Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Portrait Partners

Cameron and Ashley

Jake and Samantha

Sam and Jake

Declan and Michael

Meaghan and Meredith

Daniel and Hannah

RJ and Johnston
The idea for this great lesson came from Phyl and her blog, There's a Dragon in my Art RoomI absolutely loved this lesson and the artwork that the first graders created!  The students were partnered up to create a portrait of each other.  We talked about how artists have been creating portraits through the ages and I used the opportunity to talk about facial features and proportions.  I like to have the students use their hands and fingers to feel and measure where everything is located on their face.  We use our hands to measure how wide our foreheads are, how much space is between our lower lip and the bottom of our chin, the space between our eyes, etc.  I give them some fun face facts and they have fun measuring their own facial features.  The students then look carefully at their partner and begin drawing in pencil.  Once their drawing was completed they used crayon to add color and a stained glass design was used for the background. 

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Now Serving......4th grade food sculptures!

There is always excitement in the air when it comes time for the 4th graders to work with clay.  For this piece of art we look at Claes Oldenburg and his famous food sculptures for inspiration.  The students drew a sketch of their chosen food and include notes on how they will try to re-create it in clay.  Once their sculpture is finished, it is fired in the kiln, painted, and displayed it the library.