Second Graders Study Flowers

Second Graders are studying the American artist Georgia O'Keeffe.  We have learned about her life and how her large and close-up flower paintings made her famous in the 1930's.  We started drawing a technical drawing of a flower, labeling the different parts of the flower.  O'Keeffe looked very closely at flowers in able to draw them better, so second grade artists are following her lead. We also discussed how drawing illustrations like these are a career in art, and we looked at some other technical drawings in encyclopedias. Next we will be looking closely at flowers and draw an expressive flower, and turn that into a painting.

5th Grade Perspective Drawings

Fifth graders are studying one point perspective and creating an interior space for an art gallery.  We used converging lines, overlapping, and size to help create the illusion of depth in our two dimensional drawings.

 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.  Students are having a great time creating the different artworks for their walls!

4th Grade Russian Architecture

 Fourth Grade Art students are studying the art of architecture.  We looked closely at the St. Basil's Cathedral located in Moscow, Russia.  Looking at this whimsical structure gave us plenty of inspiration to design our own versions.

 We practiced creating value with black markers using cross-hatching and hatching shading techniques for the different gray values.  Students are also using a variety of different textures and patterns to decorate their own versions of the cathedral towers.

 These are truly amazing drawings!  A big thanks to the art blog Deep Space Sparkle for this amazing lesson idea!

2nd Grade Cityscape Paintings

 Second Grade artists looked at some of the Fauvist artists for color inspiration.  We discussed how the Fauvists used bright imaginary colors in their artworks.  We drew a scene from our very own city of Austin, and are busy adding imaginary colors to the buildings with watercolors.  These finished paintings will need to be hung in a place of honor at students' homes!  They are amazing!!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!