Second Grade's Starry Night

                                     

Second graders painted a master study of Van Gogh's Starry Night. We first analyzed his thick use of paint and expressive brushstrokes that seem to swirl and dance around the picture. They looked carefully at his painting and tried to replicate his vibrant blues and yellows and greens.  We listened to Don McLean's Starry Starry Night while painting and Josh Groban's rendition. I'm such a sap! Above is my Van Gogh bulletin board along with first grade's Sunflowers that you can see here.  What a beautiful mind Van Gogh had to paint this scene, and to think he considered it a failure! 

Third through Fifth: My Neighbor Totoro

I used this movie poster for a lesson on tinting and shading to create atmospheric perspective. It doesn't hurt that it's adorable and fantastical so the students connected right away. They chose their own colors and practiced by making a value chart first before they painted on their final. They look a little scary, but I love how they turned out.

Preschool: Purple Mountains Majesty

I was inspired by a lesson that I found on Color and Collage but made my own version to teach preschool students. For the mountains they painted a sheet of watercolor paper with liquid watercolor and lay saran wrap on top, scrunching it around to make texture. For the night sky, they just painted a sheet in black and blue and flicked silver paint to mimic stars. I helped with the cutting and gluing. Now that I've discovered saran wrap as a texture tool, I'm using it for all my lessons!

Kindergarten's Interpretation of Monet's Water Lily Pond

 These were done with my enrichment students after school. I love how they turned out and wish I had more to show, but it's a suuuuuuuper small class. I first showed them references of Monet and Renoir and we discussed their style of painting: how they dabbed their brushes to show all the different colors of light dancing on the surface, the many different greens and yellows Monet used instead of just one, and I also showed them a picture of the actual pond that inspired his painting. Then students taped a bridge in the middle of their paper with masking tape and painted below, above, and between the bridge with pre-mixed tempera. I told them to think of pond and lily colors for everything below the bridge and tree colors for everything between and above the bridge. Once it was dry, students peeled off the tape and colored it in with colored pencil.

Second and Third Grade- Sailing

Edward Hopper's Sailing was the inspiration behind these beautiful drawings. Students used either soft or oil pastel, paying special attention to the light on the sail.

Second Grade: Hokusai Mount Fuji Prints

Students learned about ukiyo-e artist, Katsushika Hokusai, and his famous Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji prints. They looked at photo references of Mt. Fuji and carved their own design on a sheet of styrofoam. Using multiple colors of printing ink at a time, students achieved Hokusai's vibrant color gradations on their prints. 

Third and Fourth Grade: Trees in Tints and Shades

Acrylic on paper