2nd Grade Boat Paintings

2nd grade has been learning about the element of art space. We looked at Winslow Homer's painting Breezing Up, and noticed that the faraway boat was much smaller than the near boat. Then, the students tried their hand at making their own near and far boats, trying to make small, faraway boats, and large close-up boats. Here are some results, in crayons and watercolors.

3rd Grade Patterned Sea Turtles

My 3rd grade students have been learning a lot about patterns lately. We recently finished making patterned kites, and learned how patterns can make our artwork more interesting. Now, we are learning how artists sometimes add patterns into their artwork where there wouldn't really be a pattern in real life. We are using this creative concept to make patterned sea turtles.The students began by drawing a sea turtle, blocking his shell into sections, and then creating patterns in each section, much like a zentangle. They enjoyed it!

Melted Marbles

I am all for hands-on learning and experimenting. So, when one of my students asked if the kiln was hot enough to melt glass, they wanted to try it! I said that if anyone brought in marbles, we could melt them in the kiln. The students were so excited! Here are our results. This was just for fun, but the students learned something, and were creative! I really want my students to gain a love for art, and to know it can be fun.

6th Grade Silhouette Paintings

Last year, I introduced a lesson about analogous colors and blending paint to my 6th grade students. It was very successful, and the students loved it! So of course I taught the lesson again this year. The students started by choosing two colors on the color wheel that they could blend together to make an array of analogous colors. Then, they painted one edge of their page with the lighter color, and slowly added their second color to their paint until the other edge of the paper was entirely the second color. The paint mixing was fun, and most of the students were successful. They enjoyed it! Then, I showed the students some photographs taken at sunset, where the subjects of the photos are silhouettes. We briefly discussed the science behind aiming a camera toward a light source, and how silhouettes are photographed. Then, the students used their iPads to look up ideas for silhouettes, and sketched out their final ideas on their analogous colored painting. They used a combination of black paint and black sharpies to complete the silhouettes. Here are some results from this year's students.

Bug Bowl Art Contest Winners 2015

Yesterday was our last day of school, and today is our last teacher work day. I have had such a busy last few weeks of school, that I've neglected to blog! I'll try to keep up better next year. But one thing I really want to post about is the results from Purdue's Bug Bowl student art contest! I was blown away that two of my students got 1st place and 2nd place! We also earned two honorable mention awards. Here are photos of the winning artwork.