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. 

Teen Studio= Best Night Ev

Last week began my first Teen Studio class.... it was a perfect mix of art making, laughter, candy, good conversation and reminiscing. We spent an hour and a half together creating slab lanterns and sculptural roses. I honestly couldn't tell you which project was more fun- they balanced each other so well. 

It was great working with current students and catching up with students I've had in school before. I enjoyed the special quality of seeing my girlz outside of school and in the beautiful studio space at The Painter's Loft Studio. 

Till Next week!

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 half portraits and Clean Watercolors until January 6th...

My 5th graders are doing half portraits right now that are coming out pretty neat. They are doing a great job mixing skin colors using 2 or more different combined colors. More details on this lesson soon. 

We use a lot of different types of paints throughout the year interchangeably. Liquid Watercolors are a personal favorite but we frequently use tempera cakes in two varieties, liquid tempera, acrylic, mixing mediums and watercolor palettes. 

The watercolor palettes require the highest maintenance because they are smaller, more delicate and the wells are so close together. The lids are a perfect space for mixing colors BUT you have to clean them off. Usually we use plastic paint palettes for mixing colors for this reason. If the watercolors are, well, really watery and the kids close the lids and turn them in any direction, the paint runs to the lid and all over. You get the idea. Check out Exhibit A below.....

Two of my classes are using watercolors right now. They were so excited to use the new, 16 color sets. One student gasped seeing the beautiful new colors. I showed my classes the old watercolors and then the new watercolors and we discussed how to use and care for our brand new sets. 

The biggest difference in how we're handling the watercolors is in leaving them open to dry. My quality control checkers and I can take a peek at the watercolors at the end of the period to see how clean they look or where a little bit of attention needs to be focused. We set a goal of January 6th as the date we hope to keep our watercolors in new looking condition. Why January 6? Well, one student came up with the date as it's her birthday and is a few months away. 

It's early,  but so far so good. Here are the sets after 2 weeks of use by several classes.

Communal supplies are a true lesson in care and respect. Who knows, maybe our new watercolors will continue to look so until January 7th.... :)

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! 

Weekend Art: Join me at the TCNJ Opening Reception for Art, Innovation and Ideas!

Opening Reception: Sunday, June 2, 2013 1:00-3:00pm

I am beyond honored to have art work from Bear Tavern in this highly selective exhibit.
Click Here for direct site