Kindergarten Painting Beginnings

Kindergarten artists have been working on mixing the three PRIMARY colors--red, yellow and blue. We began by monoprinting with primary colors and now we have begun working with a brush. We learned about the parts of a paint brush and the way that we use them in Studio 220. Next, we experimented with painting. Here are some images from Ms. Ramsey's class:

Pinch Pot How To by Class 1-213

We are learning how to make pinch pots. Here are the steps:

1. Roll the clay into a ball. Make sure that there are no cracks.

2. Push your thumb into the clay in the middle. Don't make your hole all the way through.

3. Pinch the sides of your clay to make the hole bigger. Make sure you don't make the sides too skinny.

4. Smooth out the cracks with water using two fingers.

5. Put it on a piece of paper with your name on it and put it near the heater to dry.

Class 1-213

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First Grade Clay Explorations

When we begin a clay unit, I give the students a full class period to simply play with and explore the material. We discuss that clay comes from the earth and has been used for many years. One of the big parts of this lesson is naming ways that you can change the shape of clay. Here is what first graders came up with:
smoosh
pinch
roll
build
sculpt
flatten
bend
twist
break
squeeze
coil/snake
press

Can you think of any others?

December Newsletter!

Can you believe December is almost here?! Here is our newsletter for the month!

November flew by! It was great to speak to so many of you at conferences. Thanks so much to everyone for donating materials to the studio! Your contributions from the Dick Blick Wish List and of recycled materials have been much appreciated by the students. As always, we are still collecting materials and baby wipes.

Many of the grades are still working on the explorations begun in November. This is what we have been working on:

Kindergarten artists have explored creating their own stamps using etching. Each student created a tree using their handmade bark and leaf stamps. In December we will continue to explore stamping. Instead of using Styrofoam, students will explore how found objects can be used to create prints. Here, we will be using many of the recycled materials that have been rolling in!

First grade artists are working on a ceramics unit! We are studying clay and exploring how it can be used. Students will learn about where clay comes from and how people have used it for thousands of years to create vessels. Each student will create a pinch pot with a detachable lid. Students will be learning about scratching and scoring to attach one piece of clay to another as they transform their lid into an animal.

Second grade artists are going to be working on a unit inspired by the later work of Henri Matisse. We will be studying how later in his life he began “painting with paper.” Students will be working independently and collaboratively to create a number of cut paper collage pieces. We will explore how compositions can be played with and changed. We will explore ideas of organic/geometric shape, positive/negative space and symmetry/asymmetry. Students will also play with scale, making tiny collages and gigantic collages. It is sure to be a ton of fun.

Fourth graders are working on a painting unit. In November, we explored color mixing and application. This month, students will be creating portraits of a family member. For inspiration and to see the different ways a portrait can be painted, students will study pieces by Dana Schutz, Alex Katz and Kim Scafuro. We will look at how artists use color and paint application to express personality.

Fifth graders are continuing to create their tunnel book showing their characters’ environments. They are studying Andrea Dezso’s tunnel books to see how paper can be layered to create depth. Students will create their environment using a number of pop-up paper engineering techniques and will include a foreground, middle ground and background. They are busy working on each layer of their piece and are eager to put it all together.

5^th Grade Note: Many middle schools require students to audition for art or to submit a portfolio. Each school is different, but the general process and what they are looking for is the same. On Thursdays during 5^th period recess, students applying for art as their talent in middle school are welcome to come to the studio to practice for auditions.

Kindergarten Tree Prints

Kindergarten artists were studying trees with Miss Marsh in science. We decided to connect with this unit in the art studio and began to play with printmaking. Kindergarten artists learned about stamping and how stamps can be used to make the same mark over and over. Students first looked at tree bark and created a stamp to mimic this texture using etching in styrofoam. We then took these stamps and "built" a tree. Next, we studied leaves. We used our science observation skills to notice everything about a leaf. Then we drew what we saw. After we were comfortable drawing a leaf, we used the same etching technique to create a leaf stamp. Once this was finished, we used our stamp to add leaves to the trees. The work came out great! I will post more finished pictures, but here is a taste of what the process looked like:


































Update: Here are more leaf observational drawings. So beautiful!

Great Job 5th Graders

Fifth grade artists have been working hard on their character development. Here are three excellent examples of work (by Safia, Momoko and Maximo) that were colored with traditional materials.

Students are also working on coloring their work with digital media in Photoshop. Next, we will create 3D environments for our characters inspired by Andrea Dezso. Awesome!

November Newsletter!

Studio 220 Newsletter: November 2010

November is a busy month in the art studio! Students are getting started on their second units. Make sure to check out all of the exhibits in the halls during open school week. I hope to see many of you at conferences. I will be holding an open house in Studio 220 on the second floor. Please stop in and have a look around!

Here is a preview of what will be going on this month:

Kindergarten artists have explored how shapes can be used to “build” pictures with collage. In November, we will be moving with this idea into the medium of printmaking! Students will be creating their own stamps by etching into styrofoam. They will use these stamps to create images. The theme for this unit links what they are doing in science with Miss Marsh—a study of trees. In the studio, we will be taking the knowledge they have gained about the parts of trees and how they change and exploring this through art making. We will focus our art explorations on texture and shape.

First grade artists have become collage experts! They will continue to work with paper, but will be exploring how the material can move from two dimensions to three. We will be creating a number of paper sculptures that hang and stand on a base. Students will be encouraged to explore ideas of balance and structure while using the materials. We will experiment with how different types of actions (twist, bend, fold…) change the way that the material looks.

Second grade artists are going to be working on a unit inspired by the later work of Henri Matisse. We will be studying how later in his life he began “painting with paper.” Students will be working independently and collaboratively to create a number of cut paper collage pieces. We will explore how compositions can be played with and changed. We will explore ideas of organic/geometric shape, positive/negative space and symmetry/asymmetry. Students will also play with scale, making tiny collages and gigantic collages. It is sure to be a ton of fun.

Fourth graders are working on a painting unit. During the month, students will really play with the medium to see what it can do. We will be using acrylic paint to explore thick and thin application and strokes, as well as to reinforce what we know about color mixing. Students will be creating portraits of a family member. For inspiration and to see the different ways a portrait can be painted, students will study pieces by Dana Schutz, Alex Katz and Kim Scafuro.

Fifth graders have worked hard to create an illustrated character. In November, students will take their character and create a pop-up paper environment for it. They will study Andrea Dezso’s tunnel books to see how paper can be layered to create depth. Students will create their environment using a number of pop-up paper engineering techniques and will include a foreground, middle ground and background. I am really excited to see where they will take this!

Lastly, I want to sincerely thank everyone who donated materials to the studio through the Dick Blick Art Room Aid and materials and wipes donations. I am overwhelmed by your generosity! Thank you so much for all you do for our artists!

Amazing Jellyfish!

There were tons of amazing costumes at the character parade, but I have to post this amazing jellyfish costume that a second grade artist came up with. What a great idea!

Character Parade

Update!

I love the storybook character parade tradition at PS 58, but this year, I had the hardest time thinking of an idea for a costume. Finally, today, I came up with something I LOVE:


The hermit crab from Eric Carle's book! This was a childhood favorite of mine, as I grew up near the water. I will post a picture Friday of my costume and other amazing ones! What are you going as?

Fourth Grade Fantasy Creatures

Fourth graders have been creating fantasy characters. We looked at how Edward Gorey used line to create texture on his own characters. Students used pencil to create their creatures and then used hatching, cross-hatching and created textures to enhance their characters. FInally, we explored watercolor washes. Using watercolor, students tinted their work. Check them out!

Character Development

Fifth graders have been working on creating an illustrated character. We studied artists Tim Burton and Sac Magique to explore how their characters have distinct personality traits that are shown through their physical features. Students brainstormed to create their own character. Next, they sketched and created a final contour drawing. Students will ink their work and color it using both traditional and digital media. Great work artists!

Kindergarten

Kindergarten artists have been learning about abstract compositions. Now, we have begun to explore "realistic" art. We read the book Mouse Shapes and explored how shapes can build pictures of real things. Here are some collages made by kindergarten artists:





Next, kindergarten artists looked at the work of Eric Carle. We noticed how he used shapes to create bugs. Artists used tearing to create shapes and used them to make their own collaged bugs. The work is up outside kindergarten classrooms.


This week, we will begin a printmaking unit. We will work with stamping and texture. Our theme will link with what they have been learning about with Miss Marsh in science: trees!!

Animal Collage Update

After completing their animal collages, first grade artists created a habitat for their creature. I will write more about the objectives, etc for the display. Here are some awesome results:

Did you notice??

Did you notice the new blog header? It was drawn by my husband, Tad Kimball.
Thanks Tad!

Animal Collages

First grade artists are studying Charley Harper and thinking about how he uses simple shapes to "build" animals. He called his style "minimal realism." Students will soon be using the monoprints they created to make animal collages, but we are now practicing using construction paper. The students love Harper's work, because it is simple and surprising. Here are some examples of the first step of our animal collages. Next, we will create a habitat for the animal. We will then follow these same steps to create collages using our prints.

Designing with Shapes

Kindergarten artists have been designing with shapes. After doing a circle design with drawing, we began our collage study. Students created ABSTRACT collages using squares and rectangles. Here are some examples of the work. The rest should be up on the walls outside kindergarten classrooms by the end of the week. Next, we will build pictures of things with shapes.

The kindergarten classes are off to a great start this year. Parents, I am in need of baby wipes. We use these as a part of our clean up routine. You can send donations up to my class with your child. Thanks!!