eye of the tiger.

My second lesson with the 4th graders continued to focus on line in art. I also wanted them to see how easy it is to make movement in art through playing with the shape of their shapes.

We looked at the art of California based designer and illustrator Priscilla Wilson to get inspiration for this project. Priscilla does a ton of drawing and she relies on contour lines often in her work. She also balances her use of contour with a use of implied lines in areas. Her work is engaging due to the detailing present in it and her choice of subject matter. There is a cheerfulness to her images, and sometimes they are down
right silly, which is always good with the 4th grade crowd.

We noticed that she creates motion through the positioning of key shapes and through how she stretches them out to make it look like those shapes are traveling from one point to another. I talked about how a raindrop looks like it is moving to its shape. If a rain drop were still it would look like a sphere.

We continued to focus on complementary colors. Students could use more colors in their drawings as long as there was at least one pair of opposites. I also demonstrated how to make shapes look 3d by using different amounts of hand pressure. The lighter you press will make tints on white paper and shades on black paper. This change in value turns flat shapes into 3d looking ones.

Since I work with 4th grade classes 3 days a week, I chose to use different images by Priscilla for inspiration on each day. The same elements were addressed in each lesson, but the final images changed.
This kept things fresh for ol' Mr. Masse:)

playing with piet and philip.

For a number of years I used the work of Piet Mondrian to introduce my younger students to different types of lines and primary colors. I love his work and how he broke down the image to the purest of elements and was still able to create endless variations within the self imposed restrictions of his visual world. That said, his work doesn't necessarily translate to keeping young kids engaged in the content of a lesson.

Well, I was scrolling through t-shirt designs on the threadless website  and came across an image that immediately made me both smile and want to revisit Mondrian's visual vocabulary. It was a design by San Diego's own Philip Tseng.

Same vocabulary of line, shape, and color, with a few added visual hooks to get my young ones engaged. Score!

I briefly showed the classes some of Philip's illustration work from his website and we noticed that many of his images use contour lines. When we got to the monkey bars image we also talked about the use of simple shapes, vertical and horizontal lines, and primary colors in art.

I have a Mondrian reproduction in the front of my room, so we also talked about how Philip modified the concept of paintings that were made almost one hundred years ago.

This is how the hands on project went-

1. Drew a large rectangle and then added a few vertical horizontal & vertical lines. Some were short and some were long.

2. Added contour line joints where lines met.

3. Added 3 or 4 shapes inside the squares/rectangles present in the monkeybars.

4. Added different expressive faces and limbs to each of those new shapes.

5. traced the monkeybar lines with a black marker and filled in the joints.

6. Used primary colors to fill in our characters.

7. Added a ground line and colored the ground.

The kids loved it. 

funky feet.

At the beginning of the school year I like to focus on line with all my classes. I believe it is the simplest of the art elements, but it has a wide variety of functions to explore.

I wanted to focus on contour and implied line with the 4th graders and a number of designs created by Brainstorm, a Philly based design company, fit the bill perfectly.

The design that really caught my eye was one called Roses and Toeses. It's got humor and funky contour drawing of legs and feet. As an added bonus, it features the use of complementary colors, so that I could revisit their use with the kiddos as well.

The classes and I looked at Brainstorm's website and checked out a number of images. We looked for contour and implied lines in the designs as we went through their portfolio. When we got to the T & R image there were numerous chuckles. Hair on legs?! So weird!

Before jumping into the big drawing right away, we practiced drawing feet from the front and the side. I emphasized that they look a lot different depending on the direction you are looking at them. Some kids were concerned about their feet not looking "right", but I pointed out that the feet in the Roses and Toeses print are not perfect either. It gives the image more character when they aren't perfect.

Once we practiced, students drew their feet and legs on a larger sheet of paper. Then we added a ground line as lightly as possible so that it would not show up in the final drawing. That would be our example of an implied line. It will appear because the ground is a different color than the sky.

Students then added the roses. They didn't have to choose roses, so there were some interesting variations on the idea featuring hotdogs, donuts, cars, and zombie arms.

They then traced the feet, legs, and objects with a black marker to emphasize the contour lines. I also modeled using thick and thin lines to add visual variety to their drawings.

Then they could add color to the objects and the ground. We reviewed complementary colors and students could choose one pair of complements to work with.

A lot of drawings turned out well. I was pleased with how many students hung in there and tried their best to get the shape of the feet and toes down. I think the exercise had a healthy mix of drawing from observation and drawing from imagination.

round and round.

The first week of school was abbreviated due to the Labor Day holiday at one end and the SoCal blackout on the other, but the kids still produced something pretty darn cool.

I had bookmarked an image created by artist Lee Gainer over a year ago, and I finally got the chance to use it as  the inspiration for a project.

This artwork is a prime example of the importance of both unity and variety in an artwork. Most successful images find a working balance between these two principles. If an artwork is too unified it could be visually boring and if there is too much variety then the image could be too chaotic to take in.

I shared the image with the students and we identified how she created unity- repetition of shapes, and variety- different heights, widths, and colors.

I also shared that the materials used in the image were all recycled or leftover from other projects.

After giving the students the lowdown on Lee's artwork I told the students that they would be doing something similar. However, they would be working together and the final artwork would be very large.

Students started off by making cylinders of different heights and widths. Once these were complete I gave teams a couple plates with elmers glue and they dipped the bottom end of the cylinders in it and then placed it on a larger sheet of paper. Students could place smaller ones inside bigger ones and vice versa. When a sheet would become full, I would replace it with another sheet and the construction process would start anew.

This was a simple way of getting kids into my room to review rules and procedures and make something to beautify the school as well. Each class visited me for 30 minutes the 1st week, so students in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th had a chance to participate in the project.

In a cliche way, I see our school in the project. Each of the cylinders is like a student, so are all unified in their desire to succeed and be a positive part of our school community. Each of those cylinders is different than the others in height, width, and color, just like each of our students is special and unique.

This project was also great for my classroom physical space because we were able to use up A LOT of paper that was leftover from projects done over the past couple of years. There is a lot less clutter in my cabinets!

a clean(er) slate.

At the end of the year, my classroom was, like, a pit. It has never been so messy. My first few years of teaching at my site were out of the ol' art cart, so I had gotten extremely organized. Since getting a room of my own a few years ago I have let this organization slide... just a bit.

We had 3 prep days last week before the kiddos arrived and I was able to make major headway uncluttering my space. I got some new labels on images around the room to reinforce vocabulary, got my reading center straightened out and added some new books, redid my bulletin boards, and got my new behavior chart up. All while my 2 year old roamed around, made block towers and painted- on paper, the tables, and herself.

The back cabinets are covered with vocab and images that focus on the elements of art. Above the sink are lists of art words each grade level learns over the course of the year. That part needs to be updated. the words will be added throughout the year and I want to make them bolder and removable.

The fuzzy green thing in this bad photo is one of two comfy chairs for reading when kids finish projects early. The cool colored board next to it gets filled with student projects and the standards, objectives, and  focus artist examples.

This is the board behind my desk. Schedules, gee's bend quilts, a couple of my own images, and my new behavior chart. Classes are expected to stay on task while meeting with me each week. To reinforce this, classes earn a green (100% on task), yellow (85%), or red (70%) card. I keep visual track on the board each time an art class rule is broken. 0-1 they stay on green, 2 they go to yellow, and 3 they go to red. Last year, the class with the most green cards in each grade level earned an extra lesson with me. Due to my schedule this year, I have to revisit the type of reward they earn, but they will get something "cool" for sure.

The room was looking really calm and supportive for visual learning...

and then my first class got to work...

and things got even better:)

the sky is the limit.

Another school year is in the books. A crazy, hectic year that was full of interesting stories and amazing student work and creativity.

To wrap up the year with our 5th graders that are moving on, we did another public art project with them on campus. Ms. Kathi and Miss Danielle came up with a sky's the limit theme a couple of years ago, so I created a drawing based on that theme. 

We got the go ahead from Principal King and last Monday I was drawing it out on a 24' wall on our north campus. Once it was drawn out 5th grade students rotated through for the next 6 days to add color and life to a beige wall. Each student was able to work for about 20 minutes on the wall. With over 200 5th graders we need to keep moving students through, so they all get an opportunity to help beautify the campus and leave a permanent positive mark on our school community.

The kids did an amazing job. Some were up on ladders, some were way down low. Some stayed clean, some got painted on. Some were chatty, some were quiet. 

I love doing these projects with our students. It feels so good to transform a space with color and design. I can't wait to do the next one. although I will enjoy my summer break first!