board, we jumped right in. The task: to use the Element of Art: LINE to create dimension.
Here is the display heading towards the 5th grade hallway. 

Once complete, my students began to create their own Op Art design or tried to recreate one that they found on the iPads.

            

I hope you enjoyed viewing these as much as we had fun making them!

Grade 5 (and Art in the Park) Candy Paintings

Fifth graders are finishing up candy wrapper paintings right now. The focus on these has been...sweet! 

I will post the images as they are finished but wanted to share photographs from this past summer when I taught a similar lesson during Art in the Park.

We began by selecting a wrapper that had a composition that appealed to each student and had awesome colors. 

This summer at Art in the Park, we did not have access to computers so the kids worked from real wrappers vs. my 5th graders had time to use online resources to find a wrapper from present day or decades ago.

My 5th graders cropped their wrapper down and enlarged the image onto to their paper. 

We spent a full class period observing and drawing the enlarged design followed by fun times painting in the wrapper as realistically as possible. 

Yummy, candy wrappers drying in the summer air

Students hard at work carefully painting in their drawings

Stay tuned for more delicious results!

5th Grade: Celebrity Portraits

One of my students asked me yesterday what my favorite lesson to teach is. I couldn't give him an immediate answer but realized today that this "Complete the Photo" lesson has got to be on the list of favorites since I have been doing this lesson on and off for 10 years now. Galit Breen wrote an article about the lesson and published photos of my students work from a couple years ago in All Parenting Magazine. Read Here
My 5th grade Art Enrichment class sailed through (most of) this drawing lesson. They did as good of a job as my eighth grade drawing class years back. Ultimately, patience is key.

Here are a few:

                           
                             

                

        

It's a Little after 9:00 am and My Day is Already Perfect

This morning was off to a bumpy start with traffic and accidents on 295. Honestly, I wish that I could have my very own lane on the highway. Large cup of tea, Coldplay on the radio and my very own lane to drive in. Well, it was quite the opposite on my commute in this morning but now the day is perfect. On my way down the hallway heading to my PLC meeting with a bagel, fruit salad and orange juice in my hands (perfect breakfast from our pot luck staff breakfast), I see a student waiting for me with two paintings in her hands.

I LOVE when my students create art at home and take the time to show me their work.

So I say "oh, zentangles, they are beautiful!" i asked her who made them (foolishly assuming that she came across these beauties and just wanted to show me..) and she replied "I made them over the weekend!"

H E A R T M E L T I N G

So forget my perfect breakfast after a rushed commute. Here in front of me I had one of my 5th graders showing me TWO pieces of art that she created at home that are BEAUTIFUL AND INSPIRED BY A CURRENT PROJECT. This student enjoying art enough to continue to create a current project at home (and on a piece of reused cardboard at that) is all that I can ask for. What a gift. Thank you Claire.

My 5th Graders Rock. Period.

As my students have worked towards completion on their zentangle animal drawings, my smile for them is one of happiness, excitement and being so impressed. Each and every 5th grader has impressed me in their own special way on this project. And the best part is that I am pretty sure they know that they are doing a fantastic job. The best thing is when a student feels good about themselves and their work. 

Evanna

Will

For this drawing lesson we worked on combining simple shapes to create a whole. We talked about zentangles, the Elements of Art : Line and shape as well as the terms repetition, contrast and value

 Here are a ton of photos of students working. Only the top two are completely finished. My students will have the choice to add a wash of watercolor to the animal or to the background to make their drawing stand out more. For those that are starting to finish, where to use the color is a tricky decision. Originally, I was planning to have everyone paint in the animal. Evanna's (elephant at the top of post) was one of the first to make this decision. As we stared at her work and tried to decide which color would enhance the design, the answer was "no color, the black and white design does the job alone!". So she chose to paint the background.

 

Look at the beautiful lines in this flamingo! 

 Next up we take a break from drawing and begin an exploration in clay. We LOVE clay at Bear Tavern. I do, the kids do but I have to say, I am looking forward to our next drawing (and painting projects) in 5th grade.