March Art Update

Thanks for stopping by the Westlawn Art Blog!

During the month of March, all students (grades 5K through 5th grade) began working on a very special project, a FISH project! Jake Knox, a Westlawn parent and woodworker extraordinaire, is currently at work on a NEW location of St. Paul Fish Company that is scheduled to open in Mequon this May. Jake reached out to the Cedarburg and Mequon elementary art teachers and asked if our students would be interested in creating fish artwork to be part of the interior design! Of course we were all thrilled to be part of such a unique opportunity and got right to work on creating fun and eye catching fish projects with our students. In addition to working on other art units, each grade level is currently designing and creating their own original fish. Check out some pictures and description of the projects below. Stay tuned for more information about when the fish market opens so you and your family can visit!

5th grade artists are designing and creating watercolor fish! The students used their Chromebooks to find a fish that appealed to them and created a realistic sketch of their fish in their sketchbooks. Perhaps the greatest challenge of the project (for all grade levels) was to make the fish large enough on their 3 in. X 5 in index card. We talked about using the WHOLE space and making markings on our paper to map out the size and shapes before adding details. Next, the 5th graders will be learning how to paint the fish in stages to achieve the realistic paintings their are going to create.
The 5th grade students paused their printmaking project to work on their fish. So far they have created a background to their artwork by designing, carving, and printing a linoleum block. They had a blast with this and we are looking forward to the second phase of the printing project when the fish are complete! Also during the month of March, the 5th graders completed their paper making which will be used for the cover of their sketchbooks and the cover of their E&P Accordion Books. Busy month for these kids!

4th grade artists are learning how to do scratch art for their fish project! Like the 5th graders, they began the project by choosing and sketching a fish in their sketchbooks. Many of the students doubted themselves at first, but once they learned some tips (such as making markings on their paper and then connecting them like a game of connect the dots) they had great success! So much of art is a mind game and requires you to be mentally strong and think you CAN! Next, the students will be tracing their fish on scratch art paper and beginning to scratch away the white areas (which will turn into color since the scratch art paper is multicolored underneath the black layer). Once again, the project will test the students' focus and commitment to make the fish look like they are wanting them to.
While the 4th grade students work on their fish projects, their self portrait drawing unit is on hold. I look forward to finishing their realistic self portraits when the fish are complete!

3rd grade artists are creating fish mosaics! It has been quite some time since I have done a mosaic project with students, but after learning that Ms. Ingham's class did a mosaic art activity earlier in the school year, I thought this would be a very fitting project for 3rd grade! The students chose and sketched a fish of their choice in their sketchbooks and then traced their drawings onto the small index card. They then lightly shaded the fish using colored pencil so that they would have a guide for where to put the colored pieces of cut paper. The students are now cutting and gluing colored paper to imitate the colors seen in the fish pictures. They are starting to get a hang of how a mosaic is created and are also learning what not to do in the art making process. Thanks so much to those families that donated paint samples earlier in the year! They are coming in super handy!
While the 3rd graders create their mosaic fish, their clay canopic jars are being fired in the kiln. The students will be so excited to paint them after completing their fish!

2nd grade artists completed their Kente Cloth Inspired Paper Weavings at the beginning of March so starting the fish project came at just the right time. I enjoy connecting art units of study to some of the topics students are studying in their classrooms. With the Kente Cloth project we made a connection to the African unit, and now we are learning about Brazilian artist Romero Britto (connecting to the 2nd grade unit on Brazil). Romero Britto is a famous artist know for his "Pop Art" style of art using bold colors and designs. The students used Britto's art as inspiration and incorporated his use of bold designs and bright colors into their fish artwork! After drawing a fish from observation, the students added their designs and made them colorful using colored permanent markers! They look SO great!

1st grade artists will be starting their fish projects this week! They are currently enjoying creating a new project (and a personal favorite of mine) VanGogh Inspired Sunflowers! The students have created about half of their project and with each step they work on they always make it a goal to study VanGogh's painting and imitate his style. We have been working on color mixing and painting like an impressionist painter with the visible brush strokes and painting on thick ("impasto"). I am always amazed at the quality of work that the students bring to this project. Never underestimate what a child can do!

Kindergarten artists are making fish in the style of famous artist Piet Mondrian! The students learned about Mondrian last year in 4K when they made butterflies in his style of painting. This year, I thought it would be fun to make fish in the same style! The students chose one of six fish templates I created and painted sections of the grid with the primary colors, red, yellow, and blue. They will then trace the black lines with sharpie to darken them and will finish their projects by cutting out their fish. The project is simple, fun, and eye catching!
The kindergarten students also completed their awesome Robots during the month of March! This was a first time project that aimed to help the students to grow in their knowledge and creative use of shapes! The students had a blast designing their unique robots with the help of rulers, stencils, tin foil, colored construction paper, glue, and colored sharpies!

4K artists completed their Piet Mondrian Inspired Butterflies this past month. Since the butterflies have vertical symmetry, the students were able to make a dot of paint and fold the butterfly to see the same color appear on the other side! Although the act of folding the paper to create a mirror image is a simple art technique, to a four year old, it appears like magic! After making dots of red, yellow, and blue paint in the sections of the grid, the students then practiced their quality painting by filling in the rest of the shapes. The butterflies are by no means "perfect" like Mondrian's paintings appear, but they are beautiful and colorful, and the students had fun learning and creating during the art making process!
The wonderful Kandinsky Circle Paintings are currently on display at Westlawn outside of the art room! They brighten up the hallway and cause many people to stop and admire the students' work!

Here are some pictures from the student art show that is going on right now at the Cedarburg Cultural Center. Over 40 Westlawn artists were represented at the art show! Way to go Dolphins!

February Art Update!

Woah! Where did February go? The end of the shortened month always creeps up on me!

Well, we're continuing to enjoy creating in the art room and are excited to share with you some pictures and descriptions of art creations that have been in the works!

4K art students finished their colorful Kandinsky Circle Paintings last art class and also started a new project inspired by another famous artist! After adding a final set of circles to their Kandinsky paintings, the students were asked to trace lines on a butterfly that is in the style of artist Piet Mondrian! Mondrian is famous for creating paintings with straight black lines and blocks of primary colors (red, yellow, and blue). The next time we meet, the 4K students will be adding paint to their butterflies using the primary colors, and in the process, will discover what happens when you add paint to one side of the butterfly and fold it in half! Check back next month to see how their butterflies turn out!

Kindergarten art students recently finished their Self Portraits by adding a border made of yarn! The border was a great addition to the artwork but definitely proved to be a challenge! The kinders are now creating their next art piece which focuses on SHAPES! They will be designing robots made entirely of shapes and will enjoy being creative in their approach. They have already made a background for their artwork by drawing and tracing gears with oil pastels, and painting over the gears with black watercolor paint. The project will help students to practice observational drawing, shape recognition, creativity, and craftsmanship in their work.

1st grade just completed their Kimono Portraits, that finally came together after working on many different parts! Most recently, the students practiced drawing Japanese symbols and then added a few symbols to their artwork that represented something important to them (such as friendship, family, life, etc.) The students also created a fan and positioned their person's arms so that it appeared they were holding the fan. In addition to learning a variety of art techniques, as well as a bit about Japanese culture, the project taught students how to be a good problem solver if they got behind on the project or needed to fix a mistake. The students will soon be starting a NEW art project inspired by one of my FAVORITE impressionist artists!

2nd grade students are in the process of finishing their Kente cloth Weavings, which is a complex and time consuming project involving many steps! The students recently completed their designs using sharpie. They were asked to create their own designs inspired by Kente cloth. Wow... once the students added the designs, it's amazing how it tricks your eyes into thinking the artwork is real cloth! So cool! The students are now adding yarn to the bottom of their artwork to create fringe (giving the weavings tactile texture... texture that you can feel). They will also be weaving some yarn into the artwork in order to add more texture AND continue practicing weaving techniques!

3rd grade art students paused their Clay Canopic jars to complete two important AND fun art assessments! The first art assessment tested the students' creativity! The one-day art test is called "Think Outside the Square." It asks students to choose one colored 6"X6" square and transform it in some way. With the use of a variety of materials (colored pencils, hole punchers, scissors, glue, etc.) the students aimed to impress me and themselves with their creative square transformations! I would say the outcome was a success because no two were the same!
The second and final art assessment, was a still life drawing of two objects (a bottle of liquid and a little purple monster creature). This art test took a look at how well the student could draw from observation. Once again, the students worked hard and many were pleasantly surprised with how accurately they were able to draw the objects.
Now that the two art assessments are complete we will jump right back into creating our Clay Canopic Jars!

4th grade students also took two art assessments, in between finishing up their Clay Coil Pottery! The art assessment that tested the students creativity was the same as 3rd grade ("Think Outside the Square"). The second art assessment was slightly more challenging that 3rd grade... rather than drawing 2 objects from observation, the students drew a still life of 3 objects (a ceramic bear, a wiffle ball, and a ceramic shoe). The students were encouraged to show the following in their drawing... a nice composition on the paper, accurate proportions, texture and details, and craftsmanship.
In addition to the two one day art tests, the students were able to glaze their fabulous Clay Coil Pottery, that will soon be on display outside of the art room!

5th grade art students just started paper making! The handmade paper will be used as a cover for their Elements and Principles Accordion Books. The students had blast choosing a color scheme and tearing paper, as well as adding crayon shavings to their pulp! The process from beginning to end is rather enjoyable and the paper that has been made so far looks fantastic! The Elements and Principles Accordion project has in some ways felt like a marathon, BUT the project teaches the kids SO much AND gives them many choices. It also requires students to be good managers of time, which has been a struggle for many students. I will be inviting any students that are behind on this project to come into the art room Friday mornings at 8:00 for Art Work Time! Please ask your child how they are doing on the project, and if they are not yet done, I would be happy to work with them to complete it!! :)