Storybook Houses

This week we are taking a look at famous paintings of houses. We are reading a book called The Big Orange Splot by D. Manus Pinkwater. It's a bright and colorful book about staying true to yourself and what your dreams are.
Students worked on illustrations of their own storybook houses full of brilliant color and design using oil pastels and watercolors. The differences in all of them are fabulous!

 

A Picasso Witch or Two......

Snowy Owls

A little snowy owl project......

Monsters and Cats!

                       

This week we took a look at monsters! I read the book Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley. Then we discussed details of the head and face. We also discussed how to create texture or the appearance of feathers, fur or scales on the body of the monster. These are hanging in the hall to see!

The upper level looked at Dr. Seuss's "Joseph Katz and His Coat of Many Colors" painting. It's a very colorful painting of a cat. The kids first drew a their cat using oil pastel and then added detail to the sweater or coat that they designed for the cat. They also added details behind the cat to give the viewer the sense of a windy or still night. Once their painting was complete they wrote three descriptive words about their work and then named their cat!

Van Gogh Pumpkins....

We are continuing to look at Van Gogh's work and discussing how to create movement in our artwork. We are also talking about the difference between organic shapes and the shapes we can name. The upper level included trees in their work. The lower level classes focused on organic shaped pumpkins.

Sunflowers

This week we took a look at some of Vincent van Gogh's work. Using his sunflower series as inspiration, students created their own sunflowers using oil pastels. They practiced tearing a bit of paper for the vase. They also created a table with a pattern on it to ground the work.

Using Our Senses in the Outdoor Classroom...

This month we will be using at least four of our senses in the outdoor classroom to observe and discuss the similarities and differences of pumpkins and apples. The descriptive words that we are using in conversation are helping to expand vocabulary too!