January Art Update!

Welcome back to the Westlawn Art Blog! So glad you stopped by!

Check out what Westlawn students have been up to during this COLD month of January...

4K art students enjoyed part two of the Kandinsky inspired art project! The students revisited Wassily Kandinsky's painting, entitled "Squares with Concentric Circles" in order to figure out what our next steps of the project might be. They guessed right... add more CIRCLES and COLORS! This time, instead of using blocks to print, the students used paintbrushes and tempera cakes to add circles. Not only does the action of painting circles allow students to practice their fine motor skills and control of the paintbrush, but it also gives students a chance to explore a variety of colors, including what colors work well with others (or don't work well). For example, red paint on a red background, does not show up well, but green paint on red paint does. A lot of exploring went on in their young minds and the students had lots of fun adding circles to their paintings.

Kindergarten students spent the month of January creating a self-portrait project, that I hope will be treasured for a long time. The students made a portrait that was quite different from the background of their artwork. The background is super colorful, made up of tissue paper squares that the students laid down with mod podge. The portraits, on the other hand, are very simple line drawings traced with black permanent marker. The students thought about what makes up a portrait drawing and were thoughtful in adding all of the necessary features (everything from facial features to what clothing they might wear). I just LOVE the contrast between the portraits and the backgrounds, and I especially LOVE how genuine and youthful the portrait drawings are. The students and I are now taking on the challenge of adding a sewn border with colored yarn. I say challenge, because teaching an entire class of kindergarten students how to sew, is more difficult than I anticipated!

First grade students are in the process of making Kimono portraits! The students have already completed the background of their artwork which is a branch of a cherry blossom tree against a blue sky. The students looked at pictures of cherry blossom trees and attempted to imitate what they saw. They especially had fun making the branches, since the painting technique they used was blow painting! The students laid down little puddles of paint/ink and used air pressure from the straw to spread out the paint/ink into smaller branches.
After making the background, the students enjoyed "dying fabric" (painting coffee filters with liquid watercolors) that will be used for their Kimonos. They turned out so cool and unique! We are now in the process of putting together all of the features of the Kimono portrait. The students wrapped their person in the Kimono "fabric" like a burrito, and are beginning to add other features that represent what a Japanese person would wear for a special occasion.

Second grade students spent a handful of art classes completing their sketchbook cover designs! Each grade level has a theme for their sketchbook cover, and second grade's theme is cursive! The students practiced writing their name (and the word "sketchbook") until they got a hang of it. Of course the foreign style of writing came naturally to some more than others, but all persevered and showed lots of improvement! In addition to adding their name and "sketchbook" to the cover in cursive, the second graders designed a picture frame and drew a self portrait.
The students are now beginning a NEW project that focuses on African culture. After reading the book, "The Spider Weaver: A Legend of Kente Cloth" by Margaret Musgrove, the students chose a color scheme for their paper weavings they will make to imitate real Kente cloth! The introduction to weaving will teach the students some terminology such as "warp" and "weft" and it will also involve patterns and some problem solving when they face challenges. The students are loving the process so far and will be even more excited to see the final products soon!

Third grade students designed their own alphabets during the month of January, and then used their letter designs to add their name and the word "sketchbook" to the cover of the sketchbooks! For their alphabets, students were asked to do a combination of observational drawing (looking at letters they liked and copying them), as well as imaginative drawing (coming up with their own creative letter designs). Between the two, the students were able to come up with some awesome and unique Alphabets! In addition to adding letter designs to the cover of their sketchbooks, the students also designed their own picture frames and drew a self portrait. Soon, the students will be starting a new project! Check back at the end of February to see what it is!

Fourth grade students have been enjoying working with CLAY during the month of January! The students are in the process of creating clay coil pottery that could be in the form of a mug, vase, or another container. In order to get their creative juices flowing, they sketched a design in their sketchbooks showing what they would like their clay pottery to look like. The students also practiced making coils with play-dough before using the clay. This helped the students to become familiar with with the motions and techniques used to make quality coils (to their surprise... it's harder than it looks, especially when using the clay)! The fourth graders are now a few classes in and their projects are growing! Not only do they need to be conscious of the height (between 4 and 7 inches tall is the goal), the students also need to be thinking about the strength (which is determined by the "4 S's"... ask your child what they are), the craftsmanship, and the creativity of their design. There's a lot to balance, but also a LOT of fun to be had for this project. Soon, the students will be able to glaze their projects after they have been fired in the kiln.

Fifth grade students have been hard at work on their Elements and Principles Accordions! For this in depth project, the students chose a symbol or theme that would be represented 14 different ways. On one side of the accordion the elements of art will be seen (line, shape, color, value, texture, space, and form). On the opposite side, the principles of art will be seen (balance, contrast, emphasis, pattern, unity, movement, and rhythm). The project is enjoyable for students for the fact that is allows them (and encourages them) to be CREATIVE. It also allows students to explore a variety of art mediums (I am essentially opening up my whole art room to students for this project... they can be as creative as they want with art mediums and techniques). One of the CHALLENGES that the project brings is time management. Since there are 14 panels on the accordion, students need to be productive during class and think about not only quantity (getting multiple panels done each class) but QUALITY (putting forth their best effort on each one and showing quality work). I look forward to putting the finished projects on display when they are done, but first we have a lot more work to do!