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Thursday, September 28, 2017

Artist Self Portraits and Kindergarten printmaking



Hello My Amazing Artists!

Last week was a frenzy of activity as the artists finished their Todd Parr inspired Self Portraits... and just in time for Open House. They are amazing - and hanging in the lobby of the school.



The artists had created a background using their knowledge of mixing colors. Then they cut out: head, ears, and extra details. We used collage techniques to assemble these masterpiece self portraits. 

  
Cutting, gluing to make the collage self portrait




Painting features and carefully outlining the collage with black paint to create definition.





FANTASTIC JOB!!


Meanwhile in kindergarten... the littlest artists were exploring printmaking using circle shapes. What happens when you overlap? How can you use each stamp? What if you dip in more than one color? Lots of exploring going on!


 




Thursday, September 7, 2017

Mixing Magicians






"Hello My Amazing Artists!"


This week we shifted gears and became mixing magicians. We talked about the color wheel as an artist's tool. We identified the primary colors - Red, Blue, Yellow - and how these three colors can create any color an artist needs.

My artists then began mixing magic to discover 3 new colors called secondary colors - GreenPurple, Orange.





















I did not tell them what the secondary colors were.  Some artists knew what colors to expect. Some didn't and were excited when their mixing resulted in a new color. Magic!

This task also required artists to think, manage their materials and paint carefully as they completed their own color wheels in the correct order. This knowledge will be used again next week to create the all school collaboration project.

We also did the "Swish Test" to see if the class cleaned their brushes well. The color of the water told everyone if this was something to keep working on.

Clean water means well done!

Ask your artist about mixing magic.

Friday, September 1, 2017

Getting to know the Amazing Artists of OQS





"Hello My Amazing Artists"! 
"Hello My Amazing Art Teacher"! 

This is how we will begin our art classes. Why not set the right tone!?

In our first few classes, we'll be establishing our routines and learning where supplies are. I will be teaching lots of artistic behavior and expect these artists to learn what it means to be an artist - through creative thinking, exploring different mediums and caring for the art studio, specifically cleaning up.

One new artist tool is the artist's portfolio. Each artist will have a portfolio where work can be safely stored and kept organized.


We also met Mona.


This is a new routine we'll be practicing. When I say  "My amazing artists... Show me Mona" the students will copy this pose - with their eyes on me, mouth closed, sitting still and hands (empty) in their laps.  It's a quick and fun way to get my artists' attention so they can hear new instructions or information.

Over the next three weeks we will be working on an all school collaborative project. We hope to have something wonderful to share with you all at open house.