On Maternity Leave

Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year. I will be on maternity leave until the beginning of December, but will continue to post our art projects when I return. Enjoy your fall!

Winslow Homer Seascapes

First Grade students looked at artwork by Winslow Homer. They noticed he

often painted boats and the ocean. They decided he must've lived by the ocean. (Which he did). Students learned the term "seascape" and drew their own seascape after looking at different types of boats.

Fish Resist

Kindergarten students used crayons and watercolor paint to create a fish resist. Students learned that crayons have oil in them that resists the watercolor paint so they could paint right over their fish drawing. Students created their own unique fishbowl after looking at different types of fish.

More pics of Stained Glass Windows

Stained Glass Windows

Fourth Grade students learned about stained glass as an art form and also its purpose in history. They created their own stained glass windows using permanent markers on plastic. They focused on creating a window with radial symmetry, like traditional rose (circle) windows.

Starry Night

First Grade students read a book about Vincent Van Gogh and learned about this interesting artist's life and artwork. Students tried out his impressionistic style when creating their version of Starry Night.

The Grouchy Ladybug

Kindergarten students read "The Grouchy Ladybug" by Eric Carle. They demonstrated their cutting and gluing skills while creating their ladybug. They learned how to "zig zag fold" to create interesting legs.

5th Grade Weavings

5th Grade students learned to weave on a cardboard loom. They learned that the loom is what artists weave on, the warp strings are what we weave through, and the weft strings are what we weave with. Students learned to weave using the tabby weave and checkerboard techniques. Students discussed the purpose of weavings vs. paintings and concluded that some art is made to be used, some art is made simply because it is fun to make, some art is meant to express feelings or ideas, some art is meant to be looked at, some art is meant to document history and some art is meant to get attention.

Bird Sculptures

4th Grade students discussed the difference between 2-D and 3-D art. They learned that there are different types of 3-D art, relief scultures and sculpture in the round. These birds are considered sculpture in the round since you can walk all the way around them. Students designed their bird bodies to have radial symmetry and colored their designs with oil pastels. They used real feathers for the tail and glued florists' wire to a cardboard base to make their birds stand up.

Japanese Cherry Blossom Scrolls

Kindergarten students learned that many artists paint on scrolls in Japan. They discussed the purpose of scrolls and how they differ from books or long pieces of paper. Students also learned that many Japanese artworks feature cherry blossoms which are considered very beautiful. Students created their own Japanese Cherry Blossom Scrolls by using pink and yellow tissue paper to create 3-D flowers. Many students took these home as Mother's Day presents.

More Blue Dogs 2011

Blue Dog 2011

Though we did this project last year, the results from this year were so good, I had to post again. Third Grade students studied current artist, George Rodrigue who is famous for his "Blue Dog" paintings. Students discovered that his "Blue Dog" isn't always blue. Sometimes Rodrigue paints his dog different colors with different backgrounds to symbolize different emotions and events in the United States.

Students chose what type of dog they wanted to paint as well as the color of their dog. They mixed tints and shades of that color to give their dog details and to make it more realistic.

Fish Prints

Second Grade students discussed the difference between printing and painting. They learned that prints can be made multiple times. Students designed their own fish print by drawing a fish on a piece of styrofoam and then colored it with markers. Students then printed those fish by spraying a piece of paper with water and blotting the paper with paper towel. Then they printed their fish on that paper. Students were able to make multiple prints.

Pointillism Butterflies

Students learned about Georges Seurat, the artist who invented Pointillism by using only dots in his paintings. Students also used jeweler's loupes to look closely at newspaper comics and found those were made from dots of color as well. Students applied their discoveries in creating a butterflies painted with dots. They had to make sure the wings were symmetrical.

More Alphabeasties

Zebra, Newt, Alligator, Eel, Aardvark!

Alphabeasties

Fourth Grade students read the book "Alphabeasties" by Sharon Werner and Sarah Forss. This book focuses on different typefaces and fonts. The authors of this book created animals with different typefaces of the first letter of the animal. For example, a jaguar made from different J fonts. Students were assigned a letter and then chose an animal that started with that letter. Then students drew a contour drawing of that animal and filled the drawing with different fonts of that letter. Here is an Ibis made from Is!

Flower Still Life

Kindergarten students learned what still life means and gave examples of objects that could be in a still life. Students learned that many artists like to paint flowers in a vase. Kindergarten students then used tempera paints to paint their version of flowers in a vase.

Clay Faces

Third Grade students created little vases with faces on them. Then they glazed their clay faces and planted grass so they could have green hair!

Students learned how to roll a slab and attach clay pieces by scoring and slipping each piece.

Senufo Cloth Paintings

Fifth Grade students created simplified animals and filled them with geometric designs inspired by the Senufo people of the Ivory Coast in Africa. These types of paintings are usually painted on cloth. At one time, the Senufo people believed these cloth paintings would bring them good luck if they wore the cloth while hunting. Today, the cloth is mainly made to sell to tourists.

More William H. Johnson Studies