Monday, October 27, 2014

3rd Grade Art News


Third Grade Art News
from Jamie Pettit, Zilker Art Teacher
Third Graders Explore Line, Shape, Overlapping, and Balance!

This semester Third Grade Students will be learning about lines and how they vary as well as learning about geometric and free form shapes and how they can be seen in the world around us.
Students have started a radial design that has radial balance.  Radial balance is achieved when a circular design is symmetrical from side to side as well as from top to bottom.  This means the design has two or more lines of symmetry.

Students Explore Art
 Throughout this year students will be exploring the great art, artists, and cultures of the world.  Each student will develop skills to understand and appreciate artwork.  We will also participate in hands-on activities and develop critical thinking skills. More and more, the arts are playing a vital role in education and learning.  Unlike many other subject areas, the arts introduce students to ways of thinking that are based on imagination and judgment.  The arts encourage students to think and learn in a variety of ways, helping them to develop increased language and learning skills.  This year your child will begin to see the world through the eyes of an artist and develop critical thinking skills that will last a lifetime.

Artsonia: Zilker’s Online Student Art Museum
Artsonia is a secure online art gallery used to showcase the wonderful art that our Zilker artists create. You can share your child’s art with distant family members and friends, as well as leave supportive comments in each child’s artist guestbook.  Last names are never shown publicly, and each child has a screen name, so it is a safe and secure site. You can also buy items with your child’s artwork printed on them, and 20% of the revenue is commissioned back to Zilker’s Art Program.  Artsonia is a wonderful way to increase students’ self-esteem and pride while encouraging their participation and appreciation of visual art.   Check it out atwww.artsonia.com 

Artwork: When does it get sent home?
Grades 2 – 6th typically work on longer projects that take several weeks to complete. Kinder and 1st grades have shorter projects.  I keep artwork for different displays at Zilker, the AISD offices, the district art show, and other venues.  Students will get all of the artwork back after the displays have been taken down.  If you have any questions about grading, or would like to see what your child is working on, please email me or call me and I can set up a time for you to peek “behind the scenes.”  Otherwise, keep a look out in the hallways or for a note home about displays elsewhere! In April, every child will have his or her artwork displayed in the School-Wide Art Show.


Welcome Back! Summer was relaxing but I really missed Zilker’s great artists.  This is my seventeenth year teaching art, and fourteenth year here at Zilker. I feel very lucky to be a part of the Zilker Community! Thanks for a great start to the 2014 – 2015 School Year.

Jamie Pettit
Zilker Art Teacher
jamie.pettit@austinisd.org
www.zilkerelementaryart.blogspot.com

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

5th Grade One-point Perspective

 5th Grade artists are working on their one-point perspective art galleries. Fifth Grade artists are creating the illusion of a three-dimensional room on a two-dimensional surface - paper!  Students used six perspective techniques to help create their illusions: converging lines, overlapping, different sizes of objects, placement of objects, detail, and color.  Students were able to choose what style of art was in the galleries as well as if they wanted to have a matching theme for the art.  Outstanding attention to detail and color really invite viewers to take a closer look. 

We are also using color and detail to help with perspective.  The paintings that are closer appear to have darker, richer colors and more sharp detail, while the artworks on the back wall have fewer details and appear to be lighter and duller in color as well as a bit fuzzy.  Students are having a great time creating the different artworks for their walls!


Check out the finished drawings at Artsonia, our online student museum: 

http://www.artsonia.com/teachers/members/exhibits/artwork.asp?id=845331

Thursday, October 16, 2014

First Grade Free Form Shapes

First Grade students are also reviewing free form shapes.  Students first had to cut out a free form shapes from a piece of paper, then trace it seven or more times onto a black paper, making sure to overlap the shape in a few areas.  Next, students had to carefully trace their pencils lines with glue.  The glue dried overnight, and the next class students added color with construction paper crayons. The glue dried clear, leaving behind the nice outlines of their free form shapes. The completed drawings make wonderful abstract art works!


Tuesday, October 14, 2014

2nd Grade Art News

2nd Grade Art News
from Jamie Pettit, Zilker Art Teacher
This semester Second Grade Students will be learning about the variety of lines, geometric shapes, and free form shapes.  Students will study the artist Georgia O’Keeffe and create their own flower painting.  While learning about painting, students will study the intermediate colors and choose one to mix the colors for their large petals.  Students will also create a color wheel and mix the colors with paint. We will connect science and art by studying the parts of a flower as well.

Students Explore Art
 Throughout this year students will be exploring the great art, artists, and cultures of the world.  Each student will develop skills to understand and appreciate artwork.  We will also participate in hands-on activities and develop critical thinking skills. More and more, the arts are playing a vital role in education and learning.  Unlike many other subject areas, the arts introduce students to ways of thinking that are based on imagination and judgment.  The arts encourage students to think and learn in a variety of ways, helping them to develop increased language and learning skills.  This year your child will begin to see the world through the eyes of an artist and develop critical thinking skills that will last a lifetime.

Artsonia: Zilker’s Online Student Art Museum
We are participating in Artsonia again this year.    You can share your child’s art with distant family members and friends, as well as leave supportive comments in each child’s artist guestbook.  Last names are never shown publicly, and each child has a screen name, so it is a safe and secure site. You can also buy items with your child’s artwork printed on them, and 20% of the revenue is commissioned back to Zilker’s Art Program.  Artsonia is a wonderful way to increase students’ self-esteem and pride while encouraging their participation and appreciation of visual art.   Check it out at www.artsonia.com

Artwork: When does it get sent home?
Grades 2 – 5th typically work on longer projects that take several weeks to complete. Kinder and 1st grades have shorter projects.  I keep artwork for different displays at Zilker, the AISD offices, the district art show, and other venues.  Students will get all of the artwork back after the displays have been taken down.  If you have any questions about grading, or would like to see what your child is working on, please email me or call me and I can set up a time for you to peek “behind the scenes.”  Otherwise, keep a look out in the hallways or for a note home about displays elsewhere! In April, every child will have his or her artwork displayed in the School-Wide Art Show.  You can also look at the Zilker Elementary Art Class Blog to see what is happening in Art class at: http://zilkerelementaryart.blogspot.com/



 Welcome Back! Summer was relaxing but I really missed Zilker’s great artists.  This is my seventeenth year teaching art, and fourteenth year here at Zilker. I feel very lucky to be a part of the Zilker Community! Thanks for a great start to the 2014 – 2015 School Year.


Jamie Pettit
Zilker Art Teacher
jamie.pettit@austinisd.org
www.zilkerelementaryart.blogspot.com
 

Friday, October 10, 2014

First Grade Art News


First Grade Art Class
from Jamie Pettit, Zilker Art Teacher
This semester First Grade Students will be learning about lines, shapes and symmetry. Students will:
-learn about different kinds of lines, such as thick or thin, as well as line directions, such as diagonal, vertical, or horizontal.
-learn about how artists use lines to show movement and look at lines in fine artworks.
-learn about how artists use different shapes, such as geometric and free form, in their works of art.
-learn all about color, including primary, secondary, warm, cool, tints, shades, and complementary colors.

Students Explore Art
 Throughout this year students will be exploring the great art, artists, and cultures of the world.  Each student will develop skills to understand and appreciate artwork.  We will also participate in hands-on activities and develop critical thinking skills. More and more, the arts are playing a vital role in education and learning.  Unlike many other subject areas, the arts introduce students to ways of thinking that are based on imagination and judgment.  The arts encourage students to think and learn in a variety of ways, helping them to develop increased language and learning skills.  This year your child will begin to see the world through the eyes of an artist and develop critical thinking skills that will last a lifetime.

Artsonia: Zilker’s Online Student Art Museum
We are participating in Artsonia again this year.    You can share your child’s art with distant family members and friends, as well as leave supportive comments in each child’s artist guestbook.  Last names are never shown publicly, and each child has a screen name, so it is a safe and secure site. You can also buy items with your child’s artwork printed on them, and 20% of the revenue is commissioned back to Zilker’s Art Program.  Artsonia is a wonderful way to increase students’ self-esteem and pride while encouraging their participation and appreciation of visual art.   Check it out at www.artsonia.com

Artwork: When does it get sent home?
Grades 2 – 5th typically work on longer projects that take several weeks to complete. Kinder and 1st grades have shorter projects.  I keep artwork for different displays at Zilker, the AISD offices, the district art show, and other venues.  Students will get all of the artwork back after the displays have been taken down.  If you have any questions about grading, or would like to see what your child is working on, please email me or call me and I can set up a time for you to peek “behind the scenes.”  Otherwise, keep a look out in the hallways or for a note home about displays elsewhere! In April, every child will have his or her artwork displayed in the School-Wide Art Show. You can also look at the Zilker Elementary Art Class Blog to see what is happening in Art class at: http://zilkerelementaryart.blogspot.com/

 Welcome Back! Summer was relaxing but I really missed Zilker’s great artists.  This is my seventeenth year teaching art, and fourteenth year here at Zilker. I feel very lucky to be a part of the Zilker Community! Thanks for a great start to the 2014 – 2015 School Year.


Jamie Pettit
Zilker Art Teacher
jamie.pettit@austinisd.org
www.zilkerelementaryart.blogspot.com
 

Monday, October 6, 2014

Kinder Free Form Leaf Paintings

 Kinder artists are learning all about Free Form Shapes in art class!  We talked about how free form shapes come from nature, and how they are different from geometric shapes: they don't have even, smooth edges, they are irregular, and they don't have specific names like geometric shapes.
First, students used crayons to rub on top of textured leaf plates, creating a print of the leaf on their papers. They repeated this step again and again with different leaves and colors until their entire paper was covered with free form shaped leaves. The we talked about painting, and how to use a brush gently. Students chose a different color paint to color their leaves, so that each leaf had two different colors.
The results are beautiful, abstract works of art! Look at them all on Artsonia, Zilker's online art museum: 
http://www.artsonia.com/museum/gallery.asp?exhibit=834525