First Grade Complementary Colors

The first graders had fun creating this vibrant art in the style of Piet Mondrian. We studied Mondrian's art and learned that he liked to create simple designs using the primary colors and the neutral colors of white and black. We learned about horizontal and vertical lines and then we used black masking tape to create squares and rectangles on our paper in an interesting pattern. Instead of using traditional primary colors we used the complementary colors of RED and GREEN to create a beautiful holiday look. Our pictures are up down the main halls of the school, the library and the first grade hall. We hope you will come enjoy the beauty of this simple art of contrast.

3rd Grade Pottery

3rd grade students made pinch pots as well as all the younger students, but they were asked to stretch a little with the design. Many students used tiny detail brushes to create designs in the style of the anasazi and southwest indians. The pottery projects were very beautiful this year.

Kindergarten Pinch Pots

The kindergarten children had a wonderful time making pinch pots from Model Magic clay. First we played with the clay and practiced making spheres in three different sizes. Then we rolled our clay into one large sphere and each child formed their own creation. We added texture and design to our pots with wooden sticks and forks. The following week we painted our pots using fluorescent paint. After we had cleaned up the room we had a special surprise. We turned off the lights and looked at our pots with a black light. All of the children were amazed and thrilled to see their pots magically glow in the special light. The special effect of the light also allowed the children to see things that could not be seen in normal lighting! We also discovered stray paint on fingers, faces and clothing!

2nd and 3rd Grade Fluorescent Geo Beads

We had a great time reviewing basic geometric solid shapes by creating them out of clay. We practiced making spheres, cubes, cylinders, cones, rectangular prisms and triangular prisms. When we were finished making our forms, we made a medallion and a little animal with the leftover clay. The next time we came to art, we painted our beads with this very bright fluorescent paint. We added pattern and design to each bead and then we strung them on a cord to create necklaces that glow under a black light. This has been a favorite project and the paint is just beautiful.

1st and 2nd Grade Pinch Pots: Part 2

The 1st and 2nd graders had a delightful time painting their pinch pots with metallic paints in various colors. These acrylic paints are very shiny and the children were very pleased with the results! Some of the children made nesting pots to show variation in size and correct proportion. The pottery project has been very popular this year.

Kindergarten Name Art

Kindergarten children at East Elementary have been having fun creating name art with alphabet letters. First we read the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and discussed our favorite parts of the book. We made a coconut tree by tearing construction paper to make a brown trunk, green leaves and dark brown coconuts! Each child was able to play with the letters in his or her own name and arrange them on top of their tree to create unique personalized art. This has been one of our favorite projects! It has been fun to see how every tree is different.

Kindergarten Line and Shape Art

The kindergarten classes had lots of fun this week drawing lines and shapes with metallic markers. First we drew large shapes.... a triangle, a circle and a square. We tried to OVERLAP our shapes. Then we added straight lines, curvy lines and zigzag lines to our shapes. Then we drew vertical lines, horizontal lines and curvy lines on our paper and added circles to finish our abstract design. This is an amazingly project and it is fun to see how EVERY child's work is unique and different. Last year we created a similar project using scratch board. The metallic markers were really fun and a nice variation.

Core Tie-in: Math - Basic Shapes, Line and Pattern

Art Concepts: Line, Shape, Space, Pattern

Vocabulary Words: Line, Shape, Pattern, Vertical, Horizontal

3rd Grade Paper Pottery

The 3rd graders have have fun this week making paper pottery. This has been one of the most popular projects we have completed this year. First, the students created basic shapes of pottery with construction paper and then decorated their pottery with organic and geometric designs. Then we overlapped our pottery and drew a horizon line to create an illusion of our pottery sitting on a table. Finally, we added highlights and shadows to create beautiful depth to our pictures. If you walk down the 3rd grade hall, you will be amazed by the variety and quality of these pictures.

Vocabulary words for this lesson: Organic, Geometric, Shape, Overlap, Highlight, Shadow

Curriculum Tie-In: Social Studies: South West Indian Culture and Art, Math: Patterns and Line

2nd Grade Pottery

Working with clay to create pottery is one of the most rewarding and fun projects we do throughout the year. There is something fun about getting your hands dirty and molding the clay to create something that will be treasured for years to come.

1st and 2nd Grade Pinch Pots

If you walk into the art room at East Elementary School you will find every spare inch filled with trays and trays of beautiful pinch pots created by the 1st and 2nd graders. As part of this lesson we learned that pottery is one of the very oldest art forms. We played with the clay and learned to make different forms in different sizes. Then we each created a pinch pot and decorated our pot to provide interesting visual and tactile texture. Next time we come to art we will paint our pottery.

Vocabulary Words: Shape, Form, Texture, Pinch Pot, Small, Medium, Large

Tie in to curriculum: Math Shapes and Forms, Social Studies, 2nd Grade Science

Kindergarten Patriotic Art

The kindergarten artists had fun last week creating beautiful patriotic art. First we looked at our flag and talked about the patriotic colors: RED, WHITE and BLUE. We learned a poem about our flag and looked at photos of our flag. For our artwork, we cut blue STRAIGHT lines and glued then on our paper. Then we cut red CURVY lines and glued them on top of the blue lines. Finally we added some white stars for a bit of patriotic pizzazz. Our Veterans Day program is coming up on November 11th and we finished our artwork in time to add a bit of patriotic art to the halls of our school.

Chameleon Pictures from Last Year

Last year we taught this same lesson in January and I never posted these pictures. Just thought it might be fun for some of you to see how beautiful these are. Part of our our goals for this project is to give the children the opportunity to play with mixing color.

1st Grade Chameleons and Ghosts

In early October, the first graders did this fun art project based on a a book called A Color of My Own by Leo Leonni. We practiced blending and mixing colors to create "tertiary" colors using a wet-in-wet watercolor technique. To practice this technique we made little watercolor ghosts first! First, we painted our paper with water in the shape of a ghost... leaving little dry spots for the eyes. Then we added drops of color and watched the color "bleed". When everything was dry we drew cute little eyes with sharpies. This was a fun project.

3rd Grade Halloween Silhouette Pictures

The 3rd graders had a fun time this week creating these very cute halloween silhouette "haunted" pictures. We used markers and then created basic shapes to make a haunted tree, dancing skeletons, spooky cats, spiders, bats, pumpkins and owls. We painted swirly clouds in the sky and finally we added white eyes to make our spooky creatures "jump" off the page! This has been a very fun project!

Parents: This would be a great project to do at home! We used black Crayola washable markers. Eyes were added with simple "paper punch" circles! Encourage your children to focus on the SHAPES of the creepy creatures.

2nd Grade Pattern Pumpkins

The 2nd grade classes had a fun time pushing their drawing skills one step further this week by creating these darling pattern pumpkins. First, we looked at real pumpkins and studied the shape and color. We touched the pumpkins, looked for scars and studied the stem. Then we used sharpies to draw a practice pumpkin in our sketchbook. We drew organic "bumpy" lines with the sharpie and then we added structure lines. Finally we added shading with organic and geometric design. Then we drew our final artwork on bigger paper. We shaded the features of our pumpkins with tiny pattern and design. As a final step, we painted our pumpkins with watercolor. This has been one of our favorite projects.

2nd Grade Line Art

If you walk down the 2nd grade hall this week you will find rows and rows of hands tied together with multicolored cord. The 2nd grade classes have been working on building "community" and this art project was a developed as a way to create an art project that would symbolically link the entire 2nd grade. We talked about color and how the bright color band moving across the hand represented energy and a beauty that unified all people. If we joined hands and work together... anything can be accomplished. Each child traced their own hand on white card stock and then drew a beautiful organic line across the palm of their hand with a sharpie. We then added color with markers in a symmetrical pattern. Finally we divided the rest of our hand into sections with a sharpie and then created organic and geometric patterns with a black sharpie. We also added our name to part of the black and white design as a way of personalizing our artwork. The black and white pattern looks beautiful in contrast with the color band. We hope you come visit the 2nd grade hall to enjoy this beautiful project.

Kindergarten Twisty Trees

This week we had one of our most favorite Kindergarten art projects.... Twisty Trees! First we looked at the painting "The Mulberry Tree" by Van Gogh. We saw how the trunk was twisty and old and how the branches were twisty and curved. Then we made our own twisty trees using paper bags. After we twisted our branches, we added little tissue paper leaves in warm colors. Our trees looked very beautiful. We talked about how we could use our little twisty tree as a decoration in our homes to remind us of fall.