Op Art

In Optical Art or “Op Art,” artists create an optical illusion. The illusion could be that something is moving, or popping out, or falling in. We made our op art pop out by using colored pencils and shading a range of values for each color in our patterns. This helped us create the illusion of three dimensions on our two-dimensional paper.

Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

 In a cross-curricular project, Art and Espanol joined forces with Kindergarten and First grade students. All classes read a couple of different stories about Dia de los Muertos. In Spanish class students read the stories in Spanish and in Art they read them in English. Students learned that Day of the Dead is a time to celebrate and remember the lives of loved ones. Part of this celebration includes the creation of sugar skulls. In Art, students applied what they learned in Spanish in the creation of these Sugar Skulls. Our art words include line, pattern, symmetry and texture.

Positive and Negative Space

3rd, 4th and 5th grade artists spent one class and finished these cut-paper jack-o-lanterns. We began by looking at some really cool pumpkins carved by Ray Villafane. What followed was an interesting debate about whether or not these carved pumpkins are "Art." Students argued on both sides of the issue and defended their point of view with specific reasons. We then reviews the Elements of Art and talked about space in art. There are two types of space--Negative and Postive. Positive is the object itself (say, a chair) Negative space is the area in and around the chair.  We used negative and positive space to create these jack-o-lanterns.

Elements of Art

 The Elements of Art are the building blocks to creating and discussing any work of Art. They are:
1) Line-The path of a point.
2) Shape-2-D, enclosed space
3) Form-3D object
4) Value-Range from light to dark
5) Space-Areas in and around art
6) Texture-Implied or real; touch
7) Color-ROYGBIV
Students in grades 2-5 studied these elements carefully and created these projects that demonstrate their understanding of  each of these concepts. The back ground behind the students names has seven areas--one area for each of the Elements. We had many great class discussions as we analyzed drawings, photographs and sculptures using these art words.  We will be using this knowledge in every art project this year.

Welcome!

 Welcome to the 2012-2013 school year! I have many exciting new Art projects planned out and ready to go. Grades kdg and first will begin by learning about lines and using a variety of lines to create simple drawings. Grades 2-5 will be learning about and reviewing the Elements of Art (line, shape, form, space, color, texture and value). We will be creating a cool mixed media piece the shows off our knowledge of these elements. Pictures of these projects will coming soon!

2nd grade 3-D Cities

 2nd grade artists looked at Edward Hopper. His most famous painting is Nighthawks where several lonely figures sit in an illuminated diner. Hopper was an American Realist painter; he painted what he saw. His paintings have been described as things you would see if you were driving through a new town. He was fascinated with light and shadow. We tried to capture light and shadow in our city paintings. We used warm colors in the sky and cool colors for our buildings. Our buildings are lit up on one side and painted with a tint of a cool color (light blue, light purple). The shadow side is a bit darker. We began our cities buildings by drawing a simple arrow that pointed up and creatively turned these arrows into what you see here.

3rd Grade Self-Portraits

 Third grade artists looked at the art and life of Amadeo Modigiliani. Although a sculptor at heart, he is most famous for his paintings. He painted portraits from life. While the people were recognizable, they were distorted. His portraits typically featured elongated, oval tilted heads and long necks. We used mirrors to observe the basic shapes of ourselves--our eyes, our hair, eyebrows, etc.  Unlike Modigliani, who was a painter, we used construction paper and glue in our collages. Collage is a french word meaning glue. Every third grader has a self-portrait hanging in the art room. It's been fun for the students trying to guess who is who.