First Grade Accordion Books

First graders in classes 1-211 and 1-215 have been working on using pictures to tell a story. They are creating accordion books that follow one character though out their day. They started by creating a drawing of a character. Next, we scanned the images into the computer and used Photoshop to duplicate the images. Each student got a page with 4 copies of their character, one to go on each page. We used collage to show where they live, how they travel, where they go and the end of their day. The books look great and the students had a lot of fun learning about the scanner. They will be displayed as soon as they are put together.

4th Grade Papier Mache Update

WE ARE SO CLOSE TO BEING FINISHED! I cannot wait to share these!!

Maira Kalman

I'm so excited that the amazing Maira Kalman is visiting PS 58 tomorrow!! She is one of my favorite illustrators. Check out her work here!

Image VIA NY Times

February Newsletter

Studio 220 Newsletter: February 2010

Here is what is happening this month in ART:

First Grade: First graders are working on a printmaking unit. We are exploring different types of stamping and how we can create our own stamps. We will be making a cityscape out of different stamped shapes and begin to work on collaboration!

Second Grade: Second graders are creating a neighborhood scene with cut paper collage. Artists used paint to resemble the color and texture of buildings. Next, we will use collage to create large buildings and a busy neighborhood scene. We will be exploring the work of Melanie Hope Greenberg and Red Grooms. Second graders will also participate in a special bookmaking project inspired my visiting illustrator/author Maira Kalman.

Third Grade: Third graders are creating relief sculptures of gargoyles. We are exploring what gargoyles were used for historically and are creating our own protection creature. Students will also work on exploring additive and subtractive sculpting processes and creating value with paint. We will look at gargoyles of all types, as well as sculptures by contemporary artist Elliot Earls.

Fourth Grade: (After months of being covered in glue,) Fourth graders continue to work on are finishing their sculpture project!!! This has been a long process, but the results are amazing! We are looking at the work of AJ Fosik and creating large animal heads out of papier mache and cut paper. We are thinking about how Native Americans believed that animals represented and had personality traits. Each student will choose an animal whose “personality” is similar to his or her own. They will then create a relief sculpture to represent their animal.

Fifth Grade: Fifth graders are completing their tunnel books inspired by the work of Tim Burton. Next, we will move on to clay to create sculptures of our favorite foods. We will look at artists whose subject is food such as Claes Oldenburg to explore the vast possibilities of the subject.

Have a great break!

Loving This Drawing

Happy Friday!

Here is a great drawing made today by a second grader. Have a good weekend!

The Scroll-A-Thon!

Wow! The Scroll-A-Thon was a big success! Students in grades 1 through 5 worked with visiting artists Steven and William Ladd and their assistant Jill. The final installations: suede boxes that are filled with embellished scrolls; were a collaboration between everyone! Each part of the project depended upon the work another grade had done previously. Let me explain:

Everyone learned about how a scroll is really a tight spiral. We used upcycled belt materials to create scrolls that we got to take home. William and Jill took portraits of every artist and their scroll to put in a big, beautiful book. This was good practice for what each grade's role was in the Heart Scroll-A-Thon.

Making a Spiral

scrolling

William taking portraits

Here is what each grade did for the final project:

First graders drew beautiful scrolls with pencil. They invented their own scroll on paper, using the mark to make the spiral.

Second graders put a piece of tracing paper over the first graders drawing and inked it using reds, pinks and purples.

Third graders took the drawings and tissue paper and interpreted them into the cut pieces of belt, which would later be made into scrolls.

Fourth graders took the knots that the third graders tied and used those pieces and the drawings to inspire a scroll.

And Fifth graders used the drawings to inspire beadwork on the scrolls that the fourth graders had rolled.

WHEW! It was AWESOME!

Thanks Steven, William, Jill, Bee and the 4Fives for all your hard work!

BUY A PIECE OF THE SCROLL-A-THON AT THE SILENT AUCTION!

Visiting Artist Colette Taber

Two weeks ago, painter Colette Taber worked with the fifth graders on some drawing exercises. She taught them about how color is tricky and can look different depending on what other colors are nearby. She also taught the students about working with a viewfinder. She explained that sometimes it is overwhelming to see everything around you and try to draw it, but if you isolate your composition, it becomes easier. We used old toilet paper rolls that had been folded into squares and rectangles to decide upon our still life composition. Thanks for visiting us Colette!!!!