Update on the Art Room and a Wedding!

That's right folks! I got married! Sorry sorry for the lapse in posting that has been going on for awhile. But I just got bogged down in trying to move and then finish planning the wedding and then actually get married! All while only taking a two day break from teaching all my little angels how to make art!

So here's an engagement pic for you all :) Awwww!

And here's an update on what's been happening in the art room!

Kindergarten students are learning about shapes and using them to help draw pictures. We just finished a series of observational drawings using block towers to inspire us. Now they have started on drawing faces using simple shapes. It's been a ton of fun!

1st Grade students have been painting away. We're making a 3-D color wheel! All we have are stacks of painted plates. More to come soon hopefully!

2nd Grade has been working on drawing self-portraits using a picture reference. We've been focusing on using basic shapes to help us start drawings and using symmetry to give us clues for drawing our faces. I have used this project before, but it works well, helping the students to be good observers.

3rd Grade students finished a Landscape project, using two different landscapes. We then cut them up and attached them to an accordion paper. This allows the viewer to see two different Landscapes depending on how they stand when they view the piece. Now students have begun a fruit drawing, They will be painting them next week using Complementary Colors.

4th Grade students finished their Contour Line Self- Portraits and are now working on a Pop Art piece using Grumpy Cat and Analogous Colors. I've also done this project before, but it's a good one.

And lastly, 5th Grade students finished up their shaded crayons, and are beginning on a painting using Aerial Perspective to show depth.

DIY Apron and The First week of School

Just in time for the first week of school, I finished my new DIY Apron! (instructions courtesy of Cassie Stephens! Check her out!) And although we didn't get really dirty during that first week, it was still fun to wear around. A good art teacher needs a good art room apron!

Since this is my first year in this new school, I wanted to really establish my rules and my art room setup to the kids. During the first week, I took all the classes on a tour of the art room. Some, (kindergartners) took an actual walking tour of the room. While the older classes, who have been in the art room many times, only got the new elements pointed out to them. Then we talked for a little bit about what matters most in my art room, which is creative thought. We looked at a thought-provoking picture and the kids had to make up a creative story about what happened in the picture. We talked after that activity about how being good at painting and drawing doesn't matter as much as being a creative thinker.

Picture found on Indulgy

Then to start the year of right, every class did a mini self-portrait. We had a small chat about what a self-portrait is, mostly this was just review, except again for the Kinders. And then we went right into looking at our finished project. A Rainbow Wall of self-portraits, with each student contributing! 

I gave each student a 5x5 white piece of paper and assigned each table a color. Students could only use shades of that color. We chatted about pushing harder or softer to get different shades. We also talked about what should they draw? Head and shoulders, or the whole body? I let the students make a decision. Then I stressed filling in the background to make sure we could really see that the color they were using was represented. After talking simply about these few things, I let the students work for the rest of the time.

Since it was a relatively simple project, it also gave me time to walk around, learn names, make notes about student behavior, and get a feel for how each student worked and what level they are at. (This project idea was found at Mrs. Crosby's Art Room)

We're just starting to assemble it, but it already looks great!

One half of a Self-Portrait

I always do a self-portrait with the students each year. I try to change it up for every grade level so they're not just drawing themselves the same way every time. That would get boring! This year, the second grade students are drawing their self-portrait with half a picture of themselves as a guide. They turned out so wonderfully!
I had the kids do a pre-instructional drawing of their face first thing. I wanted them to see how much they could improve when drawing a face in just a matter of weeks. I didn't give them any directions, I only handed out pencils, erasers, paper and mirrors and told them to draw a picture of themselves. While they were doing this I called them up to a picture of their head and shoulders. The pre-instructional drawings I saved for afterwards so show growth.

During the next class, we had a talk about the face and how things line up. We talked about where the eyes and ears and all the facial features should go. We also spent a lot of time talking about the hair and how far down it should come onto the forehead. We also reviewed symmetry and how most of the facial features are the same on both sides of the face. (Before this class, I cut the picture I had taken and glued down one half on to a piece of tag board with sticky glue spray.) After our talk about facial proportions, I handed out these papers and the other half of their face for reference. Students spent the remainder of this class and the next drawing and the coloring their self-portraits.

 

At the end of the last class, each student had to hold their first drawing and their final drawing together for a picture so we could all see the improvement they had made.

The First Week!

The first week of school this year was all over the place! Our first day was on Tuesday and it was a half day so no students came to specials. Wednesday was a full day and then Thursday there was no school in observance of Rosh Hashanah and the Friday was another full day. Because each class comes to art for different lengths on time on different days, I wanted to choose a first day in art routine that could be modified for all the classes and stretched or cut short until we had a full week and everyone could be on the same page.

(Disregard the smiley face, just protecting my students!)

To that end, all classes did a 'self-portrait'! Students cute out a hole in the middle of their paper for their head to go in, and then decorated around the hole with pictures and words that described them. This served several purposes. First of all I was able to learn more about new students and dig deeper with students that I know already. It's all about relationships! Secondly, I was able to see where every one's skill is with drawing, fine motor skills, composition, and creative thought. This was especially helpful with the kindergartners. With the lower grades I had the holes cut out already or the paper folded and marked so all the students had to do was cut. Upper grades were expected to cut and fold the paper themselves. All grades were asked to fill the space around their faces and use lots of color.

These turned out very nicely, for some of the classes that moved a bit faster than others I had the students stand up and 'put on' their artwork and share it with the class. This gave them a sense of purpose to creating (the worked harder and did better because they knew they would be showing everyone else) and it also prepared them for when we do critiques and talk about artwork in class. Better to start them early with speaking up in class, the more they do it the more comfortable they'll feel! A great start to a great year!