Week of 1/03/23 - 2nd and 3rd grade in the New Year

 We returned to school after 2 weeks of winter break!

 2nd graders returned to create bats inspired by artist Leonid Afremov.  We looked at his artwork and noticed how he uses patches of paint, creates reflections of the boast on water and uses a palette knife instead of a paint brush. Students were impressed and commented on how realistic his boats look!

Each 2nd grade class drew a different set of boats - sail boats, steam boats, sail ships and tankers. Each student created a horizon line with pencil, drew a line for trees/ mountains in the background and then the boats.

Once done, we used oil pastels to add clouds in our seascapes which I told students they would be able to see when we added the watercolors. I had each student pick two colors for each boat and showed them how to blend them together. We added the reflection of the boats in the water after discussing that it looks darkest close to the boat and fades as it moves away. Adding watercolors was the final step in creating a resist technique - blue and purple for the sky and water which revealed the white oil pastels for the clouds! So many "wow, that's so cool" comments from the students!

Here are examples of student works.

 

3rd grade students looked at the works of artist Nicole Dyer and noticed that the objects in her works are inanimate. We discussed how artists set up these objects together in interesting works and create still life artworks. We compared and contrasted the works of Paul Cezanne and Pablo Picasso and discussed how one looks realistic while the other abstract.

I set up a set of different objects for each 3rd grade class. We first drew the table line after I explained it refers to where the objects set up on the table ends. I started by asking students what geometric shape each object resembled and how we can add elements to each to make it look three dimensional. We changed a rectangle to a cylinder, by adding an oval for the opening and a curved line for the base. We drew coffee mugs, fruits, bowls, spoons and a metal coffee maker I brought from India that I use at home. 

Once done, we added oil pastels, blended colors together, left the paper white for highlights, created shadows and added watercolors for the background.