Third Grade Zilker artists just finished studying Prehistoric Cave Art. We watched video of the famous Lascaux cave in France, and were mesmerized by the huge paintings of animals made by people thousands of years ago. We practiced drawing some of the animals that these ancient artists first recorded: bison, deer, horses, bears, and cows. Students choose their best drawing and carefully cut it out, adding it to a background that they first added implied texture to with texture rubbing plates and actual texture from crumpling the paper. As a final touch, students added some prehistoric symbols and pictographs that were also discovered on the walls of the Lascaux cave. Look for these to be displayed in the hallway in January!
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. A casual classroom poll confirmed that students' favorite part was designing the artworks and sculptures for their galleries. 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.
Third Grade Art Students are learning all about Radial Balance, when an object has two or more lines of symmetry, and the elements of design radiate out from a central point. We looked at several different radial designs, including this one of a stained glass window at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. Students then practiced drawing different radial designs using a variety of shapes, lines, and colors. We folded our square-shaped papers twice to create two lines of symmetry, and to find the exact center of the paper. Students chose their best design to create their final piece on white paper with markers. Students are working hard to finish these this week - look for them soon in the Zilker Hallway!
First grade artists are learning all about free form shapes! Students drew one free form shape, then carefully cut it out and traced it many times onto a black piece of paper. Students made sure to overlap their shapes many times on the paper to create new free form shapes. Then, students had to put glue on top of all of their pencil lines...a very tricky technique! The glue had to dry overnight, and here are photos of students adding color inside their free form shapes after the glue had dried. The bright colors are from construction paper crayons, which work really well on darker paper.
