The Final Masks and a Creative Challenge!

This week I read the book "Beautiful Oops" to the lower level classes. It's a fantastic book about turning your "oops's" into beautiful artwork!
Students started by drawing a quick squiggle on a page. Next came the challenge.... They passed their page to the person next to them. The challenge was to make something out of the squiggle.
Below you can see this squiggle turned out to be a porcupine!



This one turned out to be a fox!


The upper level worked on finishing their masks today using all sorts of supplies!

Patterns and Masks

This week the lower level students worked on creating a pattern around border of their artwork. They chose two shapes and repeated them. Next, they used two different colors to shade the shapes. Once the pattern was complete they worked on coloring their animals using colored pencils which are great for adding texture and small details!

The upper level started a two part project creating masks. We started by looking at and discussing many different images of African masks. We talked about symmetry and pattern and why people wear masks. Next week we will work on embellishments and color!

African Animal Beginnings...

Today we started a two part project looking at African animals. First, students framed their page by using a straight edge. Next, they looked at a plastic African animal and carefully drew each part. Students learned that it was easier to draw the animal by segmenting and looking at the parts of the animal in terms of geometric shapes.
Next week we will work on adding color and pattern!

Warm and Wonderful Valentine Lions!

This week we are continued our discussion of warm and cool colors as well as African animals. With Valentines day next week and play practice beginning I thought it might be fun to look at lions and hearts!
I read the book My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall. This rhyming book is full of animals made from the shape of hearts making a great inspiration for our project!

Snowy Snowmen!

Students have been doing an amazing job working on their cutting skills. This week they practiced circles and semi-circles to create these adorable snowmen! We discussed layering and placement as well as how to "ground" your subject so that it wouldn't "roll away"!

Warm and Cool Colors

This week we continued our discussion about color by focusing on warm and cool colors. Since we all have the Lion King on the brain (school play coming up!) I thought it might be fun to look at pictures from the African plains during the day and evening for inspiration. After a great discussion about warm and cool colors students began by creating a silhouette of a tree in the foreground for a focal point. Next, they used warm colors to create a beautiful sunset. The cool color painting was created after a silhouette and stars were added. When these two paintings are mounted together they look amazing!