Fish Exploration Part 1

rubber fish

First grade artists have begun a fish study. They recently went on a fishing trip and we are building off of that excitement! Today, we began drawing fish from observation. In lieu of real fish, we use the rubber fish set that I inherited when I came to PS 58. They are made for printmaking, but I like to utilize them in observational drawing units because of the details they include. We looked at fish created by Bruno Munari and Hokusai.

left: Hokusai print, right: Munari illustration

Students noticed that the Hokusai piece was more likely drawn from observation because the artist included so many details. Our goal was to include as many details as we could. Here are a few small drawings that will kick off our unit:

Check back to see where this will lead!

Kindergarten Ink Paintings

Kindergarten artists have been working on drawing with a brush and ink. We have been practicing including details in our work. In one class, they created drawings of birds inspired by the book Feathers for Lunch. The following week, we looked at rubber fish and drew the details that we noticed. Then, we added chalk pastel. It was a new experience for a lot of students to work with the dusty material and the colors came out beautifully!

May Newsletter

Happy May! Here is the newsletter for this month:

Studio 220 Newsletter: May 2011

I can hardly believe it is May! I hope everyone had a wonderful April vacation. We have a ton of exciting things going on in the art studio. Here is what each grade is working on:

Kindergarten artists are exploring looking and drawing, or observational drawing. We will explore the work of a number of artists who worked from observation including one of my personal favorites, Beatrix Potter. Students will work from a number of subjects and in many different media. We will explore how we can create texture and shape with drawing.

First grade artists are going to be starting a sculpture unit. We will do a study of fish, exploring artists who were inspired by fish such as Hokusai. Students will create drawings from observation, collages and a plaster wrap sculpture of their own fish. We will be exploring moving from 2D to 3D, how artists use drawings in the sculptural process and how you can create form from paper and cardboard. Check out the Studio 220 Blick Wishlist (http://www.dickblick.com/lists/artroomaid/3HP8PP4LU14Q3/publicview/) to help us get the rigid wrap for this project.

Second grade artists are working on a painted paper collage project. Inspired by their science and Earth Day studies of birds of prey (How amazing were those birds?!!), second graders will create their own birds of prey from painted paper. We will look at the work of illustrator Kim Scafuro, a Brooklyn artist who creates collages of painted paper. Students will explore the textures and patterns that are common on owls, hawks, eagles and other birds of prey. Next, students will explore creating a variety of values and textures using only black ink on paper. This paper will then be used for the students’ final birds of prey collages.

Fourth graders are studying the work of Wayne Thiebaud. We will explore how and why this artist chose food as one of his primary subjects. Students will rely on their recent study of form to create pastel drawings of food and cakes inspired by Thiebaud’s work. Students will learn about complimentary colors and use them in their final compositions. We will take what we have learned in painting about mixing colors and apply this to dry media.

Fifth graders are working on animal paintings inspired by Australian aboriginal paintings. Students are exploring painting with non-traditional materials and creating patterns using only dots. Students will explore symbolism and how this can be incorporated into their artwork.

The Gumplegutch!

April is poetry month! Here is a poem by Shel Silverstein that has inspired a first grade art project:

The Gumplegutch

Go over and play with the Gumplegutch, Tommy,
The Gumplegutch loves to play.
You can bounce on his belly,
And call him Old Nellie,
And fill up his nostrils with clay.
Don't be 'fraid of his fangs,
Or his one yellow eye,
Or the scales on his tail, my dear.
Go over and play with the Gumplegutch, Tommy,
There's nothing at all to fear.
I will wait over here.

First graders searched for descriptive words to give us clues about the Gumplegutch's appearance. Once we had identified the descriptive words, each student imagined what the Gumplegutch looks like. Students each created a collagraph print of their creature.

First, we made a collage of our Gumplegutch using thick paper.

The following week, we used our collage as a printing plate. We inked the plate using a brayer, put a piece of paper on top of the plate and then burnished.

And VOILA! A Gumplegutch print:

The Amazing Melanie Hope Greenberg Visits Studio 220

For the past 3 weeks, author/illustrator Melanie Hope Greenberg has been working with us at PS 58. I have worked with Melanie before and it is such a pleasure to have a local illustrator share her knowledge and enthusiasm with our kids. She first shared her process with all second graders in the library. She read her book and everyone got a copy of Mermaids on Parade!

The following two visits were in Studio 220 with Melanie! She worked with all second grade classes. She shared her books and some relief paintings. Students were then inspired to create their own paper pop up relief collages. The students used foam tape in layers to create the relief effect. The students had a blast! Many were inspired by her city theme and the way that she layered buildings. Here are some photos from the residency. I can't wait to work with her again.

Melanie shares A City Is.

Students working.


Students share their work with partners.

Some finished pieces:

Thanks to Melanie and our visiting author program!

Catching Up---again!

Things are so busy around here that this blog has been a bit neglected. I am going to do a one-post update of what all grades have been doing.

Kindergarten- cardboard relief animal sculptures!

First Grade- My block collages inspired by Romare Bearden and visiting artist Mari Takabayashi!

Second grade- Figures in action mosaics and drawings!

Fourth Grade- Imaginary settlement cartography!

Fifth Grade- Op Art!

Now that we are all caught up, I will let you know what we are doing now in the coming days!

Fifth Grade Tunnel Books

I wanted to share the work that 5th graders did on their tunnel books. This was completed some time ago, but it is still on display in school.

Fifth grade artists each created their own illustrated character. They considered the character’s personality traits and physical features and how these would be shown. Here, students have created a tunnel book to capture their character in an environment. We studied the work of artist Andrea Deszo and noticed how she uses paper constructions to create a scene with depth. Students carefully considered what would be in their piece’s background, middle ground and foreground. Next, using colored pencil and colored pencil sticks, they created each layer. Finally, the scene was constructed in the box for support.

March Newsletter!

Studio 220 Newsletter: March 2011

Here is what is happening this month in the art studio:

Kindergarten artists continue to work on sculpture. We will begin by exploring how a sculpture is different from a drawing. We will then experiment with how a 2D material can be used for 3D work. Students will bend, fold, crumple and twist paper to create three-dimensional work.

First grade artists are finishing up their block collages inspired by Romare Bearden and Mari Takabayashi. Next, we will continue to explore how the city can inspire art making through printing. Students will use etching and collograph printing to create a cityscape. We will focus on how from a distance, buildings overlap and layer. Students will explore foreground, middle ground and background in their printmaking. We will look closely at Georgia O’Keeffe’s The Radiator Building to see how light and dark shapes create depth in a cityscape.

Second grade artists are working with clay! This is a favorite material for so many students. We will explore how artists create vessels with ceramics. Students will each create their own vessel using the coil method. We will learn about the very important method of attaching clay called scratching and scoring. Students will become familiar with the geometric period of ancient Greek ceramics when we begin to paint our own work. We will explore using different lines, shapes and patterns to make our work more interesting and add movement.

Second graders are also working with illustrator Melanie Hope Greenberg this month! She will be doing an author visit and will then spend two Mondays working with all second graders in the art studio. She will be sharing how her own neighborhood and city inspire her work and will collaborate with students to create a piece about Brooklyn.

Fourth graders are working with charcoal. We are exploring how we can use this drawing media to create a variety of values and textures, as well as create form. We have linked our unit with the fourth graders’ studies of colonial America. Students have been learning about what life was like for colonists and what they needed to survive. Taking these ideas, students will imagine that they have created their own new settlement in a realistic or fantasy place. We will look at the work of colonial cartographer John White and at the work of mapmakers who depict imaginary places. Students will each create a map of their own settlement. Each one will include the sources of food, water and shelter. They have begun sketching out their ideas and will soon create a large map with charcoal.

Fifth graders are finishing up their Op Art pieces and will begin working on one-point perspective. Students will take what they have learned about creating the illusion of space and begin to explore how artists create depth and realistic special relationships. We will look at a number of artists whose work illustrates this idea. Relying on what we have learned about foreground, middle ground and background, we will add one-point perspective to our drawing to create landscapes that show depth.

Fourth Grade Portraits

Fourth graders have been creating portraits of people who are important to them. We started by looking at work by Hans Holbein, Alex Katz and Dana Schutz:

We noticed how each portrait tells something about the subject. We looked closely at costume, gaze and the way that paint and color were applied.

Next, we created sketches of our own portraits. We tried to decide how we could tell something about our subjects personality using detail and color choices. From our sketch, we created an under-painting. This is a value painting that we later cover. It is like a painted sketch.

Finally, we used the primary colors and black, white and brown to mix and add colors to our work. They all came out AMAZING! Here are a few examples: