Third graders learned about story quilt artist Faith Ringgold and her wonderful book Tar Beach about a poor girl growing up in the city who dreams she can fly. They used the book and Ringgold's illustrations as inspiration for their own skylines. They used a chalk dust and mask technique to create the effect of glowing lights behind their skylines and finished off their pictures with details to make the story their own.
First grade scholars learned about the ocean and it's huge variety of colorful fish, creatures, coral & plants. They used new techniques to create multi-media ocean art. They learned how to do a watercolor wash with cool colors to create a very realistic ocean background. They used a glue and marker technique to create textured fish who's scales you can feel. And finally they added as many ocean details as they could think of to complete their fascinating glimpse into the ocean depths. Results are fantastic! Fifth graders learned about Russian architecture and the signature "onion domes" on St. Basil's cathedral and other churches in Russia and beyond. They also learned about the history of printmaking and photography in America. They carved their design inspired by St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow onto foam sheets and were then thrilled to have the opportunity to print their designs multiple times using various color combinations. The results were fantastic! Fourth graders studied Islamic tile art and Mandalas from around the world and throughout history. We focused on the repeating patterns and radial designs unified around the center. They used a folding and tracing technique to repeat their original design (Which began with their name) all around the paper. Can you find their names in the intricate designs? Once complete, they colored with markers, being careful to keep them radially balanced in both design and color. Third graders explored Native American Art, culture and stories by reading The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by Tomie de Paola and learning about Kachina dolls. They created a multimedia illustration of the book that included a beautiful painted sunset watercolor wash background and designed their own Kachina dolls. Second graders learned about Marc Chagall and his beautiful dream-like paintings and stained glass windows. Scholars explored the idea of fantasy and memory in art and drew and painted their own dreamscapes. |
AuthorMrs. Dentzer is the elementary visual arts educator at John Adams Academy. Archives
May 2016
Categories |