Saturday, December 8, 2007
I believe the ideal art program is a perfect balance of structured activity and free activity. In this case the structure was in the analysis of complex objects (dinosaurs), breaking them down into basic shapes and the mastery of watercolor techniques. The freedom is in doing whatever they want! I love it when they write about what's in their drawings to explain them. These kids have such great imaginations.
Third grade art classes were inspired by the Dinotopia books of James Gurney. In his books, dinosaurs and people exist peacefully together. My students' visions of such a place were not always quite so peaceful. They wrote fantastic stories describing what was happening in their pictures. In the upcoming week, I hope to post some of them below the pictures.
Students drew with pencil, then went over the lines in pen and ink. They then experimented with the watercolor techniques of wet-on-wet, drybrush, puddle painting, and thirsty brush.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Second graders discussed and experimented with texture. First they drew dinosaurs. They placed texture plates under the drawings and colored with crayons. They then painted over the crayon drawings with watercolor. I think they achieved some interesting effects with this technique that look good on dinosaurs.
Rexie is a five foot tall plaster dinosaur who currently welcomes students and visitors in our school lobby. Mr. Wales and Mr. Haines (MU student teacher) constructed him with some help from students using pariscraft, acrylic paint, with a whole lot of wood, cardboard and newspaper. And, let's not forget masking tape!
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Those poor unsuspecting dinosaurs were just looking for a warm place to take a nap. Little did they know a volcano was about to erupt! Nothing is more fun that adding vinegar to a baking soda/red food coloring mixture and watching for the eruption. This activity was made possible by Mrs. Yonkin, Mrs. Chacona, and Mrs. Fisher with the help of pseudo-vulcanologists like David Wales and many others.
Our local gem and mineral club, Che Hanna was very generous with their time and resources to set up a Fossil Find Station. With the help of a girl scout troop, they helped students sift through sand and find fossils, prehistoric shark teeth, shells, etc., which students could then identify using a chart. They also got to keep their treasures!