2nd Quarter Down, 2 More to Go!

Hi friends,

Well, I did it. I survived my second quarter teaching. In all honesty, the 2nd quarter technically ended about a month ago. But life’s been a bit crazy since then and this is the first I could get the projects ready to post on here. Even though this blog is mostly DIYs, it’s still a creative space for me and I thought I’d share some of the amazing work my students created in the 2nd quarter!

Kindergarten

Kindergarten loves coming to art class and learning about something new. We finished the elements of art and moved onto the principles of design, starting with contrast. I created papers with each of their initials on them and their job was to fill the entire page with different colors, lines, and shapes but leave the initials empty. They thought it was really cool to have their initials “pop” out from the paper!

1^st Grade

As we started learning about the principles of design in 1st grade, we also started learning about famous artists. We studied Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” artwork and how it demonstrated asymmetry. They created their own sunflower masterpieces using crayons and watercolors.

2^nd Grade

2nd Grade also learned about the principle of contrast but did a much different project than Kindergarten. They learned about how bright colors can pop against a black background and created skylines using pastels. This was their first time using pastels and they loved getting all smudgey and messy!

3^rd Grade

Before Christmas break 3rd grade learned about the element of value and created a mixed medium project based around the holidays. One of the songs they were learning in Chorus was “Sleigh Bells” so I thought it was appropriate to have a project that included them. They created small, medium, and large sleigh bells by using charcoal to cast shadows and highlights, and painted snow-covered pine branches for them to hang off of. Then we added some glitter because, why not? ;)

4^th Grade

One of the elements that 4th grade focused on was space. They learned the difference between background, midground, and foreground and displayed their knowledge in their art project. They created 3D paper landscapes. It took them quite a few weeks to complete it but they thought the way it turned out was so cool!

5^th Grade

When 5th grade learned about value, they discovered how to make tints and shades of colors by adding white and black respectively. They created “value vases” in their favorite colors and loved working with acrylic paints and focusing on the precision of each section.

6^th Grade

One of the cultures that 6th grade learned about was Swedish and created their own small Dala Horse sculptures. They first sketched out the design they wanted to create, then formed it with air-dry clay, and then replicated their design with paint. All the designs were different but turned out amazing!

7^th Grade

During 2nd quarter, 7th grade learned about the culture of the ancient vikings and did a project inspired by Norse wood carvings. They were to design an animal with an interlaced pattern inside and transfer it onto their wood piece. While we didn’t have the tools to actually carve the wood, they used wood burner pens. They had the option to burn the whole thing or burn the outline and trace the rest with Sharpie. No matter how they did it, they turned out great!

8^th Grade

8th grade learned about Scandinavian culture and created a project that focused on the minimalism that modern Scandinavian art pieces display. Using under-saturated or pastel colors they created a Christmas or winter inspired painting.

High School

Because high school electives are a semester long instead of a year long like the younger grades, this quarter was their last for these specific classes. For Art Studio I’s final art project, they were to create a piece of art using a medium of their choice but it had to depict a specific emotion. We discussed how every art piece created has some type of emotion displayed, whether it is the artist’s emotions or an emotion that they want to evoke from the audience. They also had to write an artist statement that explained their piece. Here are a couple of the final projects. Can you figure out what emotion they’re trying to display?

 

 

So those are just a few of the projects my students have worked on during their 2nd quarter and there are so many more to come. Can’t wait to show you what they create next quarter! If  you missed what my students made last quarter, check it out here!

Did you ever take an art class either in high school, college, or even your free time? What was your favorite project?