Bubble Wrap Printing

 Kindergarteners had so much fun using bubble wrap to make circular prints.  This simple process involved painting the bubble wrap with a brayer and then printing it onto white paper.

It started like this:

 And made a beautiful mess like this:

 And the finished products looked like this (with our self portraits glued over top):

 The first graders have been making sculptures inspired by Alexander Calder.  They had to start by painting styrofoam.  Look at all the colorful hands we had:

 This week we are finishing the sculptures by adding pipe cleaners and beads.  Here is what one looks like:

 And finally, the second graders are finishing up their Georia O'Keefe inspired flower prints while we wait for their clay pieces to dry and be fired in the kiln.  Take a look at their finished print collages below.

Pointillism

3rd graders have been making artwork filled with circles and dots.  We learned about the artist Seurat and his style of painting called pointillism.  Here are the beginnings of some of their pieces they created by dipping cotton swabs in paint:

And here are some of the finish products:

Animal Shape Collages

The kindergarteners have been learning about shapes in art.  Recently we read some poems from the book Oodles of Animals by Lois Elhert and looked at the way she uses shapes to create animals.  Students then got to create their own animal using an assortment of patterned shapes.  Here are the results:

Fall Art

The school is all decorated for the fall season.  Check out the 1st grade owl sculptures, 2nd grade tree sculptures, 4th grade leaf collages, and Kindergarten texture collages.

Gnomes Sweet Gnomes

As part of our travel theme, the fourth graders looked at the Travelocity Roaming Gnome for inspiration in making these gnome collages.  The kids were busy working today, cutting, pasting, and gluing their gnomes into their magical forest lands.  Don't these just make you happy?  

Tree Houses

  

2nd graders have started the year with a unit on trees and nature.  A few weeks ago we went outside to do some observation drawings of trees.  We also discussed the difference between realistic and abstract trees and looked at an abstract tree painting by the artist Gustav Klimt. 

 Last week we read the book, In My Treehouse, by Alice Schertle and then created our own tree and treehouse collages. using color stix, tissue paper, and popsicle sticks.  The kids loved this.  I could barely peel them away from their papers when it was time to clean up!

First grade has been making artwork and looking at artwork filled with lines.  All students have sketchbooks, which they made at the beginning of the year, and we've trying to utilize the sketchbooks a lot more than I previously have.  Sketching is a great way for students to train their eyes to look for details, to practice ideas, and to develop their skills.  Recently all the first graders had a chance to look at Picasso's Study of a Young Son and to make an observation drawing of it in their sketchbook.  Below is Picasso's painting followed by some student sketches.  Try sketching at home by finding interesting objects around your house to draw.