All of these snow days have really taken a hit to the art rotations schedule. Some of my students I have only seen once since we have been back from winter break! I'm trying to make the most of my time though. Currently, 6th graders have been brainstorming about how artists use math when creating artwork. To compliment the Egyptian social studies unit, my 6th grade students and I took a look at Egyptian art (specifically portraits) and how the art work reflects their culture. I found this cool video that really explained how Egyptians used a mathematical grid process to create precise portraits that have been drawn, carved, sculpted (you name it!) for hundreds of years! Students were then provided copies of Egyptian portraits with different crowns, which I had drawn a 1 inch grid on the top of the copy to help students analyze the line, shapes, and space within the portrait.
When starting the drawing, I asked students "How can we enlarge this drawing to make it 2 times bigger?" Students were provided a sheet of paper to the correct dimensions and they got started creating their own grids (that were 2 times bigger of course!)
After that students were on their own when drawing their portraits because every portrait was different! It really made them slow down their process of drawing to study the direction of line, the amount of space compared to other lines and shapes, and proportion. At first most students were nervous because they were on their own, but after getting use to the grid their portraits CAME OUT FANTASTIC! A very successful project :) Students outlined their portraits with black crayon and got to painting a light application of gold paint. The next step is going to be painting gold hieroglyphics on the black border!
3rd Grade has been busy too! I introduced students to Aboriginal Australian art and we have been focusing on animal silhouettes, free form shapes, and contrasting colors. Here are a couple of "nearly" finished artworks!
2nd grade has had the opportunity to use my childhood Duplo Legos and regular Legos to create abstract (almost industrial looking) prints! We used the second day of the lesson to focus on primary and secondary colors, as well as what it means to use different types of pressure when drawing. Some student imaginations really took off! But believe me, this was probably one of the messiest projects to date! If you do this at home with your children proceed with caution! :)
Kindergarten just finished up studying Wassily Kandinsky. We took a look at his abstract expressionism paintings and students were asked to find objects in his paintings from the different marks he made with paint! Students identified warm and cool colors and painted an expressive, colorful background while listening to instrumental music. On the second day, we reviewed Wassily Kandinsky's work and made different expressive marks using black ink with cardboard tools!
Stay warm!!!! :) -Mrs. Yambor
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