a mid-way critique

The 5th grade art majors have been hard at work on a series of animal drawings. They chose photos of animal that were significant to them and focused on small parts of the animal to create four drawings. They drew the animal "pieces," added cross-hatching, and are beginning to watercolor paint on top.

We're at about the halfway point for this lesson, so I wanted to do a quick, informal critique. Each artist laid their artwork out just as it was and they traveled the room to observe the artwork of their classmates. Sticky notes were available for the artists to comment on the work.We discussed the importance of offering constructive criticism and offering suggestions when commenting (i.e. explaining what you like about a piece of art).

Everyone got into commenting on the artwork and I think it made all of the artists feel good to read the feedback about their work. I'm hoping to do this with every big lesson throughout the year.

When everything is finished and dry, they will stitch the drawings together. I'll post photos of the finished products soon!

PES Propaganda

Fifth grade students are studying World War II in their social studies classes right now, so we looked at some examples of propaganda from that time period. Artists created the propaganda posters that were used to encourage patriotism during WWII.
Today, we're still surrounded by propaganda, whether political or otherwise. Although, most of it is done through television or the internet and not through posters! We discussed the types of propaganda we've seen before and things that influence us. Students designed a propaganda poster relevant for their classmates.
What would you encourage your peers to do, join, or stay away from?

Dutch Masters in elementary school?

I just started a lesson on Johannes Vermeer with 5th graders and I am SO excited about how well it went. We're getting close to the end of the school year and I felt a little hesistant about tackling something so big at this time of the year.

But oh my, they started out with a bang! We're focusing on Vermeer's portrait work (which is most of his work, really) and everyone is creating a small portrait in his style. The students will be working with a combination of oil pastels and acrylic paint to create a realistic painting with a focus on light and symbolism. I love Vermeer's work and was once scolded in the National Gallery in DC by security for getting too close to one of his paintings! They're really beautiful and also really small, so it is nice to see them in person.  :)

On top of all that, I began reading them the book Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliet as they worked. It's on  a 5th grade reading level and is the fictional story of kids who work together to solve a mystery about a missing painting. I've never read from a novel to students while they worked in my classroom. I often read picture books, but never novels before today. Everyone was open to it and seemed to enjoy the story. In short, it was incredible. They were focused on their work, but also responded to me as I read. I'm excited about continuing this book and exploring this more in the future.

Art teachers, have I lost my mind? Have you tried reading a novel with kids in the art room?

Learn more about Vermeer:
His paintings- there are only 37!
His life

In the hallway...

 Third grade artists studied Ernest Lee, "The Chicken Man!" Ernest Lee lives and paints in South Carolina and is best known for his fun paintings of chickens! Welcome to the Chicken Coop!

5th grade art students created collagraph plates using cardboard, yarn, paper, cotton, and much more. A collagraph is a type of printmaking in which an artist creates a printing plate by gluing various textural objects to a base, then covers the entire plate with a glue or acrylic glaze. When the coating is dry, the artist can apply ink to the plate and press it onto paper to create a print. It can be a tricky process, but the results are worth the effort! These artists embellished their prints with colored pencils after printing.

Accordion Fold Books

So, I know I brag about my Art Majors a lot, but they are such a cool group. They're the youngest group of students I've ever worked with who have shown such self-direction. In a lot of ways, they are truly guiding their own learning and developing as artists.

A week ago, I showed this class the basic concept of an accordion book and how to build the structure.
I didn't anticipate this reaction.

This group is so into making books, they walk in the door and begin immediately. They won't stop at the end of class. It's out of control, but in an amazing way. I have students collaging, drawing, painting, folding origami pieces, staining paper with tea, and so much more. Some of the books have perfume samples built-in so there is a smell element!

For me, an art class is all about the process and I am so proud of the hard work and creativity that has already gone into these books!

An accordion book is a book with one long piece of paper inside. The paper is folded back and forth to make the pages (like an accordion)! No one is finished yet, but they're making great progress. I'll post the finished products sometime in January!

Voice Thread

Hey! Check out my very first classroom Voice Thread below! Although, it's having some problems switching from slide to slide. It loads a lot faster if you hit pause and then play again.
If you know how to fix that, let me know.   :)

Ugly Face Jugs!



from http://www.briandedmond.com/pottery

Fifth grade art majors have been learning about the tradition of ugly face jug pottery in the southeastern United States. The tradition dates back to the 1840's and is rooted in African slave culture.

 It's really interesting to read stories about the origins of the craft. Some people say that faces were added to pottery to scare children away from harmful substances and others say they were to keep evil spirits away. Nobody knows what the truth is exactly, but the tradition of building ugly face jugs continues today in the southeastern US, particularly in Georgia and South Carolina. Only now, they're made as fine art pieces and not so much for practical uses!

 Fifth grade art majors have been building their own version of ugly face jugs! They used coil building to construct these sculptures and have been practicing using the score and slip method to attach pieces of clay.

 
Ugly Face Pottery Resources:
The Black Potter
Face Jug History

Art Majors

Have I mentioned how much I love my Art Majors? These 5th graders chose to "major" in art and they come to Art twice a week instead of once. They. are. amazing.

In the couple of weeks that we've been in school, they have constantly impressed me. Their spirit and enthusiasm makes me smile early in the morning, which is saying a lot!

We have been looking at the artist Chuck Close and using grids and photos to create self portraits. Grids are a tricky concept for 5th graders, but they have gotten off to such an incredible start. I am SO PROUD of their perseverance and hard work! The drawings below are unfinished, but I wanted to share them anyway!

Congratulations!

Congratulations, PES 5th Grade Class of 2010!

The Art Room will be awfully quiet without you guys! :)

After School Program Fun!

The Lights On For After School Program a couple weeks ago was a great success! Fourth graders designed t-shirts for their dance performance.

Fifth grade afterschoolers created Ugly Face Jugs to display for the program.

Self Portraits

5th Grade Gridded Self Portraits- they're really starting to look good!

Illuminuated Letters

Fifth grade artists just finished up their crayon/tempera resist Illuminated Letters. After examining traditional illuminated letters and illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages, the artists designed an illuminated letter to represent themselves. By using a variety of personal symbols, students were able to create truly unique, beautiful pieces!