September in Zilker Art Room!

 Kinder artists are learning all about free form shapes and the season of Autumn. Students used texture plates with images of leaves and rubbed crayons to get an impression of each leaf's free form shape. They covered their papers with many leaves of different colors.  The next art class we learned how to paint and use our brushes gently. We added different colors inside our leaf shapes.  Look for these on our online museum, Artsonia, soon!

 5th grade artists are learning all about Mexican Folk Art and have drawn an animal surrounded by rain forest with a pattern border.  Right now students are adding vivid colors to their drawings.  The paper is brown to mimic the bark paper that Mexican folk artists use in their own paintings.

 First grade artists learned about artist Paul Klee and looked closely at his artworks where he used geometric shapes to create villages or cities. Students then used paper geometric shapes to create their own villages, and are adding details like textures, windows, doors, and other shapes to their collages with construction paper crayons.

 Fourth grade artists are studying the artwork of Beverly Buchanan, and looking closely at her sculptures.  Students are creating their own house sculptures out of cardboard.  Texture and variety of shapes and details are part of the criteria for this project.  This is a favorite project of many students, and my fourth graders are finally working on their own this year after seeing past students house sculptures!

 Second grade artists are studying the shapes of their city: Austin.  Students drew a downtown view of Austin with the State Capital building as the centerpiece, and are now adding imaginary bright colors to their cityscapes, just like the Fauvist artists of the early 20th century.


 Third grade artists are studying the very beginning of human-created art....Prehistoric Cave art!  We looked carefully at 20,000 year old images painted in the Lascaux Cave in France, and then practiced drawing some of the same animals: bison, ibex, jaguars, cows, horses and bears. Students will pick their best idea to use in their final art piece!

4th Grade Recycled Art Group Project

It has been over a month since I have posted, and for very good reasons: We have been so busy in the art room, not to mention our TWO unexpected ice days in January!  Family Night at Zilker is on Thursday, February 6th, and Zilker art students have been busy working on group projects to be displayed for our parents and students' viewing. 

Fourth Grade Students studied the artist Louise Nevelson and her relief sculptures.  Here is one that we looked closely at, and discussed her use of shape, form, and shadow.

 We used cardboard that I have been saving from delivery boxes.  Each fourth grade students created a relief sculpture that had variety of shapes and sizes, as well as different textures.  Students also had to arrange the cardboard pieces so that they produced a shadow.  Here they are all together:

 Below is a side view so you can check out how the students created the "relief" part...lots of parts sticking outward to create shadows!

 I love these so much...please come by the Zilker Cafeteria during Family Night to see these in person!

Fourth Grade House Sculptures

 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!