William H. Johnson Study

2nd Grade students read "Li'l Sis and Uncle Willie" by Gwen Everett. Students learned a little bit about William H. Johnson's life and why his artwork is important. Students drew themselves with someone that is important to them, much the way Johnson did. Students drew their portraits as if the people in the painting were looking at a camera, the way Johnson did in many of his paintings. They painted their portraits with tempera paint and then outlined their shapes with black marker.

Thoughts about peace

 

Fourth grade students discussed what peace means to them. They read "Peace" by Wendy Anderson Halperin and "The Golden Rule" by Ilene Cooper. To prepare their artwork, they drew a dove on a piece of sticker paper and then put it on their paper. Then they painted their entire paper with watercolor, trying 8 different watercolor techniques. At the next class, they wrote what peace means to them, around the outline of their dove. They chose a font to use for their statement, " I can be peaceful." and added more peaceful elements with oil pastel.

 

Aboriginal Paintings

 

         4^th grade students learned about the artwork of the aboriginal people of Australia. This group of people is indigenous to Australia, just like Native Americans are indigenous to the United States.

        The students learned that the Aborigines are known for their dot paintings and x-ray paintings. As you can probably imagine, dot paintings are made with only dots, and x-ray paintings show the inside of the subject they painted. Students chose an animal that lives in Australia to paint in the dot and x-ray painting styles of the Aborigines. They signed their artwork with their handprint, something the Aborigines do as well.

 

             Los estudiantes de 4º grado aprendieron sobre el arte del pueblo aborigen de Australia. Este grupo de personas son indígenas de Australia, igual que los nativos americanos son los indígenas de los Estados Unidos.

             Los estudiantes aprendieron que los aborígenes son conocidos por sus obras de puntitos y pinturas estilo rayos x. Como se podrán imaginar, las obras de puntitos son pinturas hechas solo de puntos y las pinturas estilo rayos x muestran lo de adentro del sujeto de la pintura.  Los estudiantes escogieron un animal que viva en Australia para pintar en los estilos de puntitos y rayos x de los aborígenes. Ellos firmaron sus obras de arte con la impresión de sus manos, algo que también hacen los aborígenes.

Jackson Pollack Inspired Bowls

 

Fifth graders read "Action Jackson" by Jan Greenburg and Sandra Jordan. They also watched youtube clip of Jackson Pollack painting. They painted the bowls they made out of paper mache in the same style as Jackson Pollack; a style known as abstract expressionism. We discussed how some people love Pollack's work and some hate it, and students gave reasons why they did or did not like his work.

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