Square One Art!

It's that time of year again, when all Canandaigua art students create an original piece of artwork for the Square One Art fundraiser. Students were given a lot of ideas for their projects but ultimately it was up to them what kind of artwork they wanted to create, from subject matter right down to the materials that they used.

After talking about technique, composition and how to generate ideas, students were free to create!

 

 

 

It was so exciting to see students let their imaginations run wild and to get a glimpse into the unique things that are really important and inspiring to them!

Stickers with images of your student's artwork should be coming home shortly along with order forms for families who would like to purchase additional items.

Clay Time!

Mr. Angelo's class just finished learning all about clay!

We talked about the nature of the material, explored its properties and created three pieces using different clay techniques.

First we learned how to create a clay slab, and students rolled and cut pieces of clay for their project. We then went on to explore printing in clay using a variety of objects and materials. It was so interesting to see the different textures that students achieved and how much detail the clay picked up!

The pieces were then sent off for a bisque firing and followed with a lesson on glaze. Students learned about how clay and glaze changes in the kiln and got to witness the results first hand!

Check out the great textures, expressive use of color and creative forms that students achieved:

After completing our clay slabs, we moved on to learn about using coils. We practiced rolling even coils, using slipping and scoring to connect them and building forms by stacking. Students created their own pots made entirely of coils in whatever shape they desired.

After bisque firing, students glazed these pots using dinnerware safe gloss glazes.

I love the interesting forms these pieces took as students built with and layered their coils:

After two different and successful clay experiences, students were ready to unleash their creativity and create clay creatures using the pinch and pull techniques.

We began by creating pinch pots, formed them to resemble a real or imagined creature and then slipped and scored to attach body parts and add detail.

These pieces were fired in the kiln and students were allowed to combine glazes to complete their creature.

After a final firing these wild creations were done:

This was such a great experience, all of my students were willing to explore and were so excited to create these pieces!

I was so happy with the experience that we took one final class to appreciate our work and critique our creations. Students looked at the body of work our class had created as a whole as well as their individual pieces and completed a written (and drawn!) self-critique of their work.

What a great clay time!

Go Figure!

My third graders have been hard at work on their first sculpture project and I am so proud of the results!

We started out studying the artwork of sculptor Alberto Giacometti. We talked about how this artist struggled with confidence in his work and how he would modify his pieces so much in the quest for realism that they would become drastically smaller and thinner as he worked. It is hard to imagine this struggle when we see how beautiful his forms look and how much interest is added through their imperfections. Many of us could identify with how frustrating it can be to try to make things look a certain a way in our own artwork, so making this connection helped us to relax a little and appreciate the beauty in all the things we create!

Alberto Giacometti

Students then learned about the proportions of the human figure through a class-long figure drawing session. We discovered how difficult it can be to achieve accurate proportions in our drawings and some tricks to help us do so. Students then had the opportunity to pose and sketch their classmates in a series of interesting positions.

We used these sketches as inspiration for our sculptures, and students used pipe cleaners to make a wire armature for their figures. After gluing their sculptures onto a base, students posed and adjusted their figures to achieve a dynamic and interesting composition from all angles.

Students then worked to cover their sculptures in plaster. After a lot of wrapping and adjusting to make sure our sculptures stood securely, we were ready for paint! Students had their choice of colors of metallic paint to use to cover their pieces. We then practiced the dry brush technique and students had the option to dry brush black paint over their sculptures to make them look older.

There were so many skills and techniques learned and practiced in these pieces and they really challenged us along the way. I am so proud of how different all of these pieces look and how much care was put into every step of the process from deciding on a pose and creating an armature, to using plaster and paint!

 

 

My students are SO proud of these pieces and they should be!

Let's Sculpt!

My second grade students and Mr. Angelo's class have been learning about warm and cool colors and how they are used in art.

Using only warm  or cool colors, students were asked to create a small scale paper sculpture. We discussed and experimented with different ways to bend, fold and cut paper and how to use these forms to create an interesting sculpture. We talked a lot about how sculptures are meant to be viewed from all angles and students were encouraged to continue to turn their pieces as they worked and to look from above, below, far away and close up.

As students worked they took breaks to circulate the room and look at their classmates' artwork. We also studied the metal sculptures created by local artist, Albert Paley.

Albert Paley, Cross Currents

We discussed how Paley plans his work in paper and students were excited to see how similar their small scale paper sculptures looked to the large scale artwork of a successful artist!

I can't stop talking about how much I LOVE these pieces! Check out the use of shape, form and composition and how unique and interesting each of these sculptures turned out!

These students really took my idea for a project and ran with it, making it evolve into their own creation! I heard talk of how these sculptures looked like roads, playgrounds and obstacle courses, and students even added things like vehicles and figures and discussed plans to use their pieces with toys they had at home. Taking art outside of the art room and making it your own? I couldn't be happier!

This project also began the option of free sculpting, having students use extra time they may have at the end of a project to create their own independent sculpture. While many of us enjoy drawing from imagination, consider sculpting as a means of artistic expression in your free time!

Is This a Dream?

Earlier this year my fifth grade classes studied realism and surrealism and saw how artists can use different styles to convey meaning in their work. We discussed how surrealism distorts reality and how wild and interesting surrealistic artwork can be!

Students were then asked to select a dream or memory to translate realistically or surrealistically through collage. They spent an entire class brainstorming and writing down or sketching all the details that they remembered about their dream or memory. At this point there were a lot of wild ideas circulating around the room! We then took a look at some collage art and discussed different methods that artists use to create imagery through collage. Using magazines, students began selecting images to use in their pieces and began laying out their collages. Students were able to select the scale of their pieces and also had the option to focus on creating either a realistic or surrealistic collage or both.

Check out this student's realistic...

...and surrealistic...

...collage depicting the same memory!

I am SO impressed by the creativity in these pieces and the imagery that students created is really interesting and inspiring!

Crayons!

My fifth graders just finished a drawing from observation unit and the results are amazing! We started out learning how to use quick small drawings called thumbnail sketches to help plan a dynamic and interesting composition. Students then selected crayons to draw and arranged them in an interesting way. After their thumbnail sketches were complete, students selected their favorite composition and began to lay out their final drawing on black paper. We spent a lot of time discussing how to achieve realism in our drawings through observation. Students were encouraged to really study the crayons that they were drawing. As they sketched and refined their drawings we talked about scale and proportion, measuring in our drawings, and how to check for accuracy. I am always fascinated by how much visual information we miss in everyday objects and how much we can learn by really taking the time to observe. 

Students used oil pastel to add color to their drawings and practiced layering colors, blending, adding highlights and shadows as well as refining details in their work.

Check out this artwork!

 

Drawing from observation can be really difficult and often challenges the way our brain perceives visual information. I am so proud of all of my students for taking on this challenge and putting in their best effort!