Prep Class, Prep Class, What Do You See?

I see lots of Brown Bears looking at me!!!

We've had so much fun the past few lessons, learning all about the way Eric Carle makes his painted papers for his illustrations and trying the technique out ourselves. First, we shared the book 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See' and enjoyed looking at all his beautiful artwork and reading along with the rhyming words in the book.

Then we talked about Texture (one of the elements of Art) and how Eric Carle makes his illustrations look textured (we came up with words like rough, bumpy, grainy, scratchy etc).  It was then time for us to try making painted paper and there was such a buzz in the room as the children all set to work!  We painted large brushstrokes on our paper first and then added contrasting colours of paint in blobs. Next, we used the paint scrapers, texture wands and skewers to make some interesting effects with the paint.  The children really enjoyed this creative process and there were lots of 'oohs' and 'aahs' to be heard! It was then time for our papers to dry, ready for us to use the next lesson.

During our second session, we had some terrific Grade 5/6 'Art Apprentices' help us (thank you Lachie, Toby and Jaidyn).  We shared out our stack of dried painted papers and then started tracing our bear templates. This was a bit tricky but everyone did such a great job.

Next, we cut out our bear parts and glued them down onto blue card. For some finishing touches, students added noses, paws and hair using black oil pastels and a few had time to make some leaves out of green textured paper we had in the Art room.

Here are Josh R and Kaden's finished Brown Bears up close.  Don't the textured papers look terrific?

There was lots of chanting of "brown bear, brown bear, what do you see..." as we worked! Everyone finished their bears by the end of the second session and I think they look fantastic. I can't wait to make a display of them up in the office.  Well done Preps!

Grade 5/6~ Dot paintings finished... onto Scrapbooking!

As I mentioned in my earlier post, we've been working on dot paintings and they are now on display in the Art Room. Well done Grade 5/6 - they look so eye catching as you walk into the room!

And here is Lily's painting up close - amazing work Lily!

We are now onto our next project - Scrapbooking!  This is one of my favourite hobbies and we have so many great materials to work with (papers, punches, stamps, ribbons, washi tape, journal cards, cuttlebug dies, embellishments etc).  Some wonderful parents and community members have donated some supplies they no longer need (thank you Sue B and Hannah L). 

Students - if you would like to bring in some supplies for your pages that you have at home or have purchased with this project in mind, please bring them in on Monday for our class.  Otherwise, I have plenty of materials for you to choose from. 

Grade 3/4 ~ Papier Mache Hot Air Balloons

Our Hot Air Balloons are well underway and are hopefully drying nicely right now ready for more layers next week!  Here are some progress shots (with lots of slimy, gooey hands!)

Have you been thinking about the colours and patterns you'd like to paint on yours?  I think the best part is when we get to pop the balloons!

Grade 1/2 ~ Animal stamps on textured backgrounds

We've had lots of fun using textured wands and paint scrapers to create a gold and silver background for our bright animal prints.  The new animal stamps were a big hit!  Here are Evie, Katie and Olivia's creations.

For the next few weeks, we will be studying the beautiful artwork of Eric Carle and trying out his technique of making and creating collages with painted paper.  We will start by reading and admiring the illustrations in his wonderful book 'Mister Seahorse'.  Stay tuned for some beautiful seahorses!

Grade 5/6 ~ Linking Visual Arts with Government

During Term 4, Grade 5/6 students have been learning all about the Australian Government and we have been complementing this topic during our Art lessons.

Did you know that Parliament House in Canberra houses an extensive collection of Australian Artwork and that some of the pieces were commissioned especially for the building?  One of the best known artworks at Parliament House is the Forecourt mosaic and it is based on Indigenous artist Michael Nelson Jagamara's painting called Possum and Wallaby Dreaming.  The  mosaic measures 15 metres by 15 metres and is made up of 90 000 hand-guillotined granite pieces in seven different colours!

The mosaic depicts Jagamara's Dreaming (creation time) ancestors - the brush-tail possum, red kangaroo, rock wallaby and goanna - all gathering for an important ceremony. The tracks of these ancestors are shown moving toward concentric circles in the middle of the mosaic.

In class, we discussed the use of symbols and dots in Aboriginal artwork, as well as the use of warm, earthy colours. We then spent some time sketching and planning our own stories using some of these symbols before beginning to paint.  Some students have finished their work already!

Emanuel's artwork tells the story of people sitting around a campsite/waterhole with their digging sticks and shields. Emu, kangaroo and goanna tracks are nearby.

Joshua's artwork tells the story of animals near running water and a waterhole.  There are emu and kangaroo tracks, as well as a honey ant.

As you can see, students have created some interesting lines and patterns to tell their stories.  I will continue to post photos of student work as more are completed. The students have worked really hard on these and most importantly, enjoyed the process. It takes a long time to fill a page with dots!

Welcome to the Marlborough PS Art Room Blog!

Thanks for stopping by! I will be sharing lots of student artwork and happenings from our Art classes here, so make sure you check in regularly!

During Term 3, our Art classes consisted of lessons that complemented the Integrated Topics of each year level.  The Prep-2 students were studying Fairytales and we had lots of fun with guided drawing sessions.  

We learned how to draw castles as well as discussing what the different parts of a castle were called (towers, turrets, battalions, drawbridges etc).  Our Foundation students did an amazing job of drawing their castles with white oil pastels on black paper. Some even highlighted the windows with yellow to make them look like the lights were on!  Here are photos of Will T and Carla's castles.

The Grade 1-2 students also worked on drawing castles - they used black oil pastels and bright watercolours.  These are displayed in the office building - I think they look amazing!

Grade 1/2 classes also spent some time drawing portraits of Kings and Queens. They used magiclay to add form and texture to their crowns and had fun decorating them with glitter paint and jewels.  Here is Ethan's King and Emily's Queen.

Grade 3/4 students enjoyed their topic of Media last term and we had lots of fun making comics and drawing cartoons (especially after Richard Galbraith's visit). We also looked at Pop Art and studied some artworks by famous artists like Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol.  We were particularly inspired by the artwork 'Whaam!' by Roy Lichtenstein.    Students used a variety of materials to create their own Onomatopoeia Pop Art. If you ask one of the Grade 3/4 students, I am sure they can explain to you what 'Onomatopoeia' means!  They certainly made me say "WOW!"

The 5/6 students studied Outer Space in Term 3 and we spent some time studying the Visual Art Principles of Perspective and Space. In particular, we looked at the optical illusion of 'foreshortening'. Foreshortening describes an extreme perspective, where objects on a 2-dimensional surface seem to reach out to you.  Things that are closer to you look bigger than the things that are far away.

Students created artworks of astronauts in outer space and experimented with this technique of foreshortening.  They began by tracing their hands and feet and then drawing the body smaller to give the illusion of the astronaut falling through outer space.  They look terrific displayed around the Art Room!   Here are Riley's, Stanley's and Jaidyn's.

I hope you've enjoyed reading about what we were learning about in Visual Arts last term.  I will continue to update this blog with photos and snippets of our lessons during the remainder of this year.  We certainly have some very talented artists here at Marlborough!