Pre-K Sun Gods

Pre-K loved this project and were so creative with their "sun gods". First I read Musicians of the Sun by Gerald Mc Dermott to the girls and we discussed the characters. We also discussed to some extent the Aztec Indians and their beliefs in many gods. Then the girls drew their own sun gods using metallic pencils on black paper.

First Grade Pumpkins--Drawing from Life

Every year the first grade classes go to a farm and get to pick a pumpkin to take home. They bring the pumpkins to art class and we look at the shape, color, highlights and shadows. They draw the pumpkins with oil pastels paying close attention to all details. They can do whatever they want to the background. They always turn out beautifully!

First Grade Monsters

Wild Thing Art

First grade had a blast creating their own monsters using construction paper crayons on black paper. First I read Where the Wild Things Are and we studied the prints of Maurice Sendack. We discussed how he appropriated several elements from many different animals to make his Wild Things.

Pre K Black Cats

This was a fun Halloween project but can be used any time of year. After discussing the difference between real and implied texture the girls painted these black cats. They used tempera paint over pencil drawings. Their paintings turned out very expressive!

Fall Trees, Fall Leaves

Fall Trees by Kindergarten

  For this project the girls learned about warm colors, and used a variety of paints. We discussed what I call "cotton ball" trees and how trees really consist of limbs, branches and a more random shape for the leaves. We went outside and observed the anatomy of a tree and the girls pointed out their findings. For this project the students used tempera cakes for the tree trunk, water color for the background and finger paints for the leaves.

Paul Klee prints

Third graders learned about Paul Klee and World War II during this art lesson. Paul Klee was a Swiss artist who was labeled as a "degenerate" by the Nazi party. He was targeted in a Nazi newspaper which led to his losing his job and his house being ransacked. He taught at the Bauhaus and was also a member of Die Blaue Vier with Kandinski.

We focused on his non-objective/abstract artworks for this project. First the girls drew a design on mat board and glued yarn over the design.

Next they used these plates to print their design onto heavy white paper. We discusses mood and viewer reaction before they chose their color scheme. Lastly they used chalk pastels to fill in around the black lines.