Kinder students explore their sense of touch.

Kinder students are reaching inside socks to feel different objects using their sense of touch. Each student had to carefully turn the object around in her or his hand, trying to feel its shape, texture, and size. Peeking was not allowed! Look at those faces concentrating. I sure hope there were no cacti or jellyfish hidden inside those socks! (Disclaimer: no children were harmed during this project.)

Then, after guessing what color the object might be, we tried to draw the objects, after only using our sense of touch, not sight!

At the end of class, we took the objects out of the socks to see if we guessed correctly! What a fun art day!

5th Graders Art Central Lesson: Artist Tools

Fifth Graders are exploring all different types of artist media, or materials, in preparation for their first Blanton Art Central field trip. During this lesson, students used four different types of media - pencil, oil pastel, watercolor, and collage - on the same subject matter - a cone. Drawing the cone four different times, then using different media on each drawing allowed students to compare and contrast the materials used instead of the subject matter of their artwork. Now they are excited and ready for their field trip on Tuesday, October 21st.

Kinder students explore their FIVE SENSES

Kinder students are in the middle of making their Five Senses Books. On this day, they were using their eyes to closely examine different objects, like the seashells below. After using their eyes to see the objects carefully, students then drew the objects, paying close attention to details.

First Graders learn about COLOR

First Graders are working hard on their color books. They finished their first page where they mixed primary colors to create secondary colors on their own color wheel. They also discovered what happens when all three primary colors are mixed together. They are now discovering complementary colors, and will be creating cool and warm color paintings soon. They will put together all of their pages to create a book to take home in December.

Second Graders and Georgia O'Keeffe Flowers

Second Graders have been learning about Georgia O'Keeffe and her large flower paintings. First, we drew technical drawings where we labeled the different parts of flowers (learning some science with our art!). Then we looked at O'Keeffe's flower paintings and read a story about her life. We wrote notes about some interesting things Georgia did, including the fact that she taught art in Texas! Then we started our flower drawings, which you can see us working on. Next, we will be learning how to mix intermediate colors, and finally we will start our own flower paintings.

Spinning in Circles

Third Grade Radial Designs

Third graders have just completed their outstanding radial designs. We learned about radial balance, which is when an object has two or more lines of symmetry. Students created some amazing designs! Look for them soon in the Zilker hallway!

Welcome to the Jungle!

Fourth Grade Rainforest Drawings

Fourth Graders are hard at work on their rainforest drawings. After looking at some photos from Costa Rica and planning out ideas, students are finally adding color to their imaginative jungles. It's hard to find their animals hidden behind all of their tropical plants. You can feel the heat and smell the rain when you look at their artworks!

What is happening in the Art Room?

Fifth Grade Molas

Fifth Graders are now working on Molas, an art from Panama created by the Kuna Indians. Traditionally, Kuna women create mola designs by layering and sewing bright pieces of cloth. One of their main inspirations is animal life. We created our Mola animals with markers, then made a background collage to replicate the repeated oval shapes seen in most Molas. Here are students working on their collages.