Insects- One Subject, Many Media

Insects provide an engaging subject for study and expression.

1st grade artwork, yes, 1st grade!

When we work with one concept but change the medium, we give ourselves the opportunity to deepen our understanding and make new connections.  

Kindergarten and 1st grade paintings

Kindergarten artwork

Interaction

3rd grade artwork

3rd grade artwork

Discovering a way for your hand to interact with your art was the challenge for this lesson.  First we have to think about all the things we do with our hands.  Next, we have to consider size and placement so the drawing and the hand become one.  

Visible Thinking, Movement and Landscapes

When we are given the opportunity to explore an artwork so much can be gained-  connections are made to self and world, our thinking develops and simply sharing ideas and thoughts show us how to be, how to learn, how to appreciate and share not only the artwork, but one another's thoughts and ideas.

Stuart Davis, Swing Landscape, 1938. Oil on canvas

I wanted the kids to see their thinking today.  As we looked at Stuart Davis' piece, I wrote down their thinking on a large paper.  We used The Explanation Game from the book Making Thinking Visible by Ron Ritchart.  There is a great video below where he talks about this concept, just click on the link.

Class Observations:
I see colors, bright colors, shapes, rectangles, triangles, odd shapes, a ladder, a rope,  patterns...
Conceptual:
I think this is about a city, it looks busy, all the different colors on top of each other make it look busy, the people are missing,  maybe they are hiding from all of the chaos, they're scared, they're in their cars, I think the artist likes this place, it looks fun and crazy, it looks like there is so much movement, I would want to play there, it looks fun,  reminds me of a construction site, I see tall towers and roads and trucks, people use ladders to climb up to where they want to be, the lines make it look jumpy...

Art Project: Create an expressive landscape, seascape or cityscape with patterns and movement.

All artwork by Kinder and First Grade

Ron Ritchheart discussing the importance of thinking

Happiness Is... Accordion Books

Happiness Is... singing, me and Mom, chocolate

by Annabelle, 1st grade

A big part of art making is the process of showing your thoughts, ideas or feelings.  This is something we think about at the start of any project.  I wanted each student to capture those joyful moments of childhood in their artwork. Accordion books played into the process beautifully; as your eyes travel through the book you share something new at each moment.





Process:
We used texture plates placed under paper for visual texture (rub with crayon)
cut the paper horizontally (now you have 2)
fold, crease, turn (like a paper fan)
glue the 2 ends together
choose 3-5 things that make you happy, draw them
add a front and back cover (we used card-stock)

This week in art... from Gabriela Elizalde on Vimeo.

Exploring Texture in Artwork

Rainbow Race by Jayden 

Altering the surface of the paper to create various textures was an engaging experience.  To play with this idea, we used gesso mixed with paint as our base layer. Paint Scrapers were used to add surface lines.  The back of our brushes or a closed marker was our tool for drawing the image onto the still wet surface.  Watercolors were used the following class period to paint the image.  Leaving the outlines unpainted resulted in more dramatic effects.  To see the process watch the video below.

Textured from Gabriela Elizalde on Vimeo.

Monotypes

 

2nd grade monotypes

We had a great experience making monotypes this week.  We actually painted the plate on our tables and
used a q-tip for drawing the image.  We then placed a piece of paper on top, burnished with our palm and pulled the print... voila!
The bottom image shows the process.

Kindergarten Monotypes

Family Record Trees

 

The American Folk Art Museum provided the inspiration for this artwork.  By looking at and discussing
 Family Record for Andrew Bickford and Olive Clark we were able to understand that family histories were often created by hand in a variety of mediums such as embroidery or watercolor.

 

I wanted to incorporate a festive holiday feel along with a family record so I decided to combine the two. I'm so pleased with how thoughtfully each student worked on their piece.  I believe they really understood the personal significance attached to their work.  Thus far, these are the only two finished but  they are so dear I wanted to share them now.


Process after looking and talking about the artwork above:

• printed the tree with toilet paper rolls and added lights by finger painting
• on a separate sheet of paper, drew small portraits to go in the circles/ornaments
• cut and glued them inside of circles
• drew a background representative of their life

Story Ornaments

 

all artwork by 1st grade

source


  Children understand that through art, we can learn about other cultures, ourselves and  tell stories.   At this time of year, their hearts are already filled with memories of past celebrations as well as wishes for the ones to come.  As we looked at and discussed quilts, we learned how artists can be wonderful story tellers also.   Now it was their turn to use images or words to tell their holiday story.  


Process:
The first day they learned about symmetry as they drew and cut their ornament. Next, they painted a base layer.  On the second day, they drew their stories.  I wanted to make sure they had enough space to draw and explore so these are quite large, 9x12 or so.

Meet the Paintbrush

Kindergarten  children have been exploring the paintbrush and painting.   They've learned different strategies for controlling the brush and for painting. In some images you will see an exploration of the blob and the outline technique along with different brushstrokes: curved, zigzag, straight,  etc.   The following week they painted an owl using the strategies learned.  Check out our video below to see the artists at work. 

Painting with Kinder from Gabriela Elizalde on Vimeo.

Line Printing + Color

 

Looking closely at the artwork above you'll notice the images are all created with straight lines. Printing with a cardboard tool is always a fun challenge.  The simplicity is what makes it so open to diversity. It's wonderfully open-ended as the student may begin with a particular idea and it develops into another or the student may have no idea in mind and just start printing to find their mind making connections to create an image.   
Other variations of this idea and the process can be seen  here.

Birds

Sebastian, 4th grade

Natalie, 4th grade

Kinder-3rd grade artists

4th grade artists

Kindergarten artist

As you can see in some of my previous posts, we've been using a lot of paint lately as we are exploring color and tint making. Although various classes are exploring this, I enjoy posing a different  project or challenge throughout the week.
The challenge was to draw a bird, whether make-believe or realistic and paint it with tints.  The second day we didn't add white paint to our palette as the pure hues would contrast against the tints.  Patterns were added on the third day with markers or paint.

Tints+Chalk

 

The effect of chalk on top of paint is so soft, they almost glow.

3rd and 4th grade artists

3rd and 4th grade artists


The first day we drew the compositions and learned how to make tints by adding white paint to any color.
The second day we added chalk by blending it lightly with q-tips.