What a week it has been!!! And it is only Tuesday! Last week we introduced a very interesting character known as Henri Matisse. What a guy! We finished up the first of our projects yesterday and they are turning out amazing. My first graders are learning how to trace a circle. We are drawing a bowl of apples and having a blast mixing colors.
Before we started this lesson, we did a little color mixing worksheet.
While the kiddos paint I have played a video with 10 facts about Henri Matisse. This video is kid friendly and offers children an introduction to Henri Matisse.
My second graders are exploring color mixing and painting some panels with paper cutouts for emphasis.
Third graders are exploring color mixing and painting Matisse's Goldfish. These have turned out so beautiful.
Fourth graders are also reviewing color mixing and drawing our first figure. I have always stayed away from drawing people strictly due to my own feelings of of course so it was quite interesting to see how these turned out.
This week First Grade Students will be practicing their Clay Monster Faces. Students practice for a week before we do the lesson for real. These little monster faces from our littlest artists are going to be so cute! I haven't done the lesson live yet, so this video should have some changes to it by the end of the week.
I don't know about you but the beginning of this year has been a 100 yard dash! I feel like I have been running 90 to nothing without rest for weeks now! I have a crazy schedule that has been quite a struggle to wrap my head around and I am two weeks from starting clay with 1st graders! That's right, clay with 1st graders within the first 5 weeks of school.
The past week and a half students have been learning about classroom procedures and exploring materials to be used in the art room for the next year. Students get to play a little bit with the different mediums we will be using in the art room over the course of the next year, then 2nd - 4th graders review how to upload their artwork to ARTSONIA.
I keep all artwork throughout the year, so the only way parents and family members can see a student's work is through their online portfolio through ARTSONIA. This way, students have all their original artwork to choose from when it comes time to select what will be displayed for the End of the Year Art Show.
1st Graders
This week 1st graders will learn how to upload their artwork that they completed last week to ARTSONIA. Students explored many of the materials we will use this year in art class with a short lesson on Mark Making. I got the idea from a fabulous art teacher I follow on Instagram.....problem is, I can't remember which one I got the idea from. I have a bad habit of taking screen shots of all the awesomness I see from #artteachersofinstagram cropping them before I write down the amazing teacher that the idea originated from. 😊
2nd Graders
This week 2nd - 4th graders will be exploring line and shape. 2nd graders will be studying the War Shields of the Asmat people
Students will learn a little about the Asmat culture and the shields they carry in battle with them. The Asmat people live in an area of New Guinea. Their shields represent and are named after the owner's ancestors. Shields are carved from the root of a mangrove tree and is formed into a plank. Symbols of wild boar tusks, flying foxes, tails of kangaroos, and whirlpools decorate the shield. Typical colors are orange, brown, ivory, and black. Deep Space Sparkle Asmat Shields Lesson
3rd Graders
3rd Graders will explore the dream like world of surrealism and Marc Chagall. For this lesson, we looked at Chagall's use of color in a few of his paintings, especially Le Mariee. We also read the book Journey on a Cloud by Veronique Massenot and Elise Mansot. We discussed the differences in warm and cool tones and pointed out how the paintings are primarily a dominant cool with the elements of the warm to contrast as the focal point. The book, Journey on a Cloud, is a perfect illustration to this concept of selecting a dominant warm or cool color palette and the using touches of the oposite color palette for deep contrast. Deep Space Sparkle Marc Chagall Art Lesson
4th Graders
Sometimes the simplest objects, enlarged to a grand scale, can be the most beautiful. Georgia O'Keeffe was a master at this style of painting. Her up close paintings of flowers are some of the most recognizable images in the art world. These close up citrus fruits are a beautiful example of just that! Drawing the fruit from observation is a key part of this lesson. Help your students slow down and really draw what they see as they look at the details of the citrus fruit.
Radial symmetry is part of this lesson as citrus fruits are naturally symmetrical. Value plays a role as students paint their citrus fruits with various tints of color. Using light and shade to show depth and complexity to their painting.
We connected this lesson to the artist Dennis Wojtkiewicz (and do not ask me to try to say ol' Dennis's last name! My southern twang can not wrap itself around all those consonants.) Dennis creates large scale oil paintings of fruit slices and flowers that are hyperrealistic. Visit Dennis Wojtkiewicz website to see some really amazing artwork Deep Space Sparkle Up Close Citrus Art Lesson
So many of you may wonder why I use so many videos during my lessons. My room is extremely small and I have absolutely NO demo room. For all 25-36 students to see what I am doing I have found it is easier to project a demo video that I can pause, rewind, or fast forward as needed and not have to draw the same lesson 8 times in a week. I created my YouTube channel, Mrs. Paintbrush - Misti Scaggs, strictly as a platform to better control the videos with. It is easier to pause a YouTube video than it is to pause the Window's Movie Maker I use to create the videos with. Also, surprisingly, the kids listen better to virtual me than real me!
Asian Unit
The next 3 weeks will be devoted to the customs and culture of the Chinese. Being from Northeast Texas, we do not have a large Mandarin population, but the artistry and beauty of the country and its artwork are undeniable to any student. This is always a huge hit and I do these lessons every year.
My 3rd graders are studying the legend of the Chinese Dragon and we drew and painted a dragon on large paper. We used a 17" x 12" (I have to cut an inch off so the artwork will fit into the copier paper portfolio boxes I have to keep artwork for art show in.)
Week 1 we discuss the different geographical regions of china using the video vlog form Mr. Zoller's Geography Vlog. I created a worksheet to accompany the video and we worked through it together. This took the whole 45 minute class period.
Week 2 we watched a read aloud called The Legend of the Chinese Dragon. Written by Marie Seller, this book discusses the different regions of China and the folk lore of each region. It was a great resource to accompany this lesson. This day, we just drew our dragon.
Week 3 we will paint our dragon and Upload it to Artsonia before turning it into the drying rack marked 3rd grade.
Week 1 - 4th Grade did the same geography lesson with the same worksheet as 3rd Grade.
We watched this amazing video produced by Christie's about a talented Japanese artist Takuji Hamanaka takes us inside his Brooklyn studio to explain why he adopted a centuries-old technique to create contemporary woodblock prints. The student's were just blown away with the composition of the artwork he displayed for the clip.
Week 3 - Students will be able to choose what medium they want to add color to their drawings with. They will get a choice of 3: Tempera Cakes, Chalk pastels, and my favorite oil pastels. They will add color and upload to their Artsonia accounts before turning them into the drying racks or their Teacher Portfolio Boxes.
On the opposite side of the worksheet I put a coloring page I found online for free of Koi Fish and the students colored their fish using the 7 colors we discussed during the video.
Week 2 - 1st Grade is explored the Legend of the Koi Fish. I found this great video for a read aloud about the legend of the Dragon Gate and the Koi Fish, A Koi Story, directed and animated by Emma Louise Brelt and Phare. The illustrations in this video are truly stunning. I loved it!
Students drew their fish with a guided drawing lesson from my channel.
Week 3 - students will paint their fish and background, upload to Artsonia and turn them into the drying rack.
2nd Grade - Chinese Vases
Week 1 - students watched an advertisement by Viking Cruise Lines on a brief history of Chinese Porcelain. I showed a few pieces of my own wedding China (although I did NOT pass it around.)
We answered a few questions regarding porcelain then I gave the students a blank coloring sheet with the silhouette of a vase on it to design their own with.
Week 2 - we drew our vase talking about symmetry, line, and pattern.
Week 3 - students will cut out their vase, paint a background on a separate piece of paper, and glue their vase to the background. I will have them use oil pastels to draw flowers in their vase before painting the background.
When their composition is complete they will upload it to Artsonia and turn it into the drying rack.
