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.
First Grade artists have been hard at work learning all about COLOR! We are creating our color books right now, and here are photos of students working on the color families: warm, cool and neutral colors. We also created our own color wheel and used primary colors to mix and create secondary colors. In addition we have studied the complementary colors, and the color order of the rainbow: ROY G. BIV. Look for these outstanding color theory books to come home just in time for the holidays!
Fourth Grade art students have the job of architects these days at Zilker Elementary! They are hard at work designing two story houses out of cardboard. For inspiration, we looked at photos of older houses, and discussed their texture and details. Then we started constructing our houses. We have to use a lot of glue to make the house structurally sound. We also had to think about the function of the houses and what they needed to be functional for living: four walls, windows, a door, and a slanted roof with an overhang to keep the house dry.
Next, we are adding details and making our houses have a variety of textures and details. We talked about having a variety of different styles of windows, and making different kinds of textures on different walls: bricks, stones, peeling paint, or boards. Last, we will add little extra details, like porch lights, chimneys, or whatever else our imaginations come up with!
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!
Kinder art students have started studying the Element of Design of COLOR! We looked at Dutch artist Piet Mondrian and discussed how he used the three Primary Colors: red, blue, and yellow, as his main colors, and then added black and white to his compositions. We also identified some basic shapes in his artworks: squares and rectangles, as well as straight lines. We started with different sizes of red, blue, and yellow squares and rectangles, and tried to arrange them on our white papers in a satisfying way. Once we had our shapes arranged, we glued them down. The next art day, we added straight black lines using a stamp print method. These photos show students using a piece of cardboard and black paint to stamp their straight black lines in between the rectangles and squares.
Fourth grade artists are learning all about the Australian Aboriginal dot paintings. We looked at many different examples, some very old and some from modern Australian artists. We talked about how the Aborigines depicted animals in their artworks, and how important the animals are in their everyday life.
Students then each had to choose a native Texas animal to depict in their own artwork. We talked about how to create a silhouette of the animal, or outline, on black paper. After students glued down their silhouettes, they then had to draw two different x-ray drawings of the animals' bones or internal organs. X-ray drawings are a very unique feature of many Aborigine dot paintings. Finally, students had to start adding color dots with sticks. This was trickier than most students imagined! Students added patterns, a dot outline around the edge of the animal silhouettes, and concentric circles in the background. These are outstanding paintings! Look for the finished versions on Artsonia! http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=105385
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.
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 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!
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.
