Pop Art

Inspired by Roy Lichtenstein's Newsweek cover

Creating Depth Using Tints and Shades

Color Theory: Tints and Shades

Vases: Light and Shadow

Study of Tree with Reflection

Study of Monet's Bridge over the Water-Lily Pond

Perspective Project-Mountains

Study of Monet's Water Lilies

Abstract Trees-Printmaking

The students are loving our study of abstract art. There is such freedom in creating without a lot of rules.
This week we are making beautiful abstract trees through the process of printmaking. The results are always surprising and it's just plain fun!

Abstract Monsters

I love Stefan Bucher's Daily Monster. He uses canned compressed air on a drop of paint to create a feathered effect. From there, he adds details with pen to create monsters oozing with personality.
We gave it a whirl in art class, and the students LOVED it. It's hard to go wrong with canned air, it's so cold/loud/exciting. They had fun creating art in an outside-the-box-sky's-the-limit-just-have-fun-can't-make-a-mistake style.

Portraits with Printmaking

Today we used scratch foam sheets to make prints of portraits. I love the texture of block printing and the students' creativity.

Portraits

For the month of January, we are studying portraits. We started out practicing the shape and placement of each facial feature. As we've studying master artist, Modigliani, we've moved away from realism a bit, using exaggeration and unexpected color. It's always amazing to see what the students come up with.

Poppies-Acrylic on Canvas

Today we painted red poppies with a focus on movement. The students were encouraged not to paint each flower facing forward, but to create direction by changing the shape of each flower and painting the black center in different locations.

Crabs Using Printmaking

These clever crabs were created using press printing, which means painting an object and then pressing it onto paper to make a print. We used a plastic bag, aluminum foil and a straw to create these prints. It was a blast!

Sweet Cows in Oil Pastels

Seagulls with Clay

We rolled lots of spheres and cylinders to create these loveable little seagull families! Each one has so much personality. And I enjoyed watching their creativity as they added members of the family, nests, & eggs.

Watercolor Palm Trees

Today we studied the shapes in a palm tree by doing several sketching exercises.
Once their hands, eyes, and minds were warmed up, we put the sketch books away & got busy with watercolors.
I love the vibrant colors and uniqueness of each piece!

Dreaming Cats-Oil Pastels, Watercolor

We studied the surreal art of Marc Chagall as we prepared to draw and paint our dreaming cats. The students used oil pastels to draw unexpected objects in surprising positions, and then added bright watercolors. Looks like cats dream about colorful happiness.

Cherries-Acrylic on Canvas

In class, we spent some time studying value, specifically the way light and shadow play on a sphere. We looked at the color wheel, noting the fact that red and green are opposite, complementary colors. And then we painted.
The students loved this project. I loved this project. The paintings turned out gorgeous!

Apple Using Oil Pastels

Today the students created beautiful still lifes using oil pastels on black paper. We talked about value-the lightness or darkness in a piece of art. We studied an apple under a lamp and noted where the light was the brightest and where the shadows were the darkest. Then we walked through the process of drawing the apple step-by-step.
Aren't the results spectacular?

Clay Owl Sculptures

In class today, we studied sculpture and texture. We began by looking at samples of several different sculptures & talked about the materials used to create them. Then we experimented with lots of different tools to create owl sculptures with texture. Students exhibit such joy, confidence and creativity working with clay.
This super fun project was inspired by this and this.

Five Basic Elements of Shape {Mona Brookes}

Learning to draw begins with learning to recognize and re-create the five basic elements of shape {dot, circle, straight line, curved line, angle line.}
Mona Brookes explains, in her book, Drawing with Children, "The contour edges of the objects you wish to draw and the spaces between them are represented by continual patterns of these same five elements." Once a student feels comfortable drawing these simple shapes, confidence in one's artistic ability is strengthened.
This Turtle Doodle project is a wonderful way for students to practice repetitive dots, circles and lines. It encourages self-expression and looks beautiful too!
This project was inspired by this and this.