Field Elementary Art Blog!

2nd Grade Special Someone's from Brimfield

2012-03-01T07:05:00.000-08:00

We just finished these portraits of special people during my last week at Brimfield. We had talked about some of the different reasons artists create portraits of other people. Artists often make portraits of people they care about, so the second graders worked hard to create these portraits dedicated to "someone special" in their lives.

We learned about basic facial proportioning and tried to draw these important people as realistically as possible. In the backgrounds, the students drew pictures of things their special person likes or cares about. We completed the artworks with titles that could tell viewers who the special person is!

We outlined the pencil drawings with Sharpies, and then painted with tempera paint and tempera Biggie Cakes. Because many of the background drawings were really small, we colored those with crayons or colored pencils instead of paint.

Brimfield 5th Grade Horses

2012-02-22T05:29:00.001-08:00

I tried this horse lesson out last year at Suffield and loved it, so I thought we would give it a try here at Brimfield. Check out the awesome results!

As an extension for students who finished a bit early, I challenged them to use the oil pastels to create another horse on white paper. The students were completely on their own for this extra challenge to figure out how to adapt their oil pastel mixing to a new color of background. Many of these turned out really great too!

3rd Grade Sewn Initials

2012-02-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

The third graders at Suffield enjoyed learning simple sewing techniques and creating some fiber art. They sewed initials from their names and borders with different yarns and strings using different methods. Once the students completed their initials and borders, they were challenged to add beads and buttons and to add any other embellishments their artwork needed.

Fish of Different "Scales" Based on Jason deCaires Taylor

2012-02-02T05:53:00.000-08:00

Suffield first graders created these awesome underwater scenes during my last six week session there. We started by looking at the fascinating underwater sculptures of Jason deCaires Taylor. Although it would have been interesting to try to make underwater sculptures, we instead decided to stick with fish! We talked about the concept of scale (size in artworks) and the way big objects in artworks appear to be close to us and smaller objects appear to be further away.

The students drew 3 fish on 6" x 9" drawing paper by looking at lots of photos of different kinds of fish. We then traced the drawings with Sharpies, and then I enlarged and reduced each drawing on the copier after class (so each student ended up with 9 fish: 3 small sized, 3 medium sized, and 3 larger fish). The students colored their fish with markers, and we created the underwater backgrounds by drawing plant-life with oil pastels and then painting with lots of different cool-colored paints. We also used some glitter glue in the backgrounds, but it didn't show up very well in the photographs! Each student also got to use a few 3D Dots to make some fish appear to "pop" out!

Kindergarten Mary Cassatt Double Portraits

2012-01-29T06:48:00.000-08:00

During my last six week session at Suffield, we worked on these double portraits based on the paintings of Mary Cassatt. Before this, we made self-portraits by drawing with a teacher-led step-by-step process. So for these artworks, the students were challenged to draw a picture of themselves touching a special adult in their lives. This idea is based on the many sweet mother and child paintings Cassatt did. The students tried really hard to remember all of the necessary body parts (including necks which sometimes go forgotten in Kindergarten!), and to remember to not use stick arms or legs.

To finish them, the students colored small shapes with crayons and then painted to rest with watercolor paints. We added titles at the end so our viewers would know who they were looking at!

5th Grade Hundertwasser Collage Portrait Paintings

2012-01-12T06:20:00.000-08:00

I adapted this lesson from Deep Space Sparkle about one of my most favorite artists/architects Friedensreich Hundertwasser. I have taught lessons on Hundertwasser's archtecture, but not on his paintings and prints before, so I was so excited to try this out!

In 5th grade at Suffield, we talked about the representational and abstract qualities of Hundertwasser's artworks. The students kept this in mind as they worked to try to end up with both types of elements in their artworks as well. You can see the step-by-step process of these collages at Deep Space Sparkle. In my version, we added photos (I encouraged students to try to do a pose that nobody else has done), and then the students tried to really make their photo look like it belonged in the collage.

Thank you Deep Space Sparkle for great inspiration!

Just had to share..

2012-01-09T06:29:00.000-08:00

I just had to share this gorgeous drawing of a dinosaur who went shopping and bought ALL of the clothes, leaving empty garment racks behind. I love this drawing by Payton B. in 1st grade!

Pinch Pot Silly Fish

2011-12-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

In second grade at Suffield, we just finished these hilarious ceramic fish sculptures. We started by looking at a Prezi I made about the presence of the fish throughout art history. (You can see it here.) We talked about different reasons people make art and discussed why artists might choose to make artworks about fish.

When it was time to get to work, I demonstrated the pinch pot technique and then how to squish the form a bit to make it more mouth-like. The students where then set free to add eyes and fins and whatever else they wanted to add to their sculptures. I challenged them to sculpt something inside the fish's mouth (teeth, tongue, another fish, etc.). It really was fun to see these funny fish come to life.

The kids painted them with tempera paint and then I gave them a quick coat of Mod Podge after school to give them more of a glazed look.

4th Grade Watercolor Trees

2011-12-14T10:11:00.000-08:00

We started these awesome trees at the end of my first six weeks at Suffield, and just finished them. You'll notice the green leaves and t-shirts in the photos from our outdoor classroom when the weather was much warmer.

To start, I showed the kids a Powerpoint of the presence of the tree throughout art history. We looked at works by Mondrian, van Gogh, Rembrandt, Hundertwasser, Klimt, and many others. After learning some tree-drawing strategies, we headed to the outdoor classroom to draw trees from life. We completed the drawings inside, outlined with Sharpie (I know, my favorite), and then painted with warm and cool colors of watercolor paint. We used watercolor paper, so many of the paintings really turned out bright and bold. The students were challenged to layer their paint to really get the best results possible from the special paper. The assignment was to just draw a realistic tree. Many of the students did just this, and many elaborated the idea into a bit more.

3rd Grade Watercolor Crayon Self-Portraits from Brimfield

2011-11-29T12:09:00.000-08:00

The third graders at Brimfield did a wonderful job on these portraits! We worked on facial proportioning and tried hard to draw realistic hair. When the drawings were done, we outlined with Sharpies and then colored and painted with watercolor crayons. We paid special attention to skin tone and tried to mix colors to get it just right. Some students added tray watercolors to their artworks as well.

Parade Illustrations from Brimfield!

2011-11-18T07:59:00.000-08:00

The Brimfield 5th graders just finished up one of my favorite lesson plans ever! The characters in these parades are the students' responses to various drawing strategies. They drew a few characters based on descriptions that I read them, they drew a character straight from their imaginations, and they drew a character based on Maurice Sendak's drawing techniques for his Wild Things. If the students finished those they could add any other characters they wanted. I photographed the students as well so that they could each "lead" their own parade. They used watercolor crayons and tray watercolors to complete these.

Here are the drawing prompts the students used. If we had more time, it would have been really great to add a still-life type of character and a contour line, etc.

5^th Grade Parade Drawing Prompts

In your parade drawing:

1. YOU will be leading your parade as the 1^st character.

2. The next character is anything you can imagine.

3. For the 3^rd character:

Draw a two-headed Pompadour with crooked necks and feet so big it is hard not to step on them.

4. For the 4^th character:

Draw the fantastic Folderol. This character is covered in so much armor that it is hard to walk. Its legs are bent under the weight of that heavy armor.

5. For the 5^th character:

Draw the great, tall, one-eyed Cavendish. Its wings are so large they drag on the ground. Its beak is so sharp!

6. For the 6^th character:

Maurice Sendak is a very skilled illustrator of imaginary creatures. Study the drawing techniques he uses by looking at this image of the wild things. For your 6^th character, either copy one of these wild things, or use Sendak’s drawing techniques to create a character of your own.

2nd Grade Pinch Pots from Brimfield!

2011-11-10T13:07:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to finally share some artwork from the wonderful artists at Brimfield Elementary School! We've been working hard during this six week session and are finishing up some wonderful artworks!

For these ceramic artworks, the second graders learned about the pinch pot method, and used it to create lots of different kinds of sculptures. Some students made bowls, some made cups, a few made baskets, and a few made little pitchers. The students used glazes to complete them. Tiny fingers can create amazing things!

Glue-Line Portraits 2011!

2011-11-04T06:02:00.000-07:00

Suffield third graders completed these awesome glue-line self-portraits during our last specials rotation. They worked really hard to use facial proportioning and to draw themselves realistically. We outlined the artworks with glue and then added color to them with construction paper crayons and pastels. Love these!

Flattery from Pinterest

2011-10-26T14:44:00.000-07:00

It's taking me a while to completely hop onto the Pinterest train, but after looking closer at my blog traffic sources, I realized that Field Elementary artists are already represented on Pinterest! (If you are slow to get on the train too, Pinterest is an online pin board where you can keep track of images that you like.). I was surprised and flattered to see that people have pinned images from this blog! Check it out here!

Wild Things from Suffield, 2011-2012!

2011-10-21T06:03:00.000-07:00

It's wild thing time again! I love coming up with new artworks to try with my students, but some I love so much that I do them every year! I love to see the creative wild things the first graders come up with after reading one of my favorite books ever. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is a story about a little boy who uses his imagination to cope with the consequence he receives for being disrespectful to his mom. This is one of my ultimate hopes for all of my students: to get creative and to use your imagination in response to difficult situations.

The artwork is really simple. The students look at pictures of Sendak's Wild Things, and then draw their own, using his illustrations as inspiration. I tell the students to first draw eyes somewhere near the tops of their papers, then draw a nose and mouth below them, add ears, and then draw the face shape around those features. This seems to give everyone a good place to start. The students add at least two patterns to their drawings, then we trace them with permanent markers and color with crayons. We create the landscape habitats on separate paper with oil pastels and watercolors, cut the wild things out, and then glue them into their habitats.

Suffield Kindergarten Self-Portraits 2011-2012!

2011-10-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

Although I have now moved the art train over to Brimfield, I have some Suffield artwork that we finished up at the end of my 6 weeks there that I will be posting!

I always start my kindergarten artists out with this self-portrait artwork. It serves as a great introduction to art class because it has lots of steps that help me teach common artmaking procedures that we use over and over again. The kindergartners learn to slow down and really focus on their drawing (we make these drawings one step at a time!), they learn how we paint in the art room (dip your brush in the water and then pull it up the side of the water bucket to get rid of excess water and don't tap!), and they learn to cut out their drawings with "white frosting" or "snow" around their black outlines so that none of their precious drawing gets snipped. We also learn how to trace our drawings with Sharpies so they show up better and to flip our papers upside-down to better reach the top.

We start the drawings by tracing t-shirt stencils that I made from tag board. I always encourage students to start full-body drawings with the shirt first and then to just add the other body parts to it. I think the t-shirt stencil really forces the kindergartners to draw big and gives everyone a strong starting point. I will post a photo of one of the stencils when I post the portraits from Brimfield that we just started this week!

Foreshortening Self-Portraits with Alan Bean

2011-10-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Mrs. Susa from Lake Elementary who shared this out of this world fifth grade lesson with me a few years ago! To start, we looked at some of the super-realistic paintings of astronaut-turned-artist Alan Bean. We also talked about the concept of foreshortening (extreme perspective where objects on a 2-dimensional surface seem to reach out to you). The students then traced their hands and feet and an upside-down water bucket for a helmet. I challenged the kids to draw themselves as astronauts, but it was up to them to decide to make a realistic outer-space artwork or a more imaginative one. The artists also worked really hard to draw believable faces with correct proportioning.

We blended crayons and/or colored pencils for the drawn objects and painted various mixes of shaded glittery paints for the outer-space backgrounds. Some students also painted over their dry media with watercolors to create richer colors.

4th Grade Ceramic Bells

2011-09-28T13:59:00.000-07:00

For these bells, I challenged the fourth graders to create functional bells, but to also be as creative with them as possible. I reminded them how to sculpt a simple pinch pot, flip it upside-down, and then to sculpt on top and around it. We of course talked about adding lots of textures too. Then the bells were bisque fired, and the students painted them with semi-moist underglazes. After a quick coat of clear glaze from me and another firing, I assisted each student in super gluing a "ringer" into to the apex of their bells (we used glass beads that I had already super glued to jewelry cord). Although this is a challenging project, I love it and am always surprised with the sculptures the kids create! This year was no exception. We had baseball and football bells, various animal bells, and even a few bells memorializing the Twin Towers and the September 11th 10 year anniversary.

Leaf Print Paintings

2011-09-16T13:52:00.000-07:00

Last fall, my good friend Mrs. Custer did some leaf print paintings with her elementary students in Baltimore that I absolutely loved. I waited all year long for back to school time and for fall to come again to do this lesson! We started out by looking at some of Andy Goldsworthy's works in second grade and discussed his use of elements of nature as art materials. We didn't use our leaves in the same way as Goldsworthy, but we combined them with printmaking to be the "stars" of our painitngs.

The second graders created washes with Biggie Cakes on their papers to act as a base for the paintings. They then placed leaves (from my mom's house...thanks mom!) on top of the washes with the veins up. To make the prints, the students painted on top of the leaves and around them with LOTS of watery paint.

After the paintings were dry and the leaves were peeled off, we learned about the metallic color family and used metallic tempera to add details and emphasis to make the paintings look complete.

We're off to a colorful start!

2011-09-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by the beautiful school portrait mural at smART Class, and thought we would give it a try here at Suffield. During our first week of art classes, we went over art room procedures and rules, and then we got down to the joyful business of creating artwork! We made these wonderful little portraits based in color theory in first through fifth grades. The students drew and then colored themselves based on the color of table where they sit. The younger grade levels colored themselves using the red, green, yellow, or blue color families and the older grade levels added an analogous color partner.

I love this idea and am happy with the results!

"Life is like a rainbow. You need both the sun and the rain to make its colors appear."

-Author Unknown

Footprints worth Following Back to School!

2011-08-30T05:27:00.000-07:00

We are excited to be off and rolling with another great year! At the end of each school year I like to do a special project with a grade level or two that I keep to hang for "Back to School" season. Last year I chose the first graders to make these footprint artworks showcasing goals for this year to support our district's theme of "Footprints Worth Following". We started by trying to think of areas we could improve upon for the new school year and wrote goals. We then drew the biggest footprints we could on 18" x 24" paper. After outlining with Sharpies, we painted with liquid watercolors and some kids had time to add tissue paper.

Suffield Artwork at the Randolph Fair 2011!!

2011-08-23T15:16:00.000-07:00

As "Back to School" time looms and teachers are scurrying to prepare bulletin boards, reading corners, and birthday charts, many of our Suffield students are enjoying themselves and participating in the Portage County Randolph Fair. Many of our students are involved in 4H and Boy and Girl Scouts and truly love and look forward to the fair! Each year I get to show off some of our awesome artwork in the Antiques and Schools Barn. Although it is a small display, this is always my most highly viewed display of art. Here are a few photos of this year's display.

The Art of Going Home

2011-06-10T11:39:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's the last day of school! Taking down all of the artwork at the end of the year is one of my least favorite things to do because it leaves our school looking so bare and empty. Sending the artwork home, on the other hand, is joyful! My students make phenominal artwork and I know they are proud to take it home.

This year I tried to come up with a way to try to safely get some larger kindergarten artwork home. Giant Eagle in Fairlawn was generous enough to donate paper grocery bags to us to transform into "art bags". These bags easily hold the 18" x 24" works without folding them. Here are some photos of some proud kindergarten artists with their art bags!

Chihuly Inspired Plastic Sculptures

2011-06-10T05:34:00.000-07:00

I just love the glasswork of Dale Chihuly and have wanted to do some kind of a lesson on him for a few years now. I ordered a heat gun this year and made the goal to finally figure out the studio work for the kids to do. We just barely fit it in before the end of school, but I figured it out and we did it! The 5th graders loved Chihuly (like I knew they would) and they were so excited to make these cool sculptures.

To make them, each student got an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of transparent shrink film and two clear plastic to-go-type dishes that I picked up at a local salvage store. They cut-out shapes (and punched holes in them) and then colored them with Sharpies. Then boy did the new heat gun get a work out! We shot the individual pieces unevenly so that they warped into unique 3-dimensional shapes. The students strung them onto Twisteez wire and some used sections of straws to give the plastic pieces some space between them.

Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp Paintings

2011-06-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

It is often difficult to figure out what to do when there are only two or three art classes left in the school year. With third grade I decided to do a lesson I found at the Deep Space Sparkle blog based on the book Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp by Carol Diggory Shields and illustrated by Scott Nash. The dinosaurs have a party in the book and dance and have a great time, and the illustrations are great. The students drew dancing dinosaurs on 18" x 24" watercolor paper and then outlined the drawings with black crayon. We used liquid watercolors (most of which I made from old markers like I learned from Mrs. Picasso) and the students experimented with adding salt and rubbing alcohol to the wet paint. The lesson was simple and quick, and the students felt very successful with their artworks.

2nd Grade George Rodrigue Inspired Cat and Dog Paintings

2011-06-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

Are you a cat person or a dog person?? Our second graders just answered this question in these paintings inspired by George Rodrigue and his Blue Dog paintings. Can you believe that there are NO pencil lines in these artworks?? I challenged the second graders to create "readable" paintings without the use of pencils or erasers. They were skeptical at first, but as they continued working and trying, it was so fun to see the kids be surprised and impressed with themselves!

The trick to the success of these paintings is to have the students paint their cats or dogs on 12" x 18" paper, cut them out, and then glue them onto 17" x 23" paper. This helps the students to place their cat or dog where they want it, as opposed to where they kind of just end up.

To finish the artworks, the students chose 18" x 24" construction paper to go with their paintings, and then created patterns with construction paper in the margins.

Shoescapes!

2011-05-31T08:41:00.000-07:00

The "Shoescape" artworks are ones that I always do with fourth grade, and I am continually so very impressed! The creative and wonderful responses the kids have to the challenge of placing their own shoes (drawn as a still life) into a readable and unique environment is such a treat to see. We use scale in the environments to make the space seem real, even if it is an impossible scenario. Through the course of this project, we talked a lot about what viewers would understand from their works. The students wrote a few sentences to go with their artworks to help explain their thoughts. They worked so hard on these artworks, and I really think their efforts show!

We used actual watercolor paper for these paintings and the students enjoyed being "real" watercolor painters. Each student was challenged to use a watercolor wash, layering, and mixing techniques in their paintings.

Kindergarten "Plein Air" and Ceramic Flowers

2011-05-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

We just finished these wonderful flowers in kindergarten. We are SO happy to see flowers and enjoy warmer weather here in Northeast Ohio! To get ready to sculpt these 3-dimensional flowers, each class created some "plein air" (creating artwork outside) tulip drawings in our front yard here at school.

After drawing outside, we came back in and finished the drawings with watercolors.

For the sculptures, we used small pencils and paper clips as tools. The students were also able to use alphabet pasta to include their names on their flowers if they wanted. We painted the flowers with tempera paint after they were bisque fired, and then I gave them a coat each of Mod Podge for some shine!

1st Grade Suns with Personality

2011-05-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

First grade artists enjoyed learning that different cultures sometimes have different kinds of folk tales. We talked a little bit about fairy tales we know, and then we talked about the Aztec folk tale where there are multiple suns with personalities. The kids were very excited about this idea and just looooove making suns with faces already! The artists each created a sun with a face showing some kind of personality. They mixed warm and cool colored paints in these vibrant artworks and completed them with simple construction paper patterns along the borders.

Ceramic Birds

2011-05-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

The 3rd graders just completed these great bird sculptures. To prepare for them, they practiced by drawing birds from photographs 2-dimensionally. At our next class, each student got a fist-sized ball of clay and answered the prompt to "sculpt a bird and anything that bird might need". The students also tried to include the textures of the birds' wings and feathers. We glazed them after they were bisque-fired in the kiln.

5th Grade Graffiti Murals

2011-05-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

Save Wild Life; Aaron J., Olivia S., John W., Kailey J.

Before finishing her time with us, student teacher Miss Marin Ryan had the idea for these artworks that ended up being so successful! The mural concept also worked well as a way for me to utilize collaborative learning groups (one of Marzano's teaching strategies that we've been encouraged to use this year) in my classroom. I have never had students create artworks in groups before, but would do it again because it was such an exciting experience and the kids made such cool work.

To start, we looked at lots of graffiti by Banksy, and also looked at lots of photos of graffiti around the Akron area. The students really seemed to enjoy discussing whether or not the graffiti could be considered art and whether the people who create graffiti are artists or not. I then assigned students to groups of 3 or 4 and assigned them specific jobs within their groups. The jobs were: Note Keeper, Supplies Manager, Reporter, and Encourager.

Once settled into their groups and roles, each group came up with an agreed upon topic or issue to work with. Then they designed and created at least two stencils to use on their murals (4'6" x 2'6" kraft paper). After all the planning was complete, groups used watered down tempera paint in spray bottles, regular tempera, sponges, brushes, and Slick Stix to share their messages.

Peace; Brendan R., Kate S., Laura H., Brooke B.

Love, Peace, Smiles; Alyssa A., Burliee F., Mackenzi

Heal the World; Gabby L., Matt S., Brenna M.

World Peace; Emily P., Dante H., Kayla M., David S.

Stop Animal Cruelty; Catherine G., Cheyenne B., Nadeen M.

Peace; Anthony R., Sylvester S., Alex R.

Bullying; Blake F., Skylar M., Timmy P.

Imaginary Zoo Pet Portraits

2011-04-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

In preparation for their field trip to the Akron Zoo, the kindergartners created these wonderful imaginary zoo pet portraits. We started out by reading Good Night Gorilla by Peggy Rathman, and we then had some pretty funny discussions about the similarities and differences between zoo animals and domestic animals that we have as pets. We realized that there are some pretty important reasons that some animals live only in the wild and at the zoo, and not in our homes!

Because we can do anything with our imaginations and with art, the kindergartners made their artworks based on the idea that they really could have a zoo animal as a pet. To help them draw, I had photocopies of the kinds of animals from Good Night Gorilla. The students drew themselves and their pets in whatever environments they wanted to imagine.

The students colored the smaller shapes of their drawings with watercolor crayons, and then painted the rest with regular tray watercolors. We talked about how nicely analogous colors mix with one another, and students who were quick painters were encouraged to try this. I absolutely love these paintings and took lots of photos!

Good Luck 3rd, 4th, and 5th Graders on the OAT's!!

2011-04-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

Best of luck to all of our little Falcons taking the OAT's this week and next!!!! Here are a few photos from our OAT pep rally last week.

O'Keeffe-style Flowers with Color Difusing Paper

2011-04-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh Georgia O'Keeffe. Who doesn't love her beautiful flower paintings? I have a few different lessons I like to do with different grade levels about Georgia O'Keeffe and this is one of my favorites that my dear friend Mrs. Peterson introduced me to a few years ago.

To start, we looked at lots of O'Keeffe flower paintings and discovered that some were cropped so tightly, and zoomed in so much, that they look abstract. When the students drew their "zoomed in" flowers, they were challenged to have their flowers extend off their papers in at least two places. Some students decided to zoom in enough to make abstract artworks, and those turned out great too.

We used color difusing paper, oil pastels, and liquid watercolors to get these vibrant paintings that look so nicely on windows.

My Community Artworks

2011-04-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

The third grade just completed these artworks that examine the concept of community. The students thought about the places they often visit in their communities and also the people they often see. We started these drawing-heavy works with our wonderful art student teacher (Miss Marin Ryan), and we started by drawing the buildings or other places we often visit on the outsides of our papers. We then drew at least four people from our communities (possibly family members, friends, neighbors, etc.) on the insides. There really is no top or bottom to these artworks because our communities are not linear and can be thought of and understood from many different directions.

After coloring our community places and portraits with crayons, we painted the interiors and exteriors of the artworks with contrasting Biggie Cake colors.

Expressive Ceramic Faces

2011-04-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

In 1st grade we've been talking about the ways people communicate without speaking. We've discussed body language and facial expressions. We looked at the ceramic creature sculptures of artist Nancy Krug and brainstormed all of the emotions that her various creatures might be feeling. We learned that a smile could mean someone is happy and a frown could mean they are sad, but that smiles and frowns can communicate many other feelings too (excitement, guilt, surprise, fear, etc.).

For these relief sculptures, we started with small slabs (about 5" x 4") of clay and small chunks of clay for adding features. The students each chose an emotion to sculpt on their slab, and were encouraged to be as whimsical as they desired. I demonstrated scoring clay pieces to attach them, and the students did a wonderful job with it! They were required to sculpt noses, mouthes, eyes, and at least one "other" feature (hair, ears, glasses, eyebrows, etc.). The faces were finished with tempera paint (mixed with an acrylic glitter medium) and Mod Podge.

Imperfection Self-Portraits

2011-03-23T08:43:00.000-07:00

For these self-portraits (with Miss Marin Ryan), the second graders learned the big word "imperfection". We discussed that there can be imperfections in artworks. We even have imperfections on our own faces, (such as scars or a missing teeth) and it's okay to not be perfect! In fact, being imperfect is something we all have in common.
After learning realistic facial proportions and how to draw difficult features like the eyes and nose, the students drew their own self-portraits and were challenged to include at least one imperfection. They also learned how to use a watercolor wash to create a realistic skin color, and added the rest of the color by layering colored tissue paper (we used watered down glue, but liquid starch works too).

Suffield Art Fest 2011

2011-03-20T16:01:00.000-07:00

Cory F. with his Animal Friends painting.

This afternoon was the first ever Suffield Art Fest in the Community Room of our beautiful new Suffield Fire Station. The Suffield Historical Society put on this neat show of local Suffield artists. Some of our students at Suffield Elementary were lucky enough to be invited to participate in this show along with the talented adult artists. Artwork was also on display from Suffield students from the Falcon Academy of Creative Arts, Field Middle School, and Field High School. The show was a wonderful celebration of creativity and artmaking in Suffield, and hopefully the Suffield Art Fest will become an annual event!

Spring Program and Art Show

2011-03-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

Last night was our spring program and art show where our fourth graders and fifth grade chorus performed songs about hard work and effort. It really was a wonderful night and the students did a fantastic job! Here are some photos of the artwork on display.

Six fifth grade students worked with my student teacher (Miss Marin Ryan) to paint the forest backdrop used for the short play some of our chorus members put on last night. Here are some photos of their collaborative effort.

Ugly Bugs

2011-03-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

To start these "ugly bugs", the kindergartners first listened to the story The Very Ugly Bug by Liz Pichon. In the book, an "ugly" bug learns to like and value her appearance when she frightens away a scary bird. We discussed the idea that the things about us that make us different from one another are what makes us special and unique. The kindergartners decided that being an ugly bug is a good thing!

To make the bugs, we folded papers in half with the primary paint colors inside. We discovered that the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) mix together to create the secondary colors (orange, purple, and green). When the paintings were dry, the students cut them out and used construction paper to make eyes, legs, wings, counting strips (see Erika's bug above!), etc.

We made leaves for the background by drawing with oil pastels and then painting with liquid watercolors. The artists tried to make their leaves very realistic by including veins and by mixing the liquid watercolors until they were just right!

Zig-Zag Paintings: Busy vs. Relaxing

2011-03-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

The fourth graders recently finished "zig-zag paintings" (with Miss Marin Ryan) which show them doing a busy activity from one angle and a relaxing activity from the other angle. They started the project by discussing the similarities and differences between Mark Bradford's Los Moscos (2004), a very busy multimedia print, and Andrea Zittel's RUAGH Furniture: Lucinda (1998), a calm and serene installation. After this they learned how to draw "super stick figures" as a skeleton for making realistic pictures of themselves, then painted the scenes with tempera paint. They paid careful attention to using warm, bold colors and many objects and lines on the busy side, and keeping the relaxed side toned down and simple.

The photos don't do these tricky paintings justice! They are really neat to examine while walking down the hall because you see a different scene when you turn around and go the other direction!

...

Alexander Calder Inspired Circus Animal Sculptures and Drawings

2011-03-06T07:44:00.000-08:00

Our second grade artists just completed a unit about American sculptor Alexander Calder's Circus. Before introducing the lesson to the students, I started by just showing them photographs of different animals (elephants, tigers, giraffes, dogs, parrots, and a mouse). We discussed the similarities and differences between the animals and what special features each one had that an artist would need to include when they were making an artwork of the animal. Then, without looking at the animal photos, the students followed my verbal instructions:

Begin by drawing a line for the ground at the bottom of your paper.

Draw an elephant standing on the ground.

Draw a giraffe standing on top of the elephant.

Draw a tiger standing on top of the giraffe.

Draw a dog standing on top of the tiger.

Draw a parrot standing on top of the dog.

Draw a mouse running by on the ground.

Add additional details to help viewers understand that your drawing is of a circus.

Students completed these whimsical drawings in about 10 minutes, and then spent a little more time outlining, coloring with crayons, and painting with watercolors.

To continue the unit, we watched video clips of Alexander Calder performing his miniature circus and discussed his work. The kids were fascinated by the sculptures that could move and interact with one another in the artist's miniature circus. For their sculptures, we started by making little clay pinch pots that we flipped upside down to create circus stools. Then the kids chose their favorite animal from their animal tower drawings to sculpt. The artists were challenged to make their animals interact with their circus stools in some way. The sculptures were finished with semi-moist underglazes and clear glaze.

THANK YOU to Miss Christina G. who won an art contest to "draw your own sun" with 8th Continent Soy Milk and won our school a Dick Blick art supplies gift card! Christina came early to school a few times and helped me plan this lesson, and she chose the underglazes from Dick Blick's web site to order and use for these artworks!

5th Grade Secret Boxes

2011-03-05T07:25:00.000-08:00

Dylan W. 5-3

The fifth graders just finished making self-portrait "secret boxes" with wonderful student teacher Miss Marin Ryan, where they made boxes using mixed materials to conceal a secret goal or fear. The project was inspired by Frank Warren's PostSecret program, where people anonymously send in artistic postcards that reveal personal secrets. Students discussed how sometimes it's okay to keep a secret until they are ready to reveal it, such as a secret fear or a secret goal for the future.
They each designed a stamp by making a symbol (using installation tape) for their chosen secret, and stamped it around the border of the box (we used a templates with photographs of the students copied onto tag board). After that, they learned about contemporary Saudi Arabian artists who often work with the theme of secrecy, and they came up with creative ways to use collage to cover part of the face. The result is a mixed-media self-portrait box that conceals a secret.

Nick K. 5-1

Cody L. 5-3

Michael P. 5-1

Kayla M. 5-1

Silent Buddies for Akron Children's Hospital

2011-03-03T11:08:00.000-08:00

The first graders just finished their "silent buddies" project (with student teacher Miss Marin Ryan), in which they made stuffed animals to donate to children at Akron Children's Hospital. The students learned about how some children are in the hospital for long periods of time and can't always have their family with them. When they found out that they would be making stuffed animals, or "silent buddies" to help comfort these children when they had to spend time alone, they were so excited for the special opportunity.

First they drew the outline of their stuffed animal, then Miss Ryan sewed the outline at home. The students cut the animals out, turned them inside out, and stuffed them. Finally the animals were colored with sharpie markers and tags were made to send along with the animal that had a personal note and picture. The students are so excited to give the silent buddies to these children who will really appreciate them, and I am really proud of their hard work and generosity!

"Take care of him please." - Savannah L.

Great job, Miss Ryan, on a wonderful lesson!

The Art of Dr. Suess Fashion!

2011-03-02T07:42:00.000-08:00

I usually write about the wonderful artwork of our young artists here at Suffield, but I just have to post some photos from our Dr. Suess Day assembly this morning! To celebrate the amazing artist and author Dr. Suess's birthday, our kids dressed up like their favorite characters from his many books. The Cat in the Hat even came to visit too! These photos are of just a few of the amazing costumes today!

Oil Pastel Landscapes

2011-02-28T05:37:00.000-08:00

In first grade, we already knew that landscapes are artworks of outside scenes, but we did not know that landscapes have three different parts. We talked about some of the tricks artists use to make their artwork look super realistic. One of those tricks is the use of scale. We learned that the parts of a landscape that look the closest to us, and appear the largest are in the foreground. We learned about the medium sized objects in the middle ground, and the smaller objects that look like they're far away from us in the background.

The students drew landscapes with all three parts in whatever season and whatever weather and time of day they wanted. We then experimented with oil pastel color mixing to create these vibrant artworks.

Third Grade Color Theory with Kandinsky

2011-02-18T12:35:00.000-08:00

     Our third grade artists had a bigger color theory experience with these paintings than they've previously had. We often talk about the primary colors, or warm and cool colors, but we don't often look at all of the main color families at the same time like we did for these paintings. After learning about the importance of color choice to abstract painter Wassily Kandinsky, we learned a lot about the color wheel.
     The students were challenged to create tempera paintings with blocks of primary colors, secondary colors, warm colors, cool colors, complimentary colors, tinted colors, shaded colors, and one free choice colors block! In their blocks, students painted circles or parts of circles and completed their paintings with metallic tempera details. Because the students were all using the same colors in their artworks, they were encouraged to add design elements that would make their painting look unique and like no one else's.
     Can you identify all of the color families??

Primary: red, yellow, blue

Secondary: orange, purple, green

Warm: yellow, orange, red

Cool: blue, purple, green

Complimentary: red and green, yellow and purple, and blue and orange

Tint: when white is mixed in to any color

Shade: when black is mixed in to any color

Oil Pastel Horses

2011-02-11T08:27:00.000-08:00

My wonderful friend Mrs. Susa at Lake Elementary School passed this great lesson idea on to me, and I thought we'd give it a try here at Suffield. I am AMAZED by the incredible work our fifth grade artists created! For the lesson, we looked at the role of the horse throughout art history (cave paintings, Native American hide paintings, Remington, Degas, Butterfield, etc.!), and then we started simple horse sketches (using pretty much just circles and ovals) and the students layered oil pastels from there. We looked at a few artists who included unexpected colors in their work, and many students decided to try this too.

To make these vibrant colors, the fifth graders created white oil pastel bases by using the side of the pastel. Then they layered other colors to "build up" a life-like horse. We also talked about highlights and shadows and the students were challenged to not just include these light and dark areas in the eyes, but also in the hair and other places. They finished by making backgrounds of their choice in colors that would compliment their horses.

1st Grade Wild Rumpus Photostory

2011-02-07T13:24:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my post about the first grade Wild Things, Mrs. Baker (our wonderful media specialist) helped put together a Photostory of the "wild rumpuses" we had in art class. We spliced our kids with a wonderful clip I found on YouTube. Check it out (and turn your volume up)!

Thank you Mrs. Baker!

Miss Ryan, Student Teacher

2011-02-04T11:14:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

My name is Marin Ryan and I am a student teacher from Kent State University. I will teach at Suffield Elementary until March 4th, then move to my second assignment at Field Middle from March 21st to May 6th, and finally graduate in May with a Bachelor's degree in Art Education, with minors in Studio Art and Education. In my own artwork, I enjoy figure drawing and ceramics most, and I hope to continue taking art classes throughout my teaching career. Although I'm from Harmony, Pennsylvania, a small town north of Pittsburgh, I recently studied abroad in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and hope to continue to travel in the future. So far my teaching experience has only been with high school students and preschoolers, so I am very excited to be working with the elementary students here! They are a great group of kids and I hope I can teach them as much as they're teaching me.

Here are the lessons I've started (or will soon begin!) with some of the grade levels:

1^st Grade: Silent Buddies

The children will be making simple stuffed animals to donate to patients at Akron Children's Hospital after talking about how nice it is to have a “silent buddy” to comfort them when they are alone. Although I will do the sewing for the project, the students will get to draw their own animal design, stuff it, and decorate it with marker designs.

2^nd Grade: Imperfection Self Portraits

Second graders learned what imperfections are, and how we all have them (even models!). They are making realistic self portraits including one imperfection, and adding color to them using tissue paper.

4^th Grade: Press Pause: Zig-Zag Paintings

In this lesson, students talked about busy activities they did and relaxing activities that help them to “press pause.” They will be making “zig-zag” paintings that show them doing a busy activity from one angle and a relaxing activity from another angle. To brainstorm what makes an artwork look busy or calm, they found similarities and differences in two artworks- you can check these out in the hallway!

This is an example of a "PostSecret"

5^th Grade: Secret Box

The students will look at some of Frank Warren's PostSecret postcards to learn that sometimes people have a secret goal or a secret fear that they aren't ready to share yet. They will make a box to hold a secret of their own, and decorate it using stamping and collage.

I am also finishing up two of Mrs. Tannert's lessons right now: Kindergarteners are working on “Ugly Bugs” and Third Graders are finishing up a project on color theory. I am excited to start my own lessons with these students soon!

Jim Dine Heart Design Challenge for Fourth Grade

2011-02-03T15:11:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love Jim Dine at Valentine's Day? I sure do, but I'm not always organized enough to get seasonal lessons planned, started, completed, and displayed before the season has passed! This little design project worked out great as a one-day, in-and-out challenge before my student teacher would be taking over the fourth grade art classes.

Before making these beautiful heart artworks, our fourth grade artists learned about Ohio Pop Artist, Jim Dine. They learned that his numerous heart paintings and prints meant different things to him at different times. He thought of them as a kind of "landscape", and he used them to show what he was feeling in the moment. We discussed his work pretty quickly, and then the students had the rest of the class to respond to this challenge:

"Create a design using hearts. You must use at least two different kinds of art media. BE CREATIVE!!"

Each student was given the choice of up to two pieces of drawing and/or craft paper, and I put out a variety of paints, oil pastels, markers, etc. This also gave me an opportunity to put out my little bag of ribbons and other craft items that we don't get into that often. The kids really liked this studio and I love the results!

Scratch Art Snowmen with Albrecht Dürer

2011-01-28T10:58:00.000-08:00

Before the 4th grade artists began their snowmen (where we relied completely on lines to create our images), they enjoyed looking at some of the incredible drawings and prints of Albrecht Dürer. We were all amazed by the depth and value he was able to create with line. After creating a plan drawing on regular drawing paper, the students began scratching their snowman ideas onto Scratch Art paper. They were challenged to show at least three different values by creating different kinds of scratches or marks.

For the paper behind their snowmen, the students mixed lots of cool colored paints and really enjoyed making abstract paintings. They also had glitter glue, glitter liquid watercolors, and acrylic glitter medium to mix in with their paint if they wanted. When the paintings were dry, they attached the snowmen with 3D Dots.

These Scratch Art snowmen were inspired by the wonderful Totem Pumpkins from the Fun Art 4 Kids blog by Lori in Montrose, PA! Thank you Lori!

The Tooth Fairy...According to Kindergartners!

2011-01-21T14:11:00.000-08:00

As a follow up to the step-by-step self-portraits our kindergartners previously made, they were challenged to use what they learned about drawing the human body, and they drew the mysterious and rarely seen tooth fairy. I asked the students to draw the tooth fairy the way she (or he) really looks and to also show us where the tooth fairy lives. I took some dictation from each student about their artworks, and as you can imagine, the students have some fascinating theories about their tooth fairies!

My tooth fairy is smiling. At night, she gets all the teeth and she brings them to her little house. When she gets home she puts them in a pile of shiny teeth. And then at the morning time, the teeth go in a palace. That’s it!

She has her wings and she's carrying a tooth with her. She forgot to go to the other kid's house, but now she's off work. She's flying to the busy fairy. It's night time. Then she went to her house and she slept and woke up and there was all kinds of things in her house that she didn't know. That's the end of my story.

My tooth fairy is going outside. She is going to find a tooth. She puts the teeth in her house. During the day, she goes outside and finds more teeth. She finds them on the ground. She has a family. She has a sister. They like to play checkers.

My tooth fairy likes teeth and she likes to pick flowers. She likes to go to people’s houses and get their teeth. She likes the stars. She uses her wand to get to people’s houses. She sneaks the teeth out from under their pillows. She likes her family. She likes to read books to them.

My tooth fairy lives in a school. There is a bubble coming out of the school. She takes the teeth into the school and the moon shines on it and the stars. She likes to collect teeth. She has a lot of wings so she can fly better. The flags wave when somebody lost a tooth, and that's how she knows. She has a mask on just in case the teeth are smelly. There is a big tooth that she accidentally dropped.

He can fly. I don't know why I made him a boy. He has short sleeves and it's night time. He keeps the teeth in a basket. Then he puts them in his house. He keeps them in a drawer. He doesn't have a family and he doesn't need friends.

I like my tooth fairy because the sun rises in the morning, like right now. I like my tooth fairy because the castle is pink and purple. I like my tooth fairy castle because it has flags on it. She gets teeth and then she turns them into presents and then gives them to the kids. I like my tooth fairy because her house has orange windows.

The kids colored the small shapes in their drawings with glitter crayons, and then they painted with regular and metallic watercolor paints.

Wild Things!

2011-01-13T14:45:00.000-08:00

The Wild Things are one of my absolute favorite art lessons to do. I've done this project every year and I am always thrilled with the amazing wild things the kids create. This year is no exception! We start out by reading Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, and we talk about what a neat job he has as an author illustrator. We also talk about the wild things and how they are similar and different from other living things. When the kids created their wild things drawings, they were sure to include the details that living things need (eyes, nose/beak, mouth, tummy, etc.). They also included at least two patterns on their creatures, and then created environments for them with a background.

I won a Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio lesson plan contest with this lesson my first year. You can find the lesson here!

We also had "wild rumpuses" in each 1st grade class! We chose physical movements and repeated them like patterns to music. I took some really great photos of the kids, and Mrs. Baker is helping me create a Photostory with them...so check back for that soon!

Expressive Portrait Paintings

2011-01-07T13:14:00.000-08:00

I am so excited about the work our fifth graders did with these expressive portraits! The kids worked really hard at the new strategy of drawing with a grid, and I couldn't believe how well they did with it. For these artworks, we looked at the portrait works of Roy Lichtenstein and Norman Rockwell, and particularly looked at how expressive the subjects are in those works. I then photographed each student making an expression, we gridded them, and the students got to work. We cropped the photos (like Lichtenstein) so that the viewer would really focus on the great expressions.

The students used tempera paints to make these artworks so vibrant. Each student mixed colors and tried to match the colors from their photos. We also experimented with using water to make colors more translucent.

When their paintings were finished, the students completed Venn Diagrams comparing and contrasting Roy Lichtenstein and Norman Rockwell in support of our district-wide effort to use Marzano-inspired teaching strategies.

Winter Art Show!

2010-12-17T11:12:00.000-08:00

This past Wednesday night was our holiday music program and art show! Our second graders and fifth grade chorus had their singing performances in the gym, and artwork filled our halls. I was so excited about the wooden displays our wonderful custodian (Mick) built for us! I'm posting a few pictures to give a general idea of what our school looked like, but I forgot to take pictures while the show was happening! Just imagine these photos with lots of Suffield families looking at the hard work of our students.

Glue-Line Self-Portraits

2010-12-10T12:33:00.000-08:00

Our third grade artists just finished these artworks where we studied classic facial proportions. After lots of staring into mirrors and getting their drawings just right, they outlined their work with Elmer's glue. We colored the backgrounds with construction paper crayons, and then completed the faces with chalk pastels.

Student Written Entries

2010-12-03T12:48:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when students have completed their work and have additional classtime, they can choose to write an entry for our blog. The students can write about anything at all that pertains to art. Because our time is so limited, the students write to express themselves with the best spelling and puncuation that they can muster, and we leave it as is! Here are some beautiful writings by Kaitlyn, Austin, Aisley, and Julia in second grade.

"I love art! When I am at home, I draw or write. Sometimes I pretend I am an art teacher with my cousin. We do lots of art projects in the art room. When I am in school and it is time to go to specials, I think it is art because art is fun, very fun. In the art room the art teacher teaches us to draw. In art we have lots of fun!!!"

"I drew a picture of a caterpillar for Mrs. Tannert. She liked it, and (I also drew) a bee. I love art. Mrs. Tannert is a good art teacher. I love her. Read me on the computer on Suffield Elementary Art Blog. See you later."

"I love art. I am working on an artwork at home. I drew a picture of a Littlest Pet Shop, cut it out, and put it on a background of its habitat. I will make a ton of them and give them to teachers and all different animals. I have made a ton of pictures, just nobody has ever seen it. Art is awesome. It brings out my passion. I draw and it is cool. I want to be an artist when I get older. Mrs. Tannert is the best art teacher ever. She inspires me to make my awesome art."

"I love art. Art is my favorite special. When I go to art, I want to draw all day. It inspires me when I go to art class. I want the special art to be every day of my life. I usually do art every day. All the time I want to do art. I love when Mrs. Tannert gives us an art project."

"Art makes me feel like I am at home painting. I like art because you get to paint portraits and footprints. I want to use pastels on our footprints for coloring, then paint over them. Art is my second favorite special."

Art to Remember Orders Have Arrived!

2010-11-24T13:07:00.000-08:00

I am always so excited when our annual Art to Remember orders come in! The products are great, the artwork is wonderful, and I get to use part of the money collected to buy supplies for our art program! Over the years I've done this fundraiser, we've raised enough money to buy lots and lots of art supplies, a digital projector for the artroom (and get it mounted to the ceiling!), a fabulous cart that acts as a very helpful assistant when I display our students' artwork, and some great art prints and supplemental DVD's about art and artists. I truly appreciate the support that I get for this fundraiser, and so do our young artists!

Here are a few images of some of the great Art to Remember products:

Night Light, Artwork by Christian W., 2-2

Travel Mug, Artwork by Hayden T., 1-1

Water Bottle, Artwork by Jillian Y., 2-2

Matted Print, Artwork by Aidan J., K-1

Mug, Artwork by McKenzie D., K-3

Teddy Bear with T-Shirt, Artwork by Olivia L., K-1

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Footprints Worth Following Paintings

2010-11-19T09:43:00.000-08:00

Our district has adopted the wonderful theme of "Making Footprints Worth Following" this year. It's been a positive goal not only for the kids, but for me too!

I decided to combine our new motto with a color theory unit for second grade. To start, in each class we brainstormed a list on the board explaining why we make good footprints to follow. The students then drafted their own sentences to include in their artworks.

Next, the students traced their feet six times and started painting. They learned about the primary colors, and they learned how to mix them together to create the secondary colors. In the backgrounds of their paintings, they created tinted colors by adding white to any color!

When their paintings were complete, the kids used black Sharpies to write their sentences into the artworks to complete them.

4th Grade Anti-Bullying Animal Friends

2010-11-18T12:10:00.001-08:00

For Anti-Bullying Week, the fourth graders the realism and fantasy elements of a Travelor's Insurance commercial that features many animals living peacefully together that would not normally do so.

The fourth graders enjoyed creating these resist artworks focusing on two new "animal friends". They tried to make these non-realistic situations seem possible and normal.

3rd Grade Art to Remember Full Body Self-Portraits

2010-11-18T12:08:00.001-08:00

For their Art to Remember artworks, the third graders were challenged to create full-body self-portraits with the scenery of their choice. Some students drew themselves in special places and some drew themselves doing special activities. The artworks were completed with watercolor pencils and watercolor paints.

2nd Grade Winter Fun Scenes

2010-11-18T12:07:00.002-08:00

For their Art to Remember artwork, the second grade artists created these blustery crayon resist winter fun scenes. They drew compositions of memories or activities they enjoy during winter.

1st Grade Art to Remember Portraits

2010-11-18T12:07:00.000-08:00

For this year's Art to Remember artwork, our first graders created these realistic self-portraits. Oil pastels and watercolors were used to add color, and the students paid special attention to the painting of their skin tones. They tried to make their painted skin tones match their real skin tones!

Kindergarten First Day of School Paintings

2010-11-18T12:05:00.000-08:00

The kindergarten artists started out their year in art class by creating these colorful paintings of their first day of school. They will be learning a lot about creating artwork this year, but to start out, they created these artworks completely on their own with very little guidance. It looks like it's really going to be a great year!