Glennon, Mrs. Carlin (Art)

WELCOME TO OUR NEW ART ROOM!!    

GRADES  7 AND 8

Jr. High learned the concept of depth in a composition by creating a landscape. The challenge was to get the entire landscape into a 3 1/2" square.  The student needed to include a foreground, a middle ground and a background to spacially give a 3 dimensional quality to the work. Other ways of achieving depth were discussed. Size can add to the illusion if you arrange large items in front to small in the background.  Color and intensity can also give the idea of fading into distance.  We used a collage technique of glueing papers of different thicknesses, colors and textures.  A small composition focuses greater attention on where the artist wants the viewer to look.  Each item included became very important.  It also made good craftsmanship essential.  The finished landscape was presented on a simple black 4 1/2" square. It had to be mounted neatly with an equal border on all 4 sides. The completed compositions were quite different even though everone used this very small space.   

GRADES 5 AND 6

5th and 6th grades have been busy studying the traditional garb of medieval knights, ARMOR.  We discussed the reasons for warriors dressing in metal and looked at the weaponry of the Middle Ages. After the initial sketches were done of each students' design, the students transferred the drawing to a sheet of copper foil. They used a variety of tooling techniques to render the armor in relief and add details. The metal was given a patina with black india ink to define the incised details and give it an antique look. Some even added a small feather to the helmet to help identify them in battle. To finish, the metal was cut out and mounted on a black background. They are very impressive!    

GRADES 3 AND 4

3rd and 4th grade students had a great time with their next project.  We call it "You Are What You Eat".  We first focused on correct proportions of the face. Then we looked at the work of the artist Guiseppe Arcimboldo who, in the 16th century, painted portraits by making composites of fruits and vegetables to portray the face's features. Then we started our own composite heads.  We had a master list of different fruits and vegetables along with a reference guide of what each looked like.  Each student started with a size-appropriate head ( i.e., watermelon, pineapple, pumpkin) and then added features made out of the produce that would make a good eye, eyebrow, nose, ear, mouth, cheek or hair.  It was a lot of fun to see the different personalities the students came up with.  

GRADES 1 AND 2

1st and 2nd grades made beautiful sunsets on water (or were they sunrises?) with a first time try at using oil pastels and also making their own stencils.  Students drew a wavy line and then cut along the line, cutting the paper in half. These two papers were used as stencils to create the waves. "Cool" color (blue, green or violet) oil pastels were used to draw a heavy line along the edge of the wave stencil.  Students pushed the color of the wave off the stencil with a paper towel, creating a curvy line of color across the page. Multiple cool colors were used.  When half the page was covered with watery waves, a circle stencil was used to create the sun sinking over the edge of the horizon (or peeking up into the sky).  A wash of blue watercolor in the sky completed the composition. Definitely frame-worthy artwork! 

KINDERGARTEN

Kindergarten classes have learned about pattern with the aid of stamps and inkpads. We used stamps to make a repeated grouping on a long piece of paper. Each desk had an ink pad and a selection of symbol and letter stamps the student could stamp on the paper.  A pattern had to be illustrated and then the student could embellish with crayon decorations on each of the stamped areas. Many of them enjoyed it so much they made two or three lines of differently illustrated patterns.

Art Club for the 1st thru 4th grades are presently having sign-up for the Spring Session.  Go to PARENTS / ANNOUNCEMENTS. The information and the sign-up sheet will be posted there beginning January 12th and be included in the newsletter.

• The younger students will have Art Club on Tuesdays (Jan. 31st thru March 6th) for the Spring Session. 
  
• Please look for the announcement on the website for the 1st thru 4th grade students.