6th Grade Horse Animation

This project was sort of rushed before school ended. Normally I would like to produce the animation in Flash, but time was short so we used the app Stop Motion. It was requested that we do an animation project and I had the horse templates so we gave it a try. I think they got the idea that the more successful animations are the ones with dramatic movement and color. Each student made 8 frames of a horse in a walk cycle using sharpies on tracing paper. 

Empty Room

Thanks to the 4th grade for helping to get the art room all cleaned up for the summer break. I'm looking forward to filling it up with more art and color in September.

Homemade Scratchboard

The 1st and 2nd grade used oil pastels to cover thick paper with colorful patterns. Then they added a layer of black acrylic paint. Once it dried they used a scratch board tool to reveal the color under and make their name in fancy fonts. I really wanted this to be something they can do at home sometime. If you don't have oil pastels crayons will work too.

Finished Drip Paintings

Today the K2 students added the drawings of someone holding an umbrella in the rainbow rain they made in last class using droppers and watercolor paint. We also watched a short by pixar called "Partly Cloudy".

Class of 2015!

I enjoyed teaching the 8th grade class for the past four years. Good luck with High School. I'm sure you all will excel in your new school.

Automatons

If you are familiar with the story Hugo then you might know about Automtons. These are real mechanical figures that were used to entertain the wealthy. The one from Hugo is based off the figure that can draw four pictures and write two messages. 

The 4th grade class took time to think up their own Automatons. They were asked to have them either do a task or entertain in some way. Don't be surprised if some of the students end up trying to build a real one this summer.

Gesture Drawing

The 3rd grade enjoyed this classic drawing exercise of gesture drawing. Students took turns standing in front of the class in a pose. Then the class would have one minute to draw the figure in the position they see. I made it interesting a couple times by first cutting the time down to 30 seconds then said they could not look at the paper while drawing. It was such fun I think we'll have to continue this for the last day of art.

Stubby Pencils

It's that time again. The 5th graders used the leftover pencils that are too small to use anymore and find a creative way to incorporate them into an image. I had no doubt that this class would come up with some great ideas. 

Tiger Mask

2nd grade learned some facts about Tigers then colored, cut and constructed these cool tiger mask.

I found the mask templet at the great website happy thought. 

Grid Transfer and Painting with Values

The 7th grade class has started this project that will be continued in September. Everyone is working with the same image of the dog. They have made a 200% enlargement of the image using the grid method. Next they will translate the different values of the image to a color of their choice. Check back in September to see the progress.

Mini Notan

The 5th grade made a series of mini Notan images using colored paper, glue and scissors. Notan a Japanese form of art using dark and light shapes that are symmetrical. 

Chalk Paint

K2 jazzed up the parking spaces in the back of the school during art class. We turned the lines into the stems for flowers painted with chalk paint. The last picture is taken from the third floor window. I think they would have done this project all day if they could.

Finished eBook App

The 7th grade's App is now available for download. It is free. If you have an iPad go to iTunes and download Demibook's Share App. It's free too. Then you can use that to download the eBook. As you can see they are featuring our school at the top of the page. The name of the book is Famous Artist. I'm happy with the finished project and hope to do more of this next year.

Every Hero has a Story

This summer's library reading program is "Every Hero has a Story". The 2nd and 3rd grade class helped with the bulletin board for Tuft's Library. We turned Lighting McRead into a superhero flying over the city. Each student made windows with interesting scenes in them to go on the buildings. So next time you go to the children's room go check it out. It will be up all summer.

Rainy Day of Art

It was a rainy day when K2 had art class so we took advantage of this by making rainbow rain. Each student got a cylinder of paper on a tray. Using a eye dropper they would drip watercolor paint on the top of each paper and use gravity to make lines of color down the paper. Next class they will add a picture of themselves holding an umbrella in the colorful rain drips.