Painting Day!

Third Grade crowds

The third grade students learned how to show depth in a drawing by overlapping figures and by diminishing the size of the figures in the distance. Each student was faced with the challenge of creating a crowd of at least 10 figures, showing depth in the drawing, and designing the background in a way that informs the viewer of the location of the crowd. Students were also required to write complete sentences that answered:
1. Where is the crowd?
2. What is the crowd doing?


"My crowd is in their house. My crowd is laughing."


"My crowd is at a rock band. My crowd is watching."


"My crowd is on earth. They are invading."

Second Graders Create Abstract Art!

The second grade students viewed the artwork of Paul Klee, a Swiss artist who created abstract drawings and paintings in the early 1900's. The students practiced differentiating between realistic, and abstract art, and they created their own abstract, oil pastel drawings.

"In my drawings, I am taking a line for a walk."
--Paul Klee

First Grade Castles

The first Grade students reviewed geometric shapes, and they used shape templates in order to build castles. The students added wavy, straight, and zig-zag lines to show the texture of their buildings. Some students even added kings and queens!

4th Grade Contour Line Drawings

The fourth grade students learned how to create a contour line drawing by closely observing their shoes and by drawing an outline of them with one continuous line. The class learned about one of the functions of drawing (and of art in general): to help us to be better observers of the world. The focus of this assignment was not on the end product (although I think the drawings ended up very successful), rather, the contour drawings served as an excercise to help the students to draw what they see rather than relying on conventional modes of representation.

Animals!

Renaissance Self Portraits

The third grade students learned about Renaissance Portraits. They viewed the self portraits of the Renaissance masters Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, and Albrecht Durer. The students learned the proportions of the face, and they painted a portrait of themselves in the Renaissance style. For example, they dressed themselves in Renaissance clothing, they painted serious expressions on their faces, and they added jewelry and accessories that were popular during the Renaissance.

The first glaze firing of the year!

The Allstar Academy is an after school program, and I am currently teaching a ceramics class on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The students range from grade 2 to grade 6, and they have learned and practiced several ceramic techniques. Above are photographs of their first glazed peices.

Second Grade Japanese Landscapes

The second Grade students viewed slides of Japanese Landscape paintings, and they learned about the characteristics of these paintings. They also viewed photographs of step farmland in Japan, and they viewed pictures of traditional Japanese palaces. The second graders used these images as inspiration for the creation of their own empire in the Japanese style of painting.