Art Projects PreK – 5th

In art class, we have been busy busy!! The students have created quite a bit of projects which will be coming home at the end of the school year in a portfolio, which will also help protect their artwork.

PRE-K 3

The Pre-K 3’s have learned about famous artist like Henri Matisse. They learned that he was the inventor of ‘collage’, cut paper of different shapes to create a work of art. Learning about placement of large shapes and small shapes of paper to create a ‘balance’ in their art piece is part of the learning process.

PRE-K 4

The Pre-K 4’s have also been learning about a famous artist. Jackson Pollock and his invention of ‘splatter painting’. Naturally, I am not brave enough to let them splatter and throw paint around!!. Their lesson is entitled, “Pollock with out Paint”. Using oil pastels and several different size paper, including white and black colors. The students colored with no design necessary. Scribbling is the key to creating the appearance of splattered paint. Finally, the students cut out pieces of paper and glue to the large sheet as a final step to creating the art.

KINDERGARTEN

The Kinder classes have been working on a lesson inspired by Henri Matisse also, and his famous work of art entitled, “Les Betes de la Mer’ (The Beasts of the Sea). (No monsters, just fish and other sea life found in the ocean). This also, is a cut paper project. Following the shape that Matisse did in his original, the students started with a long rectangular paper. On this paper they glued four squares representing water in the ocean. We discussed the darkness of the deep deep ocean, therefore, the bottom square is black, next is purple, next dark blue and finally on top is light blue as the light filters through the water. The students cut out different shapes to be found in the ocean. We were not concerned with ‘realism’. The shapes are representations of sea life, water and plants found.

FIRST GRADE

The First grade classes have been very busy. We just finished our Primitive Art section (no photos yet). Recently, though the students created the most adorable “Self Portraits”. This lesson is focused on Elements of Art such as, shapes, lines, color, etc. The students used a table mirror to make observations about their faces, such as shape of face, color of eyes, and color of hair, hair style. We also discussed the placement/proportions of our features and their location on our head. This project always shows so much about personality too!

SECOND GRADE

Well, I must apologize. I don’t have pictures to share of Second Grade work! Believe me they have been busy busy. They just finished their famous artist piece entitled “Cat and Bird”, by Paul Klee. This is an oil pastel and watercolor picture. Also, the students are finishing a cut paper picture entitled “Cityscape”, which a picture of a city scene. In this lesson we discussed the art rule of “perspective”. The picture below is of our second grader Hunter Clarkson who is the Art Teacher of the Year. He led the classes on Tuesday this week, including his own class, which was quite fun and he was a great leader and so much help to me that day! I loved having an assistant!!

THIRD GRADE

The Third grade has just finished an art piece which is entitled, “Picasso and Math”. This lesson was a compliment to the field trip the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students took to the McNay Art Museum last month. The tour was entitled “Angles and Art”. In these art pieces the students took inspiration from a few of Picasso’s art pieces. We discussed the use of geometric shapes and lines in his work. The pictures are collages in which there was no drawing allowed, only paper of different types and some fabric which could be used.

FOURTH GRADE

The Fourth grade class has just finished a project entitled, “Wooden Doors”. This project is a good example of a lesson which compliments their classroom lesson as the theme of their picture takes place during the American Revolution. Their picture is the inside of a home at this time with double doors which open to the outside. We discussed and looked at pictures of what type of items and furniture can be found in a home of this period. Another important part of this lesson was learning how to draw the table and chair using perspective principles. As the doors open, the student has decided if their house is in the country or town/city.

FIFTH GRADE

The Fifth grade class has finished a couple of projects recently. The project which ties into their fieldtrip is a lesson about the artist Piet Mondrian. Mondrian created very simple ‘looking’ paintings a squares with minimal color. But they learned that there is a lot of precision, balance and perfection in creating these paintings. The students had to color an example of a Mondrian painting using great care in their coloring technique and observations of placement of colors to create a visually balanced picture.

Another recent project is called “Tessellations”, inspired by the artist M.C. Escher who also used mathematical formulas to create this art. The students had to create a shape from a small square and use the new shape as a pattern to trace repeatedly. The difficulty lies in cutting the shape with perfection so that when traced in a puzzle pattern the pieces lock together perfectly. Lastly, the students took inspiration from their shape and added details and color.

Mrs. Leroy 🙂