Year of the Dragon

 2012 is the Chinese Year of the Dragon!  Third and Fourth grade artists used watercolor paints to draw dragons.  We talked about TEXTURE and adding lots of detail.

Egyptian Masks!

Fifth and sixth grade artists started making their Egyptian masks today in art class.  They worked in groups of three: one student lay plaster strips on another's face, while the third read stories or replenished supplies.  The whole process ran smoothly and demonstrated trust, responsibility and control. 

Kindergarten Hearts

Kindergartners celebrated the people and things they love by drawing and painting them inside hearts.  We used Sharpie markers and liquid watercolor paints.

Inspired by Paul Klee's "Castle and Sun" Painting

First and second grade artists looked at the painting "Castle and Sun" by Paul Klee (prounouced "clay").  Before learning the title of the painting, students guessed what it could be a picture of and named the shapes that they saw.  Students used cardstock shape tracers to "build" their own castles in the style of Paul Klee.  We used tempera paints to paint the shapes that made up their castles.  I added a little white paint to each color to make it show up better against the black paper.  As a final touch, artists used an oil pastel to trace around all of the shapes in their castles.

Les Fauves ~ The Wild Beasts!

Andre Derain

Henri Matisse

Fifth and sixth grade artists learned about Fauvism.

 Here are some key points about Fausvism from artifactory.com.  Click here to read more about fauvism:

Fauvism Notes

• Fauvism was a style of painting developed in France at the beginning of the 20th century by Henri Matisse and André Derain.

• The artists who painted in this style were known as 'Les Fauves'.

• The title 'Les Fauves' (the wild beasts) came from a sarcastic remark by the art critic Louis Vauxcelles.

• Les Fauves believed that colour should be used to express the artist's feelings about a subject, rather than simply to describe what it looks like.

• Fauvist paintings have two main characteristics: simplified drawing and exaggerated colour.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Fifth and sixth grade artists took the meaning of les fauves literally!  We painted Wild Beasts in the style of the fauvist painters. We focused on using bold brushstrokes, vibrant, unrealistic colors, and creating an interesting and expressive composition. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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