a lil' crooked.

This week the 2nd grade classes are continuing their work with line. We are looking at the work of designer Mike Klay of Powerslide Design. Mike makes some pretty darn cool posters, skate decks, and t-shirts. I love the way he plays with natural forms and settings. I like the way he has patterns evolve and change throughout his work.

I share one piece, in particular, with the kids. It's titled "Leaf Dweller".

 

First, we identify what we see- a tree, leaves, more trees, a house, a vent, a bird, and a weather vane.  Although most kids call the weather vane a windmill:) We then talk about which parts look close to us, and the kids agree that the tree and house look closer to us because they are darker, or bolder than the trees. Some kids pick up on the overlapping too. 

To review the warm and cools  we learned about last week I ask the kids to identify what colors are present in this image. Students are able to recognize green as cool and that there are no warm colors present.

I then ask them to describe the types of lines that the branches are made of. I have gotten many answers of wavy and bumpy, and some crookeds. I have even got wrinkly as an answer.

Once we are done breaking sown the image, I share an example I did that uses warm color leaves to turn the design into a scene of autumn.

The project is built from the back to the front. Students lightly draw a zigzag type line all the way across their paper to create the tree line. I remind them to press softly so it looks light, like we did with the water in the background of our fish pic from last week. Students lightly fill this in with a gray colorstick. 

The house is done with black paper. We draw out the top of a house and then cut it out. I point out that we only saw the top pf the house in Mike's image. I tell students that they don't have to copy mine, if they want their house to look different, that is more than okay.

After they cut out the house I ask them where they want to put it- left, center, or right. The only requirement is that the house doesn't float off the bottom edge of the paper.

Our branches are next. I ask students to add 3 long, bold crooked lines, starting at the side of the paper. Students then need to go back and make the lines a little thicker near the side of the paper. 

Then we do a little math... If we have 3 branches and we want a sum of 8, how many do we need to add? Then we add 5 medium branches that are attached to our long ones. Then we add small branches to our tree- if we have 8 branches, how many do we need to have 13?

Once the branches are done, we add the weather vane, followed by the warm color leaves. If students want to add any other details, like lit windows or birds, or any other stuff, they can once everything else is done.

I love how everybody's branches are different and how they're all a little funky too:)

here, fishy, fishy.

The 2nd graders checked out a fish painting by Sandra Silberzweig last week. We used her painting to learn about pattern, contour lines, and warm and cool colors.

The first thing I had students recognize were the main characters and setting. I pointed out how each part of Sandra's image had a black outline or contour line around it. These lines make it easier to see parts after color is added. After that we talked about what made some of the characters different from others- size, direction, color, and pattern. I then talked to them about warm and cool colors. I explained that because Sandra used mostly cools on her fish and warms in her background, the fish stood out from the setting.

Before students started drawing their fish I demonstrated basic body shapes for them. Once their fish were drawn, students added details to their underwater setting. Contour lines were traced after that. When students were ready to begin coloring, I modeled making color patterns with either warm or cool colors on their fish, but not both. I also had them notice how I pressed hard to make the colors bold. Students used the opposite set of colors in the background, pressing hard on parts and softly on others to make parts lighter.

During the activity I kept color charts posted at the front of the room, so students could keep their warms and cools straight.

jellies.

This is the first week I have gotten to work with the 5th graders since our mini collaborative lesson the first week of school. It's been a great week:)

I am sharing the work of Canadian artist Tamara Phillips with them as we look at how line can create shapes, unity, and movement. Tamara makes wonderful watercolor paintings of natural shapes. Many of her paintings focus on marine life. My favorite paintings of hers are her jellyfish. I love how she captures their shape and sense of floating motion. We have the Birch Aquarium in San Diego and they have a great jellyfish exhibit. Many of our students have been there as well, so it's cool to do a project that ties in with the aquarium and the Pacific Ocean.

While looking at Tamara's paintings, we talk about how she uses contour lines to make the jelly shapes, how her uses of wavy lines creates both a sense of motion and unity, and how her use of a limited color palette creates unity as well.

Before we start drawing out our jellies I share the exit slip students need to turn in when they are done painting. They need to answer how Tamara's work is similar and how it is different to their painting in at least 2 complete sentences. I want them to have this in their head as they are working.

We draw them out together, pressing softly with the pencil, so that it doesn't show up in areas where 2 light colors meet. I show them how the direction of their jelly body and tentacles will tell us where the jelly is moving from and where it is moving to. We trace certain parts with sharpie markers to get them to stand out a bit more.

Before painting I ask students to decide what color family they will use to paint- warm, cool, or 2 primaries plus the secondary they make. We then start with one of those colors for the body of the jelly. I demonstrate making a color lighter by using mostly water. We continue to add water to the body and tentacles. I demonstrate how to keep parts bleeding into one another by starting away from wet parts.

When we paint the background I go back to one of Tamara's paintings and show the students how she lets colors bleed together in the background and I then demonstrate painting wet next to wet and on wet.

The students are doing a terrific job with this project. Lots of variety in color. They are also doing a great job communicating similarities and differences between their work and Tamara's.

just wondering...

Who's all coming to the NAEA conference in San Diego this spring?

I know it's way early, but like the post title says, I'm just curious:) I have no excuse to not attend because I live 20 minutes away from the convention center. Woo hoo!

Here's a couple photos I've taken this summer. The weather ought to be pretty sweet at the end of March.

 

kinder trees- the minimal, modern kind.

I shared a print by Eloise Renouf with the kinders this week, as we continued our work with line. Last week they outlined shapes with line, this week they were to make patterns with it.

Students identified that it was a picture of trees and that the trees were not all the same. We then talked about what made them different from each other. The kids got a lot of the differences- the shapes, the sizes, the colors, and the designs.

I then showed them an example of what our project would look like, because it would be a little different than Eloise's. Again, students identified the shapes and colors used. I talked to them about what patterns are and how you need to repeat things to make them. They would need to use lines to make patterns in their project.

This is a collage project. It's always interesting to see where the kinders are in terms of their cutting skills at the  beginning of the year.

I start by passing out the squares and rectangles. No cutting involved here, but I ask them to place the shapes on the paper where they would want them to go. I then pass out a sheet that has the circle and oval already drawn on it. Before even passing out the scissors I use the doc cam to show them how to hold a pair of scissors and how to turn a piece of paper when cutting instead of their scissor hand. 

I have to say, the classes that I have had this week have rocked it with their cutting skills. There were a few kids that have needed assistance with holding their scissors and opening and closing them, but I have been impressed with how many kids have got it. It's not like this every year:)

Students then get a rectangle piece and we draw a big letter V to make a triangle shape. Once all the pieces are cut, students arrange them on the white paper. I model how to open and use a glue stick correctly- showing them how to leave the pieces on the backing paper while gluing instead of putting them on the table to do so. This eliminates so much sticky mess from one class to another.

After each step I have been removing the tools they will not need for the rest of the project. We then draw out tree trunks and line patterns for branches on each of the trees. I emphasize the different types of lines during this part- thick/thin, curved/straight, solid/broken, long/short.

I really like the way these have been coming out. Of course, I also like looking at small groups of them too. I like the wider landscapes created in these small groups.

big, big trees

This week the 3rd graders are continuing to learn about the creation of 3d space in art. Some of the elements are similar to last week's lesson, even though their finished projects look a lot different. We start the lesson with a review of 3d space layer terms and how to create 3d space in a drawing.

I then share the illustration work of Japanese artist Gaku Nakagawa with the students. His work has a great sense of space in it. I enjoy his crisp choice of color and his layered compositions. The students identify what elements make his images have such a strong sense of space. He overlaps, changes color contrast, and makes things smaller as they recede in the picture. He also uses tints and shades to make shapes look more round than flat.

When students start their drawings I emphasize they should press softly, so the pencil lines do not show up much in their final pieces. This a main difference between their drawings this week and last. The contour lines were very evident last week in their fictional cityscapes, but this week they are making more realistic (nonfiction) landscapes and the lines should be less apparent.

Once students draw out the foreground, middleground, and background teh ygo in and add color- pressing softly to create light values and harder to create darker values.

At the end of the activity, students are required to fill out an exit slip. This reinforces the understanding of 3d space layers and how to create them. The answers to these 2 questions are posted in the room if students can not recall them. I tell the students about the exit slip in the beginning of the lesson too. I do this when reviewing the concepts from the previous week. I plan on doing this regularly throughout the year.