Ornament Collages

Part of being an artist is practicing the skills needed to create a variety of art.  Third and fourth graders exercised their cutting skills by creating a paper collage that was turned into an ornament.  The project started by learning how to make a circle using a compass.  Students then chose a variety of cut paper lines (some thin, some thick) to make a collage on their circle.  Students were asked to use at least 10 lines in their collage and five had to be changed in some way by cutting.  After the glue dried, we got out our new metallic craypas (oil pastel) to add glitz and glamor to our collages.  Aren't they gorgeous???

Snowflakes falling...

Where is the snow??  It's almost Christmas!  Kindergarten used white paint and sponge brushes to create snow on their collage.  The collage was made by cutting squares diagonally to create triangles for trees and rooftops.  Scraps were used to add chimneys, doors and windows.

Walk this Way-Warm/Cool Collages

Fifth graders learned to differentiate warm colors from cool colors.  To see the impact of warm colors vs. cool colors the students drew one image and copied it to another paper.  One drawing was colored with warm colors, the other cool colors.  When both drawings were completed, we sliced them into 1 inch strips.  Students then folded a 18X6 oak tag paper into an accordion fold.  The pieces of the drawing were glued down in a pattern: warm, cool, warm, cool onto the paper accordion.  Our finished artwork will become an optical illusion.  Walking towards the artwork you will see one image and walking back by you will see a different one.  Here are some pictures of the work in progress.  We are almost finished!

Picasso Style Portraits

 

Pablo Picasso was a Cubist painter.  Cubism is an art style where artists take different views of the same object and combine them in one piece of artwork.  For example, in portraits, Pablo Picasso would combine a front view of a face with a profile.  Second graders looked carefully at Picasso's Cubist portraits before creating their Cubist portrait collages.  The project started out as monster portraits but some students were inspired by the alien stories they wrote in the classroom and turned their collages into aliens!  Background images were made with craypas.

Collage Portraits

Second graders learned the placement of facial features and created portrait collages. The finished work was sent home as part of the Original Artworks fundraiser for the PTA.

Artist Inspiration: Romero Britto

Artists are often inspired by other artists, either contemporary or from the past.  Our third and fourth graders drew inspiration for a multi-media project from artist Romero Britto (http://www.britto.com/), a self-taught artist from Brazil.  Mr. Britto's artwork was inspired by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.  His work combines cubism and pop art creating images that have "warmth, optimism and love."
Students noticed that Mr. Britto divided his background into shapes, similar to broken glass.  Patterns were found in each section of his work.  Students were asked to use these basic elements, fractured plane and pattern, to create a multi-media artwork.
Using the same printing objects they used in Framed!, students divided their 12X12 white paper into at least four sections and printed a pattern in each one with tempera paint.  When the paint dried, students used markers to add color to the patterns.  The collage for this artwork was inspired by fall.  Pumpkins!  Students were reminded of how to fold and cut a symmetrical shape out of orange paper.  Then, they sliced up their pumpkins and glued them back down as a puzzle on black paper, letting black lines show in between.  Since Halloween is near, some students chose to create jack-o-lantern faces on their pumpkins. They used green paper to create grass and a stem.  The final touch was cutting out the pumpkin, leaving a black outline around it, and gluing it to their patterned background.  Voila!  Striking, colorful, inspired multi-media art!

Framed!

At the beginning of the school year, Mrs. Benn asked me if I could have the students make frames to hang their photos in in the classroom.  Thanks to the recycling center, I had small mat board frames that would work perfectly for this project. 

Third and fourth graders used found objects to print patterns and designs around the frames.  We used old small and large marker caps, receipt rolls, toothpicks, q-tips and small pieces of cardboard to make our prints.  Students started the lesson by tracing the frames and practicing their patterns on paper.  Once they had decided on a design they liked, they used black and white paint to print patterns on their frames.  We let them dry until the following week when bright colors were used to embellish their designs.  The results are fantastic!  Look for them in your third or fourth graders' classroom!

Fall into Art!

Welcome to Phippsburg Elementary School's art room blog!  In the art room at Phippsburg Elementary we learn oodles about art and create doodles (among other things) that showcase the creativity and talents of Phippsburg students.

I am Mrs. Polizotto, the art teacher.  I teach all students, K-5, on Monday mornings and all day Friday.  Students are welcome to use my art shirts or bring their own.  As you know, art materials are messy and they can sneak in behind, below and all around an art shirt! Please keep this in mind when you are getting dressed on art days.  All of our materials are non-toxic and most say they are washable, but...

Here is when students have art this year:
Mondays: Grades 3 and 4
Fridays: Grades K, 1, 2, 3, 5

I look forward to sharing our art adventures with you!