Art with Ms. Fun Update #1
October 6, 2023
It has been an exciting start to our school year here in the art room! Meeting all of the amazing students here at Elm Street School has been such a pleasure. I have loved getting to build relationships with all of them while we work on establishing classroom routines and expectations with a new face in the room. This past month, all grades have been reviewing and learning different materials, methods, and procedures as I begin to understand where each student stands in their artistic development. We have also begun to embark on some fall themed projects as we focus on the elements and principles of art and design.
Students in Kindergarten have been focusing on line and color order as they created line sculptures and rainbow line paintings. Students have learned the difference between 2-d and 3-d as they created lines in both painting and sculpture formats. They can tell you all about different kinds of lines such as horizontal, vertical, diagonal, straight, zig zag, wavy, and even broken lines! The learning was reinforced as they listened to the line song and the R.o.y. G. B.i.v song. They especially loved being able to see all of the different kinds of lines and shapes they could make using strips of paper!
Students in 1st grade have been reviewing the elements of shape, line, and color. Line drawings, Abstract geometric shape people, and organic shape overlapping paintings… we have been all over the map! Students enjoyed letting go of realistic expectations as they created abstract people made out of geometric shapes and lines inspired by Hispanic Artist, Joan Miro. A triangle for a head, a circle for a neck, squiggly lines for arms! This week we began focusing on organic shapes as students created their own organic shape stencil to trace and overlap to fill up the page. Next week we will focus on primary colors and see what happens when they overlap using watercolor paint.
Students in 2nd grade have been focusing on shape and color this month. After creating some abstract geometric shape collages inspired by artist: Robert Reed, we have embarked on studying our warm and cool colors. Students were excited by new watercolor techniques to achieve unique blending and tie dye effects using warm colors for their fall themed leaf paintings. Next week they will use the cool colors to create a background effect as if the leaves are falling in mid air.
Students in 3rd grade were introduced to printmaking this week. They were learning how to capture the texture of leaves through this process. The process involved rolling white ink onto the textured part of a leaf and then pressing it onto black paper to reveal the pattern and texture the leaf leaves behind. Students were amazed by how accurately this process captures the texture of the leaves and were proud of their work. Next week they will sponge on backgrounds using warm, fall colors.
Students in 4th and 5th grade have been working very diligently on their neurographic watercolor paintings. This was their third and final class working on them. The students created a continuous line all over the page, rounded out the corners, and painted in the spaces using watercolor paint. We learned about calming and relaxing art making processes as we try to break down the stigma of having to have “perfect” artwork. We always celebrate mistakes in the art room and turn them into masterpieces.
