Mono print madness

Yearly, students take on a printmaking lesson. This fall the fifth graders tested their printmaking skills by creating monoprints. Monoprints are copies of marks printed once hence "mono". No two prints are alike. Fifth graders used fall leaves as their subject matter and created wrapped branches for a hanger.

Kindergarten Freight Trains

The kindergarten finished up a quick study in shape and color. We used Donald Crews' book Freight Train for inspiration. The book has great illustrations that won it a Caldecott Honor award. Check out the kindergartens take on Freight Train.

3rd grade Greek Vases

Third graders have created artwork based off Ancient Greek Pottery for their first art work of the year. We focused on the black figure style which features repetitive patterns and often tells a story of daily life in Ancient Greece or mythological scenes. The 3rd graders put their own twist on their artwork by illustrating a scene from their daily life.

Warm suns Cool oceans

First grade started off their art year with a warm and cool color practice. Warm colors are orange red and yellow. They are used for things like fire, the sun, or lava. Cool colors are blue green and purple. They can be used for water or snow. The first graders noticed how there are both primary and secondary colors in each group and that each group reminds us of the actual temperature of the subject they are drawing. To get a good feel of the new color groups the first graders created warm suns and cool ocean paintings

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Welcome Back!

Scissors, glue, markers, and more- the art room is back in full swing! The kids have been working hard and have some great work to show for it!

Some Sites for your Summer Art Craving

Here is a list of some fun sites to check out when you need a quick art fix over your summer break.

Picasso Head is site I have suggested to students for awhile. If you haven't checked it out yet, now the time to create your own Picasso inspired piece.

Picasso Head


SFMOMA has a nice site where you become a detail detective of art masterpieces.

Detail Detective


The Art Institute of Chicago Curiousty Corner has a few fun activities to try. I like the mix and match famous portraits.

Curiosity Corner


In 3rd grade we created new mythical creatures, on BuiLD YouR WiLD SeLF you can turn yourself into a creature!

Build Your Wild Self


Albright-Knox has some art games that are worth a try.

Art Games

Blue dog boogie

George Rodrigue is one of my favorite artists. His blue dog paintings are immediately recognizable. He has a wonderful collection of painting, sculptures, and children's books. This year, Second grade practiced drawing their own blue dog painting inspired by George Rodrigue. Soon after studying Rodigues work the second graders found out that blue dog isn't always blue...

Homes for a Gnome

At an elementary art level we work on a clay hand building technique each year. In 4th grade we practice slab building. This year they had to use the slab technique to create a home that would be fit for a gnome. The students love the subject and always like working with clay. Here are some of their results.

Colorful chameleons

Chameleons are a wonderful subject to study while practicing a technique or media. These lizards are just plain cool and the kids love learning about them and their color changing abilities. Recently, first grade has finished some great chameleon collages. Check them out below!

Painting in a 3/4ths view

Almost every year I have my student create a self portrait. It's a great practice in observation and its a good connection to famous artists who have all created numerous self portraits.  This year I felt like my 5th grade students were up for a challenge and I decided to have them create a portrait in 3/4th view. Understanding the difference between a frontal view, profile, and 3/4th view came first. Then we practiced face mapping or drawing out the measurements of where features are on your face. Next we drew our own features complete with accessories like glasses and earrings. Last the 5th graders did some color mixing with water color paint to add color to their portraits. Overall, it proved to be a challenge but a good one that my students took on with great effort.

Paint Like an Impressionist

I love having students do something totally unexpected (to them, that is). When they are use to filling in shapes solid with smooth, long brushstrokes painting like an Impressionist is completely different. The Impressionists are a group of artists who worked in France over 100 years ago. The best known artist of this group is Claude Monet. The Impressionists developed a new way of painting using small quick brush marks. Up close the paintings can look blurry, but when you stand back the entire image is revealed.  The 2nd graders took a shot at painting like an Impressionist through their landscape artwork.

Circular weaving

There's something great, even peaceful about having students weave. I think that weaving becomes therapeutic for many students once they figure out a rhythm. I am always amazed at the focus I receive from students while they are in the thick of weaving. Here are the circular weavings created by 4th grade. They looked at historical weavings as well as the work from the contemporary artist Xenobia Bailey for inspiration.