1st Grade Color Wheels

First Graders are starting to create a book about Color Theory. On their first day, they painted their own color wheels using only the primary colors red, blue, and yellow. They mixed the primary colors to create the secondary colors green, orange, and violet. They also discovered what happens when all three primary colors are mixed together. The next few art classes will encompass exploring complementary colors, cool colors, warm colors, neutral colors, shades and tints of colors, and learning the order of the rainbow as well as the science behind it.

5th Grade Media Lesson

Our first field trip to the Blanton was on Friday, October 15th. The main idea of the lessons was artistic media - the specific materials and processes used by artists to create works of art. Before our field trip, students explored two different types of media in art class: pencil and watercolor. We discussed two artworks that had landscapes as subject matter, but were different in terms of media: one was an oil painting, and the other a print. After discussing the similarities and differences of the two landscapes, students looked at a photo of a small tree on our Zilker campus. They first drew the tree using only pencil, then painted the tree again using watercolor paints and brush. We then had a lively discussion about which medium each student liked best and why. This lesson set the stage for our first field trip that included a artwork media scavenger hunt as well as looking at different types of media in the museum's permanent collection.

3rd Grade Day of the Dead Drawings & Papel Picado

Third Grade students are learning about the Mexican celebration of Dia de los Muertos. On November 1st and 2nd Mexican families honor the memories of family members and friends who have passed away. Families will go to the cemetery and decorate the graves with marigold flowers, and sometimes will have an altar in their home with the person's photo that they are remembering. Skeleton toys and candies are also a big part of the celebration, and are often silly and fun to show that death is not something to be afraid of but is part of the life cycle. The Day of the Dead celebrations show that people all around the world share many common rituals: a reference for life, respect for death, and the acceptance of the cycles of life. Third graders drew skeleton characters performing an everyday activity, such as skateboarding, cooking, or going to school. We also each cut out our own piece of papel picado to hang in the hallway for our Zilker celebration Zamboree.

2nd Grade Stencil Prints and Finger Prints

Second Graders printed their stencils using a sponge brush and tempera paint. Then, we used our fingerprints to create crab bodies and small fish. The focus was on the warm colors of orange, yellow, and red, since we had used cool colors in the background. Next, students will add details to all of the animals and plants using color pencils. A true mixed-media project!

Second Grade Stencils

Second Graders are creating stencils. Each student had to pick one ocean plant and one animal that lives in the ocean. Students carefully drew the outlines of their plants and animals, then cut them out to create the stencils. In the next week we will be printing the stencils onto a prepared background. Stencils are just one type of printmaking we will be using on this project. The final project will be a seascape using lots of different materials.

Fifth Grade Space & Perspective Project

Fifth Graders are creating their own art galleries. They are using perspective techniques to create the illusion of depth and space on a two-dimensional surface. Students are using all of the following techniques: scale, overlapping, converging lines, details, and color.

Kinder Free Form Shapes

Free form shapes are shapes from nature, and sometimes are also called organic shapes. Kinder students used crayons to rub leaf designs onto their papers. The next class we added paint, talking about how to care for our brushes as we worked.

3rd grade Radial Design

Third Graders are working on Radial Balance. Balance is one of the Principles of Design, and radial balance is usually a circular design that has two or more lines of symmetry. The stained glass image above is from Notre Dame church, and actually has many lines of symmetry, not just the two lines my students are showing with the yarn. Students are working hard drawing different shapes and lines to create their radial designs. They are now adding color with markers, which can be tricky since the color must be balanced as well! Here are some students working on their beautiful designs.

Fourth Grade House Sculptures

Fourth Graders are hard at work on their house sculptures. Constructing them out of cardboard, we are trying to build a stable structure that will stand on its own, but have a little "character" as well. Students are adding fun details such as windows, doors, chimneys, and will start using small wood pieces (toothpicks, Popsicle sticks) to add texture and variety. We're using a lot of glue for this project; "Dot, dot, not a lot" will not work to keep our house sticking together!

First Grade: Geometric Shapes

First Graders are reviewing the differences between geometric and free form shapes. We looked at several different artworks, including Lois Ehlert's "Circus" collage, so students could identify different geometric shapes in them. Then, we each created a geometric shape collage. Last, we talked about creating prints out of our collage by rubbing crayons across them to pick up the texture of the paper shapes underneath. Here are some first graders working on the rubbing prints of their geometric shape collages.