Kinder Free Form Leaf Rubbings & Paintings

 Kinder students are busy learning about free form shapes and texture rubbings!  We first talked about how free form shapes are different from geometric shapes because they do not have names or even, smooth edges, and they are found mostly in nature.  We then talked about how the seasons were changing from summer to fall, and discussed what happens during Fall: the weather is cooler, the leaves change color, and then fall from the trees.  Leaves are free form shapes, so we took some leaf texture plates, placed them under our papers, and used our large crayons to rub the leaf images onto our papers, filling all of the space with free form leaves.

 The next art class we added more color with paint!  We talked about how to use our brushes gently, and started adding color to our leaves. Students noticed that even though the paint stuck to the paper, it did not stick to the crayon.  We talked about how the crayons have wax in them, and how water will not stick to wax.  Students will finish painting their leaves next time, creating a wonderful abstract work of color!

Second Grade: Where the Wild Things Are

 Second Grade artists are busy creating their own Wild Things!  We read the outstanding author and illustrator Maurice Sendak's book "Where the Wild Things Are," and looked very closely at the illustrations.  Mr. Sendak draws some incredible textures throughout the story, and we talked about  how he used lines and shapes to create all of the different textures.  We then practiced some different textures together, and then drew our own wild thing and used at least four different textures on different parts of the wild thing. After practicing two or three, we chose our best idea and drew it bigger on a piece of white construction paper.  Students outlined with a black Sharpie, and here they are adding color with watercolors. Look for these on display at Zilker soon!

Zentangle Letter Designs

This year we joined in on the Zentangle craze that has swept the art education world! Zilker fourth and fifth grade students have created amazing designs for their sketchbook covers.  They chose the first initial of either their first or last name, and drew that letter as a shape.  Then, they divided the space with four different lines, which created many different free form shapes.  Inside the shapes they drew patterns with a sharpie marker.  We looked at several Zentangle designs, and then students created many of their own pattern ideas.  It was a truly "zen-like" experience because students were focused and relaxed.

Welcome Back Zilker Artists!

We are starting the 2013-2014 school year thinking about CREATIVITY!  Students from 1st - 3rd grades last May helped to create this great bulletin board of hands up for creativity. We are off to a great start, reviewing our elements and Principles of Design. Look for some new artworks featuring the element of LINE in later September!

1st Grade Clay Dinosaur Sculptures

1st grade artists learned all about dinosaurs!   Each student chose a dinosaur to sculpt out of clay.  Here in these photos students are carefully adding texture and details to their dino sculptures.

We talked about how clay changes physically and chemically in the kiln.  When the dinosaurs came out of the kiln - they are no longer clay - they are ceramic, which is a chemical change.  Students added color with tempera paint and used their imaginations to create very colorful dinosaurs.

Last, we created a habitat for our dinosaurs.  We talked about all the basic things the dinosaurs needed to survive: air, water, food, shade, and warmth.  We drew all of those things onto our diorama, and added other non-essential details, like a volcano and some rocks.  Now the dinosaurs have a home!  This is one of my favorite art projects out of all of the things I create with all grade levels! It is also a favorite memory for many of my older students.  Enjoy!

5th Grade Faith Ringgold Story Quilts

Fifth Graders studied the African American artist Faith Ringgold and her story quilt "Tar Beach." We also read her book named "Tar Beach" and discussed the main idea: no matter what your circumstances in life, you are free to chose where to go in your imagination.  Students chose a place in the world that they wanted to visit if they had nothing holding them back from visiting. They wrote a short two sentence story about why they wanted to visit that particular place. They each brought in a photo of the place that included an important landmark or natural feature.  They then had to chose how they were getting to that place.  This is where they were able to use their imagination to think up fun ways to get there: jet pack, flying animals, or magical shoes were a few of the choices.

After drawing themselves flying to their place, students added watercolor to the sky.  They then used color pencils to add details to their drawings and portraits.

 After students finished the drawing in the center, they added the patterned paper and fabric for the quilt edge. Finally, they wrote their short story on two slips of paper, and glued those to their artwork.  Enjoy these beautiful fifth grade story quilts, and see all of them at our online museum on Artsonia at http://

www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=105385. 

Kinder Jasper Johns Paintings

Kinder Art students are learning about the Pop artist Jasper Johns.  We looked at several of his paintings and especially focused on his number and letter paintings.  After brain-storming about where we can find letter and numbers all around our world ( license plates, clocks, signs, watches, phones, computers, etc.), we practice drawing numbers or letters with crayons.  Then we drew our numbers or letters on the white paper with oil pastels.  Next, we added paint just like Jasper Johns: putting a small amount of each color inside each number or letter box.  Here are some photos of students adding one color at a time with paint.