Human Proportions and Color Schemes

Third grade artists are drawing from observation, looking closely at the art room's wooden mannequins. We discussed Proportion, which is a Principle of Design, and looked closely at how the ovals and circles of the mannequins where proportionate to the human body. We learned to draw contour lines, smooth unbroken lines, when we were drawing the ovals and circles.    

Then, we started to add color with watercolors.  First, we studied warm and cool colors, and noted the difference between them.  Students had to chose to put cool colors below the horizon line, or above it.  Then, the next class students painted the warm colors in the opposite spot.

Painting was a little tricky because students were trying hard to control their paintbrushes and not paint inside the mannequin shapes.  They did an outstanding job!

Check out the finished art here on Artsonia, our online Student Art Museum!

http://www.artsonia.com/museum/gallery.asp?project=1027622

Dias de Los Muertos

 Third and Fifth grade art students study Mexican Folk Art for the Days of the Dead, or Dias de Los Muertos, which is celebrated on November 1 and 2 in Mexico and many other Latin American countries.This is a time where families remember the people who have died, and create an altar in their homes honoring the person's memory.  Here is a display describing the holiday and the many different ways artists use art to celebrate this important cultural event.

 Third and Fifth graders each made a work using the skull or skeleton, which is a common image used by Mexican artists such as Jose Posada.

To see these beautiful works of art closer, go to the links below.

Fifth Grade http://www.artsonia.com/museum/gallery.asp?project=998281

Third Grade   http://www.artsonia.com/museum/gallery.asp?project=1007647

Prehistoric Cave Art with 3rd Grade

Third Grade Zilker Artists are learning all about Prehistoric Cave Art!  We looked closely at several photos of the unbelievably beautiful cave paintings in Lascaux Cave, located in France. Students practiced drawing four different animals that were alive 50,000 years ago when the cave paintings were created, including bison, bears, deer, cows, and horses.

Students added implied texture by rubbing crayons on top of a texture plate to simulate the rough cave walls.  Then we crinkled our papers to add actual or real texture too.

Last, students added prehistoric symbols around their animals with a charcoal stick, similar to what the ancient human used: a burnt stick.

Check out every one's finished cave art on Artsonia, our online student art museum, by cutting and pasting the following link into your browser window: 
   http://www.artsonia.com/museum/gallery.asp?project=990231

3rd Grade Laurel Burch Dogs or Cats

 Artists in third grade are studying American artist Laurel Burch and her colorful depictions of cats and dogs.  Students drew different versions of cats and dogs with playful patterns, and personified the animals by giving human emotions to their facial features.  Students then chose the best idea for the final drawing, taking in account the sized of their shapes and patterns, because the next step was to outline the final drawing with glue.   Once the glue had dried, students planned out vivid colors using the color wheel, trying to choose complementary colors, or colors opposite each other on the color wheel.  Finally, students carefully started to add the color with oil pastels, trying not to cover up the now black glue lines.

 Students chose two different colors for the background behind their dog or cat, trying to maintain the high color contrast.  Last, students had to go back over the glue lines with a small wooden stylus to get any oil pastel off.  Check out the finished art here on Artsonia, our online art museum!

http://www.artsonia.com/museum/gallery.asp?exhibit=885104

Third Grade Prehistoric Cave Art

 Third Grade students are learning about Prehistoric Cave Art.  We looked specifically at the Lascaux Cave in France.  We saw parts of a video about the cave, read a book, and looked at still photos of the cave art to study which animals the prehistoric people chose to draw. We talked about how the people mixed paint and what tools they used to paint or draw on the cave walls.

Next, we practiced drawing four different animals in the prehistoric style.  Students added natural colors like in the cave art: browns, tans, blacks, and whites.  Student chose their best idea and cut it out to add to a textured background.

The backgrounds were made by adding texture through a texture rubbing.  This texture can be seen, but not really felt, so it is an implied texture.  Students then created an real texture that could be both seen and felt by carefully crunching the paper to crinkle it.  Last, students used charcoal sticks to draw ancient cave symbols around their animals.  Students were excited about using a material like the Prehistoric artists did!

3rd Grade Weavings

Third grade art students are learning about fiber art and creating weavings on a loom. Students learned the tabby weave, the Egyptian knot, and added a shape as well as tapestry slits beside the shape.

Students also created a beautiful frame for their weavings, decorating it with patterns and neutral colors.  Check these out at the 2014 School-wide Art Show.

3rd Grade Picasso Faces Paintings

Third Grade Zilker artists have just finished their Picasso Double Face paintings!  We looked at several of Pablo Picasso's portraits of people and discussed how he used Cubism to create them.  The style of Cubism allowed him to show more than one view of a single person in one painting.  We learned how to show both a side view and a front view of a person in the same drawing, and then we divided the face into different shapes to further abstract it. We painted the shapes different bright colors, and finally added black lines for contrast.  At the end, students wrote an "exit Ticket" to describe what they learned during this project. They all did a fantastic job!