2nd Grade - 3D Shape Drawings

2nd grade students learned about 3D shapes in math, so I did a drawing lesson with them go along with it.  In math, they call the forms "space shapes" or 3D shapes.  We discussed how those terms also mean "forms" in art.

They drew the six forms on separate pieces of paper using charcoal pencils.  They had a lot of fun using the charcoal to create shadows. They also used construction paper crayons to add designs onto their forms.

After cutting out the 6 drawings, they made a "pretend sculpture" by stacking them together.  As you can see below, there were many interpretations to this!  

2nd Grade - Zoo Animal Drawings

Our 2nd graders recently went on a trip to the zoo because they were learning about animals, habitats and adaptations in science.  To go along with this unit, I decided to have them each draw a zoo animal.  I have many old "zoobook" magazines and I randomly chose students to each pick one, therefore everyone in each class was drawing a different animal.

They learned how to look at the pictures in the magazine and find the big shapes that make up the animal.  They drew the shape of the body first, then the head and legs/arms.  All the other smaller details go last.  They were asked to draw at least 3 different poses of the same animals.  Next, they added the animals habitat.  Horizon lines were reviewed in this step!  The practice drawings were then traced onto the nice white paper using the light box or a window. 

The animals and habitats were colored with oil pastels.  The skies were painted with a tempera wash. 

Art Portfolios

I must say, it's great to be back at school!

I started all my classes out with a portfolio design lesson.  Each grade had a separate design, but all included their name or initials.  Here's an example from each grade:

1st Grade; Made a patterned "frame" around their painted first initial

2nd Grade; They first wrote their initials, then filled in the spaces the letters created with various patterns, using marker and/or colorsticks (and using only warm or cool colors).  When finished, they painted over their initials.

3rd Grade; Students started by writing their name in block or bubble letters.  They filled in each letter with a different pattern or design.  The backgrounds were colored with colorsticks.

4th Grade; Students learned about the "layering" style of Jasper Johns by looking at the painting "0 through 9."  They layered their initials, outlined in oil pastel, colored some of the spaces in with crayon and watercolor painted the rest. 

5th Grade; They created radial designs around their names using sharpie and watercolor painted it in.

 6th Grade; They had their first lesson in one point perspective drawing to write their names.  They used white colored pencils to outline and metallic crayons to color them in.

Kindergartners will be making their portfolios in the next couple weeks.  Stay tuned!  :)

2nd Grade - Sidewalk Radial Designs

Since the Spring weather arrived, I'm just as antsy to be outside as the kids are!  I decided to take our lesson on radial symmetry outside with the sidewalk chalk.  The kids were excited about the size of their "canvas."

2nd Grade - Keith Haring figure paintings

Students loved posing for each other in this Keith Haring-inspired painting lesson.  They used their sketchbooks and drew at least 3 different poses - many did more because they were having so much fun!  Then, they used those sketches in their final painting.  They added patterns, designs, and a lot of color!

2nd and 3rd Grade - Printmaking

This year, my second grade students used small styrofoam plates to carve out an animal and print with one color of ink.  They printed them in the center of a larger black paper.  When dry, they added a border with oil pastel around their print.  They also had the option of adding more color on the printed area.

 

Third graders learned about non-objective art before starting their printmaking unit.  Then they used a variety of plastic printing plates (cut from plexi-glass and thick overhead sheets) to practice additive and subtractive monoprints.  For additive, they painted ink onto their printing plate with a paintbrush.  For subtractive, they rolled one color of ink onto their plate with a brayer, and scraped away their non-objective design using a q-tip.  They were asked to explore both types of printing, and make at least three prints total.    They also added oil pastel to the dried prints.

 

 

2nd Grade - James Rizzi Cityscapes

2nd graders loved learning about James Rizzi's colorful and cartoon-like drawing style.  After looking at several of Rizzi's artwork, they were anxious to get to their own cityscape drawings.  They began with buildings in the background, then sidewalk/street/cars in the middle ground, and people in the foreground.  All drawing was done in pencil first, outlined, and colored in with markers.

2nd Grade - Complementary Portraits

There was a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, with this lesson.  First, students drew a portrait.  It could be realistic or more abstract - their choice.  Next, they chose just one color (of oil pastel) to color it in.  They got to also use white and black oil pastels to create different values of that one color.  Lastly, backgrounds were painted with it's complementary color.

2nd Grade - O'Keeffe Flower Drawings

Students learned about the artwork of Georgia O'Keeffe. They used a a viewfinder on a flower image of their choice in order to "zoom in" on a particular area for their drawing. They used chalk pastels to color their flower and tempera paint for the background.