Grade 3: Leaves, Lines and Repetition

I love this lesson as it touches on many subjects that I enjoy (fall leaf colors, repetition, warm/cool colors and resist). Last year, we worked smaller- on 9x12 horizontal paper. This year, I bumped the size up to 10x16 and we created a vertical composition that had between 3-6 leaves. 

 We discussed warm/cool colors, line, repetition, contour lines and fall leaf colors for this project that couples oil pastel and watercolor. Originally, the cool colors were to be in the background and the leaves were to be painted in fall/warm colors. Last year, I was quite impressed that my students asked to use their artistic license and deviate away from this plan. I had just designed this lesson and was curious as to how it could change into a better lesson.

 I had a boy walk up to me with a straight face and say "Mrs. Johnson, I feel that I need to use just a touch of warm colors in my background. I think that it will make the painting look better..." This year, I mentioned to students to use the colors that they felt were best at the right time but to utilize cool colors as much as they were inspired to. Some students even added in black with great success. They excitedly asked my opinion of their use of color. I love discussing art with children in a way where it's a consultation and they know that their opinion about their art matters the most. So, taking risks, and use of artistic license is what they did and I am, yet again, quite pleased with the results.

Our Art Enrichment Journey Begins with Maps and Trees

 I am really excited that a new year of fifth grade art enrichment began this week. It is through this after-school class that I get to know each student differently and explore ideas and art in general together as a class.

Our journey began this week with a drawing of a tree that we are watercolor washing. My students really seem to be enjoying the free nature of drawing a tree and adding character to the tree with texture using lines created with permanent marker. Watching the kids pull from techniques for drawing branches last year with the van Gogh 'Almond Blossoms" lesson was awesome to see. The delicate nature in which many students added branches that stretched and twisted and grew in all directions was personally fulfilling. 

I have been slowly collecting maps and atlases for a couple of years.. Tucked away in a tupperware container I have maps that were in some glove compartments well over a decade ago. As a child, I enjoyed reading maps as we took family trips. I wonder if maps are even for sale on the racks at pit stops anymore now that technology has diminished the paper versions.

Using watercolor, I painted a map of the Greater New York area. Next week, my students will alter the maps by not only adding color to their own but by cutting them in a way that can create a beautiful, mixed-media background. 

 

My main interest in maps has been the collage potential while using them and the pride that I took as a child in having a good sense of direction and being able to read maps well. A longtime colleague of mine from Grounds for Sculpture, Aylin Green, has used dress pattens in her gorgeous mixed media contemporary art that I have always admired the quality of.

Aylin Green

When I saw the work of Australian artist, Loretta Grayson, I felt the same interest in the quality of her work and the use of beautiful, collaged papers to communicate to the viewer. The colors of the maps coupled with the arrangement of the assembled portions is simply beautiful.

Loretta Grayson 

Loretta Grayson

Stay tuned....

Grade 3: Leaves and Lines Resist

Third grade is finishing up resist paintings of leaves. We discussed warm/cool colors, line, repetition, contour lines and fall leaf colors for this project that couples oil pastel and watercolor. Originally, the cool colors were to be in the background and the leaves were to be painted in fall/warm colors. I have to say, I was quite impressed that my students asked to use their artistic license and deviate away from this plan. I had a boy walk up to me with a straight face and say "Mrs. Johnson, I feel that I need to use just a touch of warm colors in my background. I think that it will make the painting look better..." I love discussing art with children in a way where it's a consultation and they know that their opinion about their art matters the most. So, taking risks, and use of artistic license is what they did and I am quite pleased with the results. 

Grade 3: Oil Pastel Moonlit Pumpkins and a dash of mumble

Yesterday, November 14, my final group of third graders finished their moonlit pumpkins. We started this project last month. Unfortunately, my Thursday/Friday classes get hit pretty hard here in NJ missing a TON of art between the teacher's convention and Thanksgiving. It's tough. If I could, I'd move the convention to almost any month but November (and December and April) because it's two whole days away from kids I will inevitably not see a few weeks later. Well, we finished today...I've had the rest on display in the hallway for weeks now.
Moving on, a staple fall project of mine has been pumpkins. In the past I have done chalk pastel pumpkins like these back in 2011. I saw a project on Pinterest of these pretty moonlit pumpkins and thought I'd switch things up.
We talked extensively about moonlit skies and how the moon tints the sky circling the moon. My 3rd graders used oil pastel on black paper to create the sky and then worked on indicating the direction of the grass growth using oil pastels as well.
On to the pumpkins, the kids knew right away that the tops of the pumpkins would be lighter since the moon was shining right on them.
I really like how these pumpkins turned out and the kids were happy with this project. Next year, I will go back to chalk pastel though.

Grade 5: Silhouette Trees

It has been a few years since I've done this project and I forgot how much I enjoy it and similarly the kids did as well.

We discussed silhouettes and a variety of color schemes before my kids figured out a way to create a colorful background for themselves that was just right. The trickiest part of this lesson is the x-acto knife safety training which was needed to cut the intricate negative spaces out from the black construction paper. Oil pastels were used to create a "hypercolor" effect based on a t-shirt that was popular in the 80's when I was a 5th grader. We finished these last month which was neat because many of them convey a spooky feeling....

Student working hard using bold colors with a cool color scheme

Nice job Kira!

Awesome Aubrey! 

Grade 2: Clay Leaves

If we could have stayed outside and played in the leaves, it would not have felt like a lost day. To start class off for 2nd grade, we went outside with the mission of finding the largest leaf that we could, plus two others. 

The sun felt so good and the colors on the school property right now are out of a book. 

After we searched for leaves and brought them back into the art room, we took clay imprints of our autumn colored treasures.

What a perfectly colored shirt 

Grade 1: Fall Leaves

There are some projects (ok, you know me better...there are MANY projects) that I just cannot contain my enthusiasm for. These watercolor leaves made by my first graders is one of those projects. 

Watching them make decisions for layout, enjoy the process of using materials happily and successfully..... well lets just say this: I must have said "these are SO beautiful" at least 25 times. It got to the point where the kids were laughing at me. "Carlos, I love how you added just a touch of orange..your leaf looks so realistic!" "James, wow, you lightened the color in your background so well by adding water!", "Maeve, you swirled those cool colors together so nicely in the background..wow!" I couldn't control myself. Here are the kids in Mrs. McCann's class viewing their work that they knew I was rushing to hang up in the hallway....LUNCH CAN WAIT FOR THESE BEAUTIES!

1st grades view their freshly displayed work

Exhausting but worth it!

Can you believe that we started and finished all SIX of these 8"x10" paintings yesterday at TGG??! I am surprised myself considering that we were working on individual projects at the same time. 


These paintings were collaboratively completed by my 1st through 5th graders (all hands on deck) and will be framed and given to the six 2011-2012 HVRSD Teacher of the Year recipients. Each year a teacher is selected from each school in our district. 
The paintings will be given out on Monday, April 16th at a small reception being held for the recipients at Toll Gate. 
I chose the tree as the theme for these paintings because each recipient has shown characteristics that trees possess.... strong, unique, important for our environment & beautiful.


The 3rd, 4th and 5th paintings from the left were made using the kids fingerprints.