Dots and Dots of Butterflies

This week we continued to paint using dots and discussing pointillism....


Amazing work from the upper level last week!


Beginning the outline of a butterfly


Finishing the background of the painting

Musical Instrument Inventors and More Masks!

This week the lower level classes had an opportunity to look at and discuss symmetry and African masks. They used this for inspiration in their own mask making. They used scissors, glue, markers, scraps, yarn, straws and just about anything else we could find! They are all incredible and totally different!

The upper level class this week had a musical instrument inventors workshop. Using cardboard tubes of all sizes, beans, lots of heavy duty tape, glue and many many other scraps, supplies and things that would otherwise be tossed or recycled, students created a musical wonderland in the classroom. The class time flew by so quickly I didn't get a chance to snap any pictures of artists at work or the finished product! Trust me, these instruments and creativity were amazing!

Fun Primary Colors youtube.com

Here is a link to a fun sesame street video about primary colors!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu44JRTIxSQ

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!