Observation Drawing-Flint Corn

Grade 3 discussed what it meant to "observe".  Many students came up with: looking closely, investigating, looking at details and looking at a space or an object.  This was the knowledge they came to art with.  Then a small discussion took place about drawing something that is 3-d vs. drawing something that was 2-d and already flattened for us. Many believe that drawing from a 2-d image is way easier than drawing from direct observation.  Very true!  See the photos below of 3rd grade looking at flint corn and drawing.  They are coming out BEAUTIFUL!

Oil Resist Pumpkins

4th grade learned the technique "oil resist".  This technique is a fun use of different materials, using oil pastels and tempera paint (watered down and with dish detergent).  The concept is that water and oil don't mix-so wherever the student puts oil pastel on the paper, the tempera paint will not go.  

The first step to this project is for students to sketch out a pumpkin or jack-o-lantern using pencil. Then, they are asked to trace all pencil lines with a piece of chalk.  Then, they use oil pastels to fill in the shapes allowing the chalk to still show.  Once all oil pastel work is done, they paint their ENTIRE page with the black tempera paint and wash it off under the water.  The black tempera paint sits where the chalk (and pencil lines) are and a beautiful image is revealed.

Take a look!

"3-D Hands"

Grade 5 uses their hands to trace and then through the use of multiple marker lines, it creates an illusion of three-dimenionality.  This project is very time consuming and requires a lot of patience.  They have done a beautiful job getting started and some students have even finished.  Take a look at some of their work.

Owls

Kindergarten is making torn-paper owls.  This is a lengthy project that require the use of fine motor skills, patience and a lot of effort.   In class, we talked about what owls eat and the meaning of nocturnal.  Here are a few photos of students getting started.

Patterned leaves

Grade 2 traces and fills leaf with a variety of patterns.   This project is only black and white, allowing for the patterns to show.

Van Gogh's Sunflowers

First grade looked at Van Gogh's painting   "Sunflowers".  We did a step-by-step drawing of one sunflower and then began to paint backgrounds using tempera paint.  Students are off to a great start!!!