More Amazing Kindergarten Paintings....

I had to share more of the kindergarten paintings!  I'm so impressed with their work.  It is always so amazing when the class goes silent, and the kids are so focused on their work that they are unaware of anything around them! THEY WERE IN THE ZONE!!!!!!  Check out this batch of beautiful paintings.

Kindergarten Water Color Still Life

 So the title of this post should be longer, but I felt it was getting a bit ridiculous. Kindergarten Wax Resist Water Color Cubist Still Life. See what I mean! ha ha  These are going to be in the running for our Abstract All School Art Show this year!  (they get to pick from several projects)  

Let me just say...these kiddos blow me away!  

CHECK THEM OUT!

Watercolor Pencil Still Life: Cezanne Inspired

 I had not used watercolor pencils with my 3rd graders, and was excited to have them create with a new (to them) medium!  We watched a short video about Paul Cezanne & his still life work to kick the lesson off.  I then gave them the watercolor pencils and 90 lbs wet media paper.  I did not allow them to draw with regular pencil first.  They were a bit scared to start, but then were totally into it!  Most of them did get to the point of painting by the end of class.  Next class time I passed their work back out and asked them to take a good look at their art.  I asked them to identify 3 things they like & 3 things they would like to improve.  I passed the watercolor pencil back out, and allowed them 20 min. to make the changes they felt their work needed.  They used the rest of the time to paint. 

Pile of Turtles: 2nd Grade Still Life

Last week my students created a still life that was made of several objects that they arranged with their table partner.  This week the students had one stuffed turtle to draw from.  They had to make a minimum of five turtles that overlapped & filled up their page.  We also discussed "value" using different amounts of pressure. Since I was just introducing the concept of value...there was much grace in how they applied the new information!  The turtle was light green & dark green.  So I told the students that they could make the turtle what ever color they wanted as long as they stuck with the lighter value for the body & darker for the shell as it was in the original.

This last one is not finished yet, but it is super cute &

  had a Power Rangers vibe to me?!? ha ha

Positively/Negatively Frustrated!

So I'm teaching Postive/Negative Space to my 2nd graders this week.  We've looked at still life art...created some...and now are making the jump to Postive/Negative Space.  I've struggled a good bit with my 2nd graders this year.  I'm not sure exactly why, but I've had to reinvent how I teach some concepts to get them to understand.  So in the midst of scratchin' my head wondering what I did wrong...I came up with this quick idea.  I used my document camera(a Ladybug) to show them.  They thought I was crazy at first when I dumped the sharpener bowl on top of the turtle.  However...they finally "GOT IT" when they saw me remove the turtle from the pile of shavings.  Don't know if you are having the same issues as me, but maybe this idea will help you too!!! 

There's a Bug in My Fruit: 2nd Grade

My students created these still life drawings from their own imagination.  They were asked to include a bug somewhere in the fruit bowl.  After coloring with the fruit & bowl with crayons, we used watercolors to create the background.  They used one color for the wall, and two colors for the table.  I had them place plastic wrap ontop of the table area to add a bit of texture.

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Mixed Media Mash-Up: van Gogh & Chagall

If van Gogh & Chagall had a baby...this is what their art work would look like! Ha Ha!!!

They started doing a drawing of sunflowers...and then traced it with Sharpie..  They were allowed to draw their vase however they wanted.  Next the students did a watercolor wash over the whole paper & placed a piece of wax paper over top to add some texture.  The students then worked on a separate flower that they would cut out/paint/ and glue into their flowers.  Last they used oil pastels to add a bit more color to their work.  The project in our curriculum was Still Life....but there is nothing saying you can't jazz it up a bit!

Postive/Negative Space - 2nd Grade

Our curriculum had a still life lesson to start the nine weeks....but I wanted to introduce some other things into lesson lesson.  If you've ever done positive/negative space with your students...you know that it can be challenging.  However, I feel it is really important to get them to consider the space around the main objects in their work.  I'm pretty proud of my kiddos!  I also allowed them to use watercolor pencils for the first time.....THEY LOVED THEM!!! 

Shoe Transformed: 4th Grade

So the 4th graders started by drawing their shoe/boot as is.  They were then asked to transform the shoe/boot into an animal/creature w/ an environment.   They are in progress, but I thought I'd share what they have so far.