5th Grade Sumi-E paintings

Fifth Grade students learned that Sumi-E means ink picture. This is a traditional Japanese style of painting. Artists practice their brushstrokes for years before painting actual pictures. The goal of Sumi-E painting is not to paint a realistic representation of an object, but to capture its spirit or soul in the painting. Students practiced three different kinds of brushstrokes and then used those techniques to paint bamboo, a traditional subject of Sumi-E Paintings.

 

2nd Graders' collaborative suburban neighborhood

Second grade students compared characteristics of rural, suburban and urban landscapes. They discovered that Kalamazoo has all three of these areas. This is their collaborative map of a suburban area.

Henri Rousseau Jungles

Second Grade students studied the artwork of Henri Rousseau, an artist who taught himself how to draw and paint. He loved to paint jungle scenes even though he had never  been to the jungle. Students compared Rousseau’s jungle paintings with traditional rural areas, and though we often think of farmland when we use the word rural, students agreed that a jungle could be considered a rural area.

Degas Dancers

Fourth Grade students studied the artwork of Edgar Degas, an artist who was interested in drawing and people people in motion, especially dancers. Students practiced gesture drawing by sketching many of their classmates striking a pose. Then they looked at pictures of different people doing different types of dancing. Then they drew that person doing the dance of their choice. They colored their drawing with chalk pastels and then outlined with ink.

Giraffes Can't Dance

Third Grade students looked at the artwork of Edgar Degas, an artist who loved to draw and paint dancers. He was very interested in drawing people in motion and spent a lot of time doing gesture drawings, or drawings of people moving. Students then read "Giraffes Can't Dance" by Giles Andreae. Students drew a giraffe dancing and colored it with markers. Then they painted a background for their giraffe, much like the illustrations in the book. They focused on the different values in a moonlit sky and painted the sky lighter near the moon, and darker away from the moon.

 

Textured Chameleons

Kindergarten students learned that we use the word texture when we’re describing how something feels. Students created texture rubbings with texture plates. Then they explored making texture with paint by using texture scrapers in tempera paint. Students saw a video clip of a chameleon changing color, and read A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni. Then they traced chameleons, cut them out of their texture rubbings, and glued them to painted texture background. Finally, they wrote about where their chameleon could be hiding.

Dinosaurs

First Grade students practiced observation drawings by drawing dinosaur figurines at their table groups. Then they added a horizon line and other details. Finally, they painted their dinosaurs with watercolors.