Crazy About Color!

It's that time of year!  Students at E.L. seem to leave the art room a little more paint-smudged than usual...  Ms. May's sink is overflowing with paint palettes, brushes, and water bowls...  bottles of magic potion (that's right, MAGIC POTION!) cover the tables.  We are learning about COLOR!

Wow, are we excited!  Color is one of the most complicated (and fun!) art elements.  Younger grades are discovering color mixing magic by using the primary colors (red, yellow, blue) to make the secondary colors (orange, green, violet).  Older students will build on this knowledge as they study the color wheel.  They will learn about several different color schemes (warm, cool, complementary, neutral, analogous, monochromatic, etc.), and how to create tints, shades, and intermediate colors. 

Take a look below to see our introductory color activities and experiments.  These kids are on their way to becoming color geniuses!

Color mixing MAGIC!  Kindergarten watched Ms. May use primary colored magic potion to create the three secondary colors.

After reading the book Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh, Kinders got a chance to mix secondary colors from primary colors.  Great job, kiddos!

In the book Mouse Paint, the mice decide to jump into puddles of primary colored paint.  They jumped so much they mixed them into secondary colors! 

Our finished Mouse Paint projects look awesome!
Media: tempera paint and sharpie marker.

1st graders read a book about color called Painting the Town, by Denise Minnerly.  After the story, each student painted his or her own town.  They only had primary colored paint (red, yellow, blue) on their palettes, and look at all of the fabulous secondary colors they were able to create!

 The outlines and windows were printed with a piece of cardboard and black tempera paint.

Painted Towns.

Beautiful!

2nd grade is learning about cool colors (blue, green, violet)....

and warm colors (red, orange, yellow)!!  We will use these lovely painted papers for a collage project.



3rd grade used tints and shades to create a painting of a moonlit nighttime sky.  Such a beautiful background for our winter trees that we are currently working on!



Finished 4th grade Op Art project.  I am proud of 4th grade for working sooo hard on this project!!

How I Got to School Today project.  5th grade created the illusion of space in these creative projects.

How I Got to School Today.
Media: colored pencil.

How I Got to School Today.
Media: colored pencil.

How I Got to School Today.
Media: colored pencil.

E. L. Art Displays Around Town

It would be selfish not to share our BEAUTIFUL artwork with the community :)

Harold and the Purple Crayon on display at the Mid-Continent Public Library in Riverside. 
While you are checking out a book... check out the art!
Mrs. Ottis' Kindergarten class.

Eric Carle Caterpillars on display at Park Hill District Office.
Mrs. Knudsen's 1st Grade class.

Jackson Pollock Piantings on display at Park Hill District Office.
4th Grade.

Picasso Portraits on display at Park Hill District Office.
3rd Grade.

Fooling Your Eyes

English Landing students are learning some fancy art "tricks".  We have added the art element of VALUE to our artist tool box.  Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color.  It comes in handy when creating shadows and highlights in an artwork.  Check out our work below... you won't believe your eyes!!

5th grade  "How I Got to School Today" projects. 
These projects use one point linear perspective to create the illusion of space.  We are also focusing on value by creating shadows and highlights on objects in the drawings. 
Media: Colored Pencil



4th grade Op Art project.
 This project also has an illusion of space because it looks like a tunnel!  Students are using value to make the sections of their tunnel look curved.  Tricky!



3rd grade value practice painting. 
Students experimented with paint to create several tints and shades of a given color.  To make a tint, you add white to make the color lighter.  To make a shade, you add black to make it darker.  They will use this knowledge for an upcoming value project.
Media: Tempera Paint




2nd grade clay bug project.
 Soon they will be fired in the kiln and painted!



1st grade continues to focus on cutting and gluing shapes.  Our Eric Carle caterpillars are made with collage papers that we painted ourselves!  I can't wait to display these creations!!
Media: Tempera Paint and Construction Paper



Kinders read the book Harold and the Purple Crayon.  After that, we had a figure drawing lesson so that we could create  realistic self portraits.  We cut and glued our portraits to a magical purple crayon background.  What would YOU make if you had a magic purple crayon??  This student's work is titled "Tree House With T-Rex and Lion".
Media: Construction Paper Crayons on black paper




Harold and the Purple Crayon project:  "Outer Space".

Media: Construction Paper Crayons on black paper



3rd Grade Art Show and Musical

3rd graders are performing their musical, How to be a Pirate, tonight at 7:00.  Make sure you arrive a few minutes early in order to view the 3rd Grade Art Show!  Every student will have work on display.  Work is located in the hallways on the way to the gym.

See below for information about the work on display.

3^rd Grade Art Show

3^rd grade has been focusing on two important art elements: shape and space.

In order to learn more about shapes, we studied the artist Pablo Picasso.  We noticed that the subjects in his abstract art are broken up into bold shapes.  Sometimes it’s hard to even recognize what the subject is!  After looking at Picasso’s interesting artwork, we began to design portraits in his cubist style.  It’s so fun to make abstract art because you get to change the shapes and positions of facial features to make an interesting design.  We painted our portraits with tempera paint and added details with oil pastels.

Next, we began learning about space.  Artists use several tricks in their artworks to create the illusion of space.  Objects in the foreground are large, making them appear close to you.  Objects in the background are small so they seem far away.  Background objects are also higher on the page than foreground objects.  We created our Harvest Moon projects to demonstrate how much we know about space.  We colored these landscapes with oil pastels.  Notice how we added shadows and highlights to make our artwork even more realistic!

So many Picasso Portraits!  Each 3rd grader has one on display for the art show.

Beautiful Harvest Moon landscapes on display for the art show.

Art Activities Update!

At English Landing, we are learning everything there is to know about shapes!  We know about 2-dimensional shapes, 3-dimensional shapes, geometric shapes, free form shapes, and organic shapes.  We can cut shapes.  We can paint shapes.  We can draw fabulously tricky shapes that look 3-dimensional on flat paper!  Wow!  Some classes are even moving on to another important art element: space.  Creating the illusion of space is an important art technique.  It can be a little challenging to make drawings that appear to have space between objects, but we have been practicing so much that we are getting really good at it!  Take a look at the photos below to see how much we have learned.

Kinders made play dough this week!  We practiced making some 3-D shapes, as well as pinch pots.

What a fun and squishy day!  Play dough is a great activity for little fingers.  To make your own, follow this recipe.  It's easy!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 8 tablespoons salad oil
• 7 to 8 tablespoons of water
• food coloring (if desired)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together well. Keep in a sealed container.

For more art recipes, check out http://www.kinderart.com/kitchen/nonedible.html

1st grade made beautiful painted paper for a collage project.

Finished 1st grade collage.  We were inspired by Henri Matisse's famous funky shapes!



This 2nd grade landscape project is an introductory lesson about creating the illusion of space.  We used overlapping to make our hills appear to get farther away.  Notice how we used highlights and shadows to make some shapes appear to be 3-dimensional!



Finished 2nd grade landscape.  We looked at artwork by Grant Wood to get ideas for our farms.  Ask your second grader about him!
Media: Tempera cake paint and oil pastel

3rd grade Picasso portraits on display.  We used geometric, free form, and even organic shapes. 
Media: Tempera paint and oil pastel.

3rd grade has also started a unit on space!  This "Harvest Moon" project teaches students to use size to create depth.  Objects in the foreground of our picture are large, objects in the background are small.  We have completed the background, and are ready to begin the foreground!

4th grade Abstract Expressionism project.  This may look like a hodge podge of lines and colors, but it is much much more!  We used color and mark making to express feelings, and then wrote an artist's statement to explain our choices.  Ask your 4th grader about Jackson Pollock and his art!
Media: Acrylic paint and watercolor.

5th grade is learning to draw using one point perspective.  Starting with 2-D shapes, students draw orthogonal lines to a vanishing point to make the shapes appear to be 3-D.  I am so proud of their progress.  This technique is definitely challenging!

Art at the Library

English Landing art is on display at the Riverside Mid-Continent Library!  If you stop by to check out some books, you just might find your artwork on display!

Starry Night on display at the library.  Mrs. Wright's 2nd grade class.



Close up of Starry Nights.  New work coming soon!



5th Grade Art Show and Musical



The 5th grade musical, The Hundred-Year Snooze, will be performed tomorrow night!  In addition to witnessing this fantastic performance, you will also have the opportunity to view 5th grade artwork.  The artwork is displayed in the hallways on the way to the gym, and every 5th grade student has work on display.  Make sure you arrive a couple minutes early so that you can view it! 

5th Grade Music Program is at 7:00 pm on Thursday, October 20, 2011.

Art show preview: wire sculptures and figure drawings displayed in the case.



Art show preview: beach still life drawings

Plaster Masks

In honor of the Halloween season, 5th grade art club is working on plaster masks.  This project is a tradition at English Landing.  It is super fun... probably because it is super MESSY!  My younger students always come in and look longingly at art club's work on the round table, so I thought I'd include some information about how to create this project at home! 

Plaster Masks in progress.  Soon, they will be removed from their plastic molds, painted, and decorated!

This site explains how to create a plaster mask of your own face!  However, the same outcome can be achieved using a plastic mold (and it won't get your face into a gooey plaster mess).
http://www.artlex.com/ed/Maskmaking.html

Getting in Shape

English Landing students are getting in shape.... the art element of shape!  Take a look at some of the projects we have been working on to deepen our understanding of how to use shapes in art.  It's fun to see how we build on our prior knowledge of shapes at every grade level.

Kindergarten created shape collages.  After reading the book The Shape of Things, each child received a shape, and used imagination to turn the shape into a creative picture with markers.  I asked each student for the title of their artwork so that I could write it down.  These always make me smile, so I had to share a few.  Above: "Paint Holder".

Circle turned into a "Segway"

Circle turned into a "Meteor"

Triangle turned into a "Vampire"

1st grade learned about printing.  Each student created a stamp out of modeling clay.  They printed the stamps with tempera paint to create the shapes of leaves for their apple trees.  Clay and paint in the same day?  What a fun lesson!

Clay printing on display.

2nd grade revisits the art element of line while creating these 3-dimensional collages.  They challenged themselves to make curved, zig-zag, and even spiral lines!

3rd grade began painting their abstract Picasso portraits.  To prepare for this lesson, we learned about geometric, free form and organic shapes.

4th grade watercolor landscapes.  We created the building shapes with masking tape before we painted, and then removed the tape after the paint was dry.  Students used colored pencil for the details of the buildings, grass, trees, and water.

5th grade added color to their still life drawings with chalk pastels.  We made our shapes appear 3-dimensional by adding shadows and highlights.