Zilker Elementary Art Class

Friday, September 28, 2012

Kinder Geometric Shapes

Kinder students are learning about the Elements of Art. This week we are studying the element of shape, and are looking closely at the family of shapes called Geometric. Students drew each of the following geometric shapes: circle, triangle, square, rectangle, and oval. They drew each shape in three different sizes: large, medium, and small. Students also practiced coloring inside their shapes with solid colors, trying not to leave "peek-a-boo spots."

Fourth & Fifth Grade Abstract Designs

Fourth and Fifth grade students are finishing their sketchbook designs. This lesson comes from Mona Brooks "Drawing with Children" book and she calls it "A Unique Drawing Experience." I adapted it with my own set of directions so that students could review the elements and principles of design, but the basic idea is that students listen to a set of directions and follow them. The first direction I gave students was to draw four straight lines from one edge of your paper to another edge. This is a great lesson because even if all students follow the same direction, all of the drawings are unique. A great discussion to have at the beginning of our art year - how everyone draws differently! When students are finished, we glue the design to a piece of construction paper, and it becomes the cover of our sketchbooks.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Third Grade Radial Designs

Third Grade art students have worked so hard on their radial designs! This is the current display in Zilker's main hallway. Students created wonderful designs by arranging shapes, lines, and colors to create a special kind of balance: radial balance. We were reviewing the elements of design and using one of the principles, balance, to arrange them. I am very proud of these outstanding artists!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Second Grade Pattern Animals

Second Grade artists are reviewing lines,shapes, and colors and how to arrange those three elements to create pattern, a principle of design. Check out their great pattern animals that are in progress.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

First Grade Lines

First Grade artists are creating line drawings. We talked about all the different kinds of lines: straight, curved, zigzag, spiral, wavy, looping, dotted, broken, thick, and thin. We identified lines in the art room, and talked about where we could find lines outside or in our homes. Then students started drawing all of the different lines to create some fabulous abstract line designs.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Welcome Back to School!

Welcome back to the new school year 2012-2013! In May I had Kinder and second grade artists work on these amazing abstract paintings so we would have a display ready to go at the beginning of the year.

Kinder students painted black shapes and lines first. Second Grade students then added all the beautiful colors to the positive shapes and negative spaces. I love these so much that I am thinking about creating some permanent murals to put up at Zilker!

I hope every one's summer was fun and relaxing! Zilker students are already hard at work with new creations in the art room, so stay tuned for more posts soon!