Winter Cardinals

A winter wonderland is usually seen as a world of white snow, blanketing the ground and clinging to tree branches. The stark white landscape in Maine is often accented with bright dots of color from beautiful birds darting about. Cardinals stand out against the bright white.
Third and fourth graders discussed birds and what makes some birds more visible than others. The most common response was the bird's bright color that stands out from the colors around it. Cardinals are a perfect example of this. The lesson's learning target was "I can choose the right brush for the job." Students have been fine tuning their painting skills and need to recognize when to use a big brush or a small brush in their work. Our motto is "big space=big brush" and "little space=little brush." Students were asked to paint a cardinal in a tree and outline it. The students were asked to remember our painting motto and make good choices in which brush to use.
As you can see the students did a wonderful job not only in their brush choice, but in their compositions as well.

This lesson was inspired by the blog Deep Space Sparkle
http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/

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???

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!