Cave Drawings

 

 First grade students learned about some of the first artwork ever made; cave paintings! Students took a virtual tour of the cave at Lascaux, looked at photos of the cave paintings, and read the book, "The Cave Painter of Lascaux" by Roberta Angeletti.  Then students tore the edges off of their brown paper, crumpled it up, and then smoothed it out, to make a surface similar to a cave wall. The next time students came to art, the room had transformed into a cave. Students taped their papers to tables that were turned on their side, and drew their own versions of the cave paintings.

Hot Cocoa Pop Art

 


3rd grade students looked at artwork by Andy Warhol. They read the book Uncle Andy's by James Warhola. Students discussed the meaning of pop art, as well as possible subject matter for pop art. Students were instructed to draw four cups of hot cocoa. (After all, it is the most POPular time of year to drink hot cocoa.) Each square had to feature different colors of their choice. One of the squares had to contain complimentary colors (colors across from each other on the color wheel) somewhere in the square.

Alebrijes

4th grade students created clay animals inspired by "alebrijes" made by the Oaxacan people of Mexico. Students colored their clay animals with brightly colored oil pastels and then dipped their clay animal into a bath of watered down tempera paint. Students learned  that Alebrijes are brightly colored animal sculptures that were originally created by Pedro Linares. Linares was very sick with a fever and dreamed about brightly colored animals. He decided to re-create these animals by creating wood carvings and painting them with brightly colored paints. He also made these sculptures with cardboard and paper mache. The people of Oaxaca were already known for their animal sculptures and they decided to begin painting their sculptures with bright paints like Linares. They now make these sculptures for tourists and to sell in other countries.

A lizard

A rhino

A dragon

A cobra