James Whistler - Nocturne in Black and Gold

(1834–1903), US painter and etcher; full name James Abbott McNeill Whistler. He mainly painted in one or two colors and sought to achieve harmony of color and tone. Notable works: Arrangement in Gray and Black: The Artist's Mother (portrait known as Whistler's Mother, 1872) and Old Battersea Bridge: Nocturne—Blue and Gold ( c. 1872–75).


James Whistler slideshow link is at bottom of post.
This project is from the Usborne Art Treasury Book.
(see link to right)
They're going to create their own Fireworks painting.
Materials:  Large purple paper
Sponges cut up into small rectangles.
Pink, Orange, Dark Purple paint
cotton balls
purple and yellow chalk or pastel.
small paint brushes for splattering.
small disposable paper plates for paint.
a couple of blow dryers

1. Draw a low horizon line on a piece of purple paper.
2.  Use a sponge to dab some pink and orange paint in patches above and below the line.
3. Rinse the sponges, or use clean ones and Press its flat side into
dark purple paint, then print a blocky shape above the line for buildings.
4.  Print more blocky shapes, they can use it any direction, or the side of it too.
Have them do the same block shapes below the horizon lines upside down to show a reflection in the water. ( you might have to demonstrate this or show this to them)
 5.  Have a couple people stationed in the back to dry the paint with a dryer if its too
wet.  It should dry pretty quickly if they don't gob it on.
6.  when the paint is dry, use a cotton ball to smudge on purple and yellow chalk or
pastel for smoke.  the smoke will be just above the horizon line hovering over the buildings.
7. Mix some runny paint in yellow and reds.  Dip in a brush, hold it over the paper and flick the bristles.
Don't forget their names on the back and take photos when they are done for Artsonia

Link to James Whistler slideshow

Native american pottery- Acoma Pueblo

The artists from the Acoma Pueblo produce their works of art almost exactly how the pieces would have been produced several centuries ago. • dig the clay from the earth
• coil and smooth the pots
• fire them (either in an open fire or kiln) 
• decorate them with paints
• used geometric patterns or symbols to decorate their pottery.

Acoma Pueblo  also known as "Sky City", is a Native American pueblo built on top of a 367-foot  sandstone mesa in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Settled and built around AD1100, it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities within the United States borders. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark. Its Native American residents are a federally recognized tribe in the United States.

Slideshow link is at bottom of post.


Link to a Traditional Acoma Pottery site.
Link to photos and information on many types of Indian Pottery
Wiki link to Acoma Pueblo

Link to slideshow on Native American Pottery

Link to a 1952 short documentary on Pueblo Arts Indian Pottery

 

George Rodrigue's Blue Dog Art

 

George Rodrigue (born March 13, 1944) is a Cajun artist who grew up in New Iberia, Louisiana. Rodrigue began painting outdoor family gatherings framed by moss-clad oak trees in an area of French Louisiana known as Acadiana. More recently and worldwide he is known for his creation of the Blue Dog series of paintings, featuring a blue-hued dog, attributed to his deceased dog named Tiffany and influenced by the Loup Garou legend—the first painting in the series bears the title Loup Garou.

link to bluedog slideshow

After reading the legend of the loup garou, introduce students to Rodrigue’s Watchdog, the first painting which depicted George’s now famous Blue Dog. Use this painting to introduce the concept of primary colors. Discuss how primary colors are used to create all other colors (i.e. secondary colors, tertiary colors, etc.) and how color can be used to convey emotion. Consider asking students such questions as: Has anyone in the class ever seen a dog that is blue in color? Do you think the artist was trying to paint a realistic dog? Why do you think the artist chose to paint his dog blue? How does blue make them feel? Would the loup garou have the same effect in this painting if it were red? Does the color blue better convey the feeling of a cool night? What color would you use to convey the feeling of a hot summer day?

After these discussions, have students use primary paints to create their own blue dog portraits (see below).

Scholastic article - conversation with George Rodrigue

Blue Dog coloring sheets

www.georgerodriguefoundation.org

ART PROJECT

will be posted after the Jump......

Wayne Theibaud

Wayne Thiebaud (born November 15, 1920) is an American painter whose most famous works are of cakes, pastries, boots, toilets, toys and lipsticks. He is associated with the Pop art movement because of his interest in objects of mass culture, although his works, executed during the fifties and sixties, slightly predate the works of the classic pop artists. Thiebaud uses heavy pigment and exaggerated colors to depict his subjects, and the well-defined shadows characteristic of advertisements are almost always included in his work.



Link to Wayne Theibaud slideshow

Paul Klee

A Swiss-born painter and graphic artist whose personal, often gently humorous works are replete with allusions to dreams, music, and poetry, Paul Klee, b. Dec. 18, 1879, d. June 29, 1940.

Link to Paul Klee slideshow

For this project you will need watercolor paper.

Liquid watercolor. Deep blue and green. I use magic watercolor in the bottle without diluting it, the pigment is nice and strong for this project.

Oil pastels

Saran wrap

Paintbrushes and water

Talk to them about wax resist.

Oil and water don't mix so it's a great art technique.

Explain that they will draw a main fish and some background life with the oil pastels. Press down hard, they can use white too, light colors will show up nicely. They can squiggle sea plants etc. Paul Klee was colorful and fanciful. Encourage them, there are no mistakes, no need for perfection. It is all different and beautiful. They will be leaving all of their paper blank that they have not drawn the sea life.

Explain how now they will apply the watercolor, and since oil and water don't mix, (or wax and water) that even if when they brush the watercolor over their drawings, it will not adhere to the pastels.

Have them cover the whole sheet completely using the blue and green watercolor (not mixing them, just applying them separately)

While they are still wet, quickly cover it in a layer of Saran wrap.

Squish it into wrinkles. Put on a shelf to dry until the next day. They are done. Don't forget their names on the back!

When the plastic wrap is taken off the next day, it will give the appearance of under water scene. Take photos and email them to sharonroe1@me.com and I will put them on Artsonia

Jackson Pollock- Action Jackson

Jackson Pollock was an American painter, born in 1912, who became famous for his enormous drip paintings. He painted in a tool shed where he could lay his canvas on the floor, and drip and splatter paint across it without worrying about ruining the walls or floor.

Rather than paint a landscape or a portrait, Pollock wanted to paint action. When you look at one of his drip paintings, your eye wanders across the entire canvas in constant motion. In this way, Pollock achieved his goal; the creation of the painting was active and so is the viewing of the painting.







Link to lavender mist.
Don't forget to look for his handprints "signature" in the top right of painting.

Click here to make your own Jackson Pollock painting online!!!!

Video of Jackson Pollock painting


Link to my Pollock slideshow for class

Project:
Canvas boards. Whatever size is on sale or you can order in advance from art department

I used 24x24" last time, it looks great on an easel!

Lots of bottles of acrylic paint,
Brushes, large small, painters stir sticks, or Popsicle sticks
Large Red plastic cups
Drop cloths
Painters smocks from art room ( very messy project)
I prep the white canvas board by spray painting the background a lavender for girls and a blue for boys.
I will put a label on the back saying teacher, year, artist, art masterpiece date.

On the day of, make sure you have list of helpers and find a spot outdoors to lay down the drop cloths, or plastic tablecloths.
Pre-pour the paints into red cups and mix with a little water so it is a little thinner, like house paint consistency.

Show the slideshow, and the video of "action Jackson" at work.
Talk about abstract expressionism, and explain that a very important part of his work is the action and process of making it, not just the final canvas.
Have the kids take their shoes off and put a smock on to cover their clothes.
They will stand in a circle with their canvas on the plastic, and their feet off it.
They'll take turns with all the colors and drip, splash, drop, paint onto their canvas' as they stand over them. They will not touch their canvas!
When they are done with all the colors, their masterpieces will look like these! Have fun, and don't forget to take photos for Artsonia !

James Audubon

John James Audubon (1785-1851). U.S. Naturalist and artist. His most notable work is The Birds of America (1827-38), in which he portrayed even the largest birds life-size and painted them in action.

Link to Audubon slideshow






Our project today requires black paper, white oil pastel, colored art chalk,
Stencils and q-tips.

Have the children take a bird and leaves stencil and draw around them with the white pastel. Afterwards, they will outline with multiple colors of chalk, as thick as they want it, when they are done they will gently blur the edges with a q-tip.

Wassily Kandinsky

Wassily Kandinsky: Russian painter and theorist. A pioneer of abstract art, he co-founded the Munich based Blaue Reiter group of artists in 1911.

This a really fun project that I've done in first grade, they learn about basic color mixing, talk to them about the primary colors ( red,blue,yellow) and ask them what colors do they make when they mix.

Link to Kandinsky slideshow

Elements of art covered: Color and Line

Materials for the project:
Bleeding art tissue.

Cut the colored tissue up into squares 2-3". Don't use white, black brown, only the bright colors.
Use a mixture of 50/50 water/glue, or water/mod podge. I mix it in a water bottle as I go so I can pour it easily into their cups of their tables, and refill as necessary.
Paint brushes, or sponge brushes.
Black tempura paint, thin brushes
Do a sample in advance of putting down three primary color tissue paper and gluing them with the mixture, it will show them how the blue yellow and red, primary colors will mix to make the orange, violet, and green secondary colors with the tissue paper.
Pass out a Dixie cup of glue mixture, handful of various colors of tissue squares and the foam brushes.
Don't forget their name on the back of the watercolor paper first.
Working in smaller sections, have them generously apply the glue mixture and start laying and overlapping the tissue paper on top.
**be careful that they don't brush on top of the tissue paper, it will tear when it's wet!!!***
have them completely cover the paper, leaving no white part.
For the black part, sometimes, I wrap up the lesson for the day, and let everything dry overnight, then when I come back for a 20 minute session,
Talk to them about one of the elements of art being line, and how Kandinsky
Would paint to music and feel the music with his brush strokes, not trying to paint specific shapes, but flowing lines etc. I have brought classical music in for this part too.
Pass out their dry projects, they will use thinned black paint and thin brushes. Show them the Kandinsky sample ( you can just show the one slide up on the smart board if needed)
They will paint some simple lines and shapes on their masterpieces. Keep this session very short, give them too much time and they will want to paint stars, moons, puppies, trees etc.
When it's dry take pictures and send them to me for artsonia!

Insects in art

In second grade 1st semester they are learning all about insects! Well, there's really not a lot of famous artists that specialize in bugs. But, there are some really cool art works from really talented artists starring bugs!

I put together a slide show here.....Insects in Art
You can ask the kids what kind of bugs they are? Talk about the fun ways artists differ from creating each insect painting.

Project: the children will create their own bug on a tree stump.
Using water colors and sharpies.






Materials needed:
8 x10 watercolor or thick artists paper, white
Thin brown water color marker
Water color palettes ( for shades of green) brushes,
Small cups for water
Lots of different colored sharpies, NOT REGULAR MARKERS, they won't adhere. Only the permanent sharpies will draw on the plastic.
Black sharpies for outlining insect
(all of the above should be in the art room)
I do like the art paper from hobby lobby, the thick watercolor paper comes in pads of 50 and it's pretty cheap!
You will need those clear plastic Avery type paper holders that go in the kids notebooks. I cut 4 inch circles out of them, you can get 8 (4 double thickness) circles form each page. I would have enough for 2-3 circles per child .








Paintings on wood by Mara Minuzzo


During class, after you give the slide talk,
Pass out white paper, names on back in pencil.
Explain that they will first draw a large tree stump, they will want it as wide as the paper, it looks great if it extends past the edge

1. Take the thin watercolor brown marker and draw a huge circle for the outside of the tree stump, show the example.
This Is an IMPORTANT PART! If the circles are too small, they'll have to start over, make sure to SHOW them how BIG the stump should be.
2. Ok, now they need to find the middle of their stump and start with small circles or spirals, make the rings of the tree.
3. Take out the water colors, they can use yellow/brown water color to fill in the stump, if they used enough brown pencil, this will make a nice wood color.
4. Here's what the kids ask...it's too dark, add water or yellow, too brown add yellow, too yellow add brown, someone added a tiny bit of orange and it looked great.
5. Have them clean and wipe brushes, then generously apply shades of green water color for the grass. Fill it all in.




6. Now they will use the printouts of how to draw bugs, have them choose an insect, then they will draw their insect step by step on the plastic cut out circles. Then they can fill them in with colored sharpies. If the black smears, they can color on the opposite side. Link to bug drawings




7. If there is time, they can do more bugs, when they are done, and the watercolor has dried, put some clear glue stick on the back, and place on the stump where they want their bugs.
8. If you want, you can "frame" them by mounting them on larger black construction paper.

Art Masterpiece program information

SCA Art Masterpiece Program

The Art Masterpiece program is designed to introduce significant works of art and artists to children and build an appreciation for fine art while enhancing their lessons in Social Studies, Science, Geography and other subjects.

This program is administered and presented by parent volunteers, in cooperation with teachers.

In a nutshell, a parent presents a 5-15 minute discussion about a masterpiece, including the artist, the medium and/or technique used as well as the piece itself. The discussion can be based on a lesson plan available or developed by the parent. The parent will have a print of the art masterpiece available to show the class. These prints are stored in our art closet in the cafeteria. The lesson includes a project for the children to complete. The project is based on the technique or inspiration of the masterpiece. Basic supplies are provided in the art room.

Please email Crystal Cruse, Deb Wead or Sharon Roe for any questions.

Van Gogh Starry Nights in Arizona

Vincent Van Gogh 1853-1890 Dutch painter. He is best known for his post-Impressionist work. His most famous works include several studies of sunflowers and A Starry Night (1889)

In first grade they study the planets and solar system in January, so this is a great project to do for it. I changed it a bit to make the foreground silhouette an arizona one.

They will be doing a wax resist, the oil pastels repel the watercolor when you paint over them.

Give the PDF on Van Gogh. Van Gogh Starry Night

Materials needed:

12x18 white watercolor paper

Oil pastels- lightest colors show up best

Paintbrushes-maybe 3/4-1" wide.

Watercolors. Dark blue, --Hobby Lobby sells magic liquid water color,One or two bottles are good for a whole classroom (@3$ each)

12x18 black construction paper-precut the black paper on a long diagonal so that each child will have half a black sheet of paper for their silhouette.



Talk about what they would see in the Arizona skies. The moon, stars and planets.
Have them Start by taking white or yellow pastels and drawing the moon and stars. Have them press hard and color the dots/circles/crescent completely in. Then they take the pastels and draw the radiant lines around the stars, moon and planets ( if they drew them) they continue this process until the page is filled with the lines and swirls. Referencing van goghs starry night. At this age, it is important to demonstrate , perhaps on the board. Some of the kids will try to color in or scribble or color the background, impress upon them that it will look the best by pressing hard and drawing slowly. The white shows up later when the watercolor is applied.

The next step is to brush the dark blue watercolor thinly all over the paper. The pastels will resist the watercolor. If someone puts too much watercolor on and it is pooling, don't blot with paper towels, the pattern will show up on it. Just let it drip onto a paper towel if it's too much, generally the excess just dries fine.
As the painting is drying, the kids will take their half black paper and free cut the top edge into a Arizona landscape. Make sure they only cut the curved edge, not the bottom edge. When they are done, glue-stick the silhouette to the background for them, and make sure their names are on the back.

Don't forget to take photos for artsonia!,

Hudson River School landscapes

Thomas Cole was the founder of the Hudson River School of artists. they were a group of landscape painters that painted with romanticism and focused on a certain area of the United States.

I remember going monthly to the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, and in my early years of discovering art was fascinated by four paintings in a small gallery, I could study them for hours. They were allegorical paintings by Thomas Cole from 1840, each painting showed a different stage of a man's life, childhood, youth, manhood and old age.
They were so interesting, and so well done, there an amazing amount of details that translated and changed from each painting to the final painting. There was a linked story to each painting, that in the final painting, like any good movie, the main character learns the true meaning of his life.





"The paintings follow a voyager who travels in a boat on a river through the mid-19th century American wilderness. In each painting, accompanied by a guardian angel, the voyager rides the boat on the River of Life. The landscape, corresponding to the seasons of the year, plays a major role in telling the story. In each picture, the boat's direction of travel is reversed from the previous picture. In childhood, the infant glides from a dark cave into a rich, green landscape. As a youth, the boy takes control of the boat and aims for a shining castle in the sky. In manhood, the adult relies on prayer and religious faith to sustain him through rough waters and a threatening landscape. Finally, the man becomes old and the angel guides him to heaven across the waters of eternity." from Wikipedia.





I didn't know who Thomas Cole was at the time, but these paintings and every amazing art museum in DC changed my life as far as art goes.






Now I know that Thomas Cole was a landscape painter with an amazing attention for detail.

I wrote the slideshow to show different aspects of landscape paintings in general using the Hudson River School artists as examples.

We learn about a horizon line, where the land or sea meets the sky.
Also, aerial perspective, foreground, middle ground and background. For example, the background is paler and sometimes fuzzier to show that it is the distance.
And then we have linear perspective , when artists give a feeling of distance by making lines meet at a "vanishing point".

Link to the slideshow: Hudson River School

Materials for project:
White background water color paper, heavier stock.
Blue painters tape
Water colors in spray bottles. ( hobby lobby carries magic liquid watercolor, the only store that I know that carries it, highly pigmented, it can be watered down and put in spray bottles.)
Sharpies
Salt





For the project, pass out the paper, and have the kids write their name on the back.
Then, give them stripes of the painters tape with instructions on how to make their trees and ground. The ground is one solid piece of tape and a ripped piece on top. Have them place their tree trunks where they want. 2 or 3. Then, they rip off little strips of tape to place down for the branches.






Next step is they spray 2 or 3 colors of the spray bottled watercolors onto the paper. Wile it is still wet, they sprinkle some salt on top.











When the paper dries, (you may need some blow dryer help if some of them are too wet) help them remove the tape. The final step is taking a sharpie and drawing the lines on the trees.












Links:
Voyage of life by Thomas Cole

Hudson River School