4th Grade Blue Dogs

Who doesn't love a little George Rodrigue?  The 4th grade classes had a great discussion about this living artist and the history of how Blue Dog came to be.  My students had many questions about the Bayou and the Loup-Garou.  We also watched a video on George Rodrigue that showed him painting one of his many Blue Dog paintings.

I challenged the students to create their own Blue Dogs in the most unique setting they could think of, and that their dog did not have to be blue!

Here are some of their creations:

4th Grade Landscapes

Students were introduced to living artist (from Bloomington, IL!) Harold Gregor.  He is known for his amazing colorful landscapes.  He is actually the only living artist to have his artwork hanging in the White House!! (Obama has one hanging in his Oval Office Dining Room).  Students discussed how colorful Harold Gregor's paintings are, and labeled the Foreground, Middle Ground, and Background.

Ten to Neon Blue (#381)

18" x 24"

2007

Watercolor

Ten to Neon Blue (#381)

18" x 24"

2007

Watercolor

(to learn more about Harold Gregor, please visit www.hgregor.com)

After sketching their idea in pencil, students used crayon and watercolors and Gregor's art as inspiration for their landscapes.  

Skeleton Study

 
8th grade study of skeletons... just in time for Halloween and just over 2 class periods. After drawing them as realistically as possible, they used 2 different colors of oil pastel to show value.

Color Theory Trees

After a quick refresher on the color wheel, my 8th grade students whipped out these BEAUTIFUL trees that I had to share!! I am so impressed, they remind me of stained glass art!

 

Students first drew their tree outline in pencil, and had to use all 12 colors from the color wheel to fill in the negative spaces.  The last step was painting their trees black.  They were very happy with the results!

Don't let Kindergarten Draw the Pigeon!

I LOVE Mo Willem's books.  And so do my Kindergarten students!  After reading 2 of his books, "The Pigeon Wants a Puppy" and "The Duckling Gets a Cookie" we learned how to draw this wonderful, silly pigeon.

After drawing him as large as possible with pencil, we used tempera paint to outline the Pigeon. 

Pinwheels for Peace Project

Friday, September 21^st  is the International Day of Peace. To recognize this event, my elementary students created Peace Pinwheels that were placed out on the front lawn of our school in front of the school sign.

 

This idea was created by two art teachers’ years ago that wanted a way to make a visual public statement to celebrate Peace.  I collaborated with the high school art teacher to bring this Day of Peace to all of the schools in the district by having all art students create pinwheels.

 

Before creating Peace Pinwheels students in grades K-6 discussed what the word “Peace” meant to them personally and as a school community.  Student responses included “being nice to someone,” “a quiet place to read,” “no war,” and “standing up to a bully.”  Each class also discussed ways to promote a Peaceful, Safe, and Happy world of Harmony every day not only on Friday.  Students then visually drew a picture using symbols and words to explain what Peace meant to them. 

 

Some students drew peaceful places while others used words to express their peaceful message.








 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th grade students helped assemble and place the pinwheels for the Day of Peace.

 

 

 

 

“Every day, we are bombarded with television images, video games, music, and magazine articles/newspapers that give importance to conflict and war. Violence has become commonplace and accepted as part of our society and, for some, it is a way of life. It is our hope that through the Pinwheels for Peace project, we can make a public visual statement about our feelings about war/ peace/ tolerance/ cooperation/ harmony/ unity and, in some way, maybe, awaken the public and let them know what we are thinking.

This is not political. Peace doesn’t necessarily have to be associated with the conflict of war, it can be related to violence/intolerance in our daily lives, to peace of mind. To each of us, peace can take on a different meaning, but, in the end, it all comes down to a simple definition: a state of calm and serenity, with no anxiety, the absence of violence, freedom from conflict or disagreement among people or groups of people.”

 

-excerpt from the Pinwheels for Peace Project website. 



 Learn more at www.pinwheelsforpeace.com