Kinder Fish Sculptures

Remember this post from a few weeks ago? 

http://zilkerelementaryart.blogspot.com/2015/01/winter-happenings-in-art-room-kinder.html  

Check out the finished Kinder Fish Sculptures that are brightening the Art Room Hallway!!

Winter Happenings in the Art Room: Kinder, Fifth Grade and Third Grade

 Kinder is creating amazing patterns that will be transformed from two dimensional pieces of paper into  three dimensional sculptures!

Fifth Grade has just finished studying the great Renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci, and have made horse sculptures out of clay.  Here are sneak peeks of students painting glazes onto their bisque-fired horses; next step, another round in the kiln for the glaze firing!

 Third grade artists are learning all about perspective and depth in two-dimensional artworks, as well as the art element of VALUE.  Here students are creating a winterscape, and using size and color to show depth.  They are mixing lighter and dark values of gray, and learning how to place objects in the background, middle ground, and fore ground.

Check back next week for an update on First, Second, and Fourth Grade artists!

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!

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!