Visual Arts newsletter
October 24th, 2022
First units are coming to a close
As we come to the end of our second month of classes many of the grades are completing their first units. Each grade level has been working hard and it is always great to see the results come in. You may not have seen much work come home yet, everyone except the 5th grade class should have some work uploaded on Artsonia already. If you do not have Artsonia and would like to use it, please contact me and I will send you a link. Some work may not come home until the end of the year as students save a favorite piece for the Artshow, and I will hold some work to display on the bulletin boards outside the room.
Kindergarten has been working with line, shape and color, and will be showing off their creativity with an image composed of shapes, outlined in permanent marker and then they will learn to use watercolor to complete the image.
1st Grade spent the first few weeks also working with watercolor creating an image that was based off a favorite summer memory. We looked at Faith Ringgold's "Tar Beach" as inspiration. RIngolds quilt gave students a chance to do several experimental strips of patterns that then were cut up to become the quilt squares that frame the central painting.
2nd grade students looked to the dynamic characters that Keith Haring used in his work to learn to draw people in more realistic gesture poses. We started by drawing the skeletons, added the joints and then wrapped muscles to fill out the form of the figures. Students will complete their unit with an artwork that shows off their newly acquired drawing skills in an image of their choice that has people somewhere in the image.
3rd grade students have finished their surrealist artwork of our storytelling unit and are now shifting to comics, starting with a self portrait as a superhero. After their comic book cover they will be creating a comic page with an emphasis on creating a story line and also craftsmanship in laying out the cells of the story.
4th grade students have completed a photography unit where we spent a day each photographing people, places, and (abstract) things. We just started introducing our next project where we will be creating stop motion animations. Students may ask to bring in props to school like legos or stuffed animals. If you are ok with them bringing props in the coming weeks, each group will have a bin to store their belongings in. We will be working on our movies for the rest of the semester as the stop motion process is time consuming.
5th grade students are in the process of finishing their one point perspective drawings. We are using the front of the school for our drawings and are finishing the coloring with a method of their choice over the next couple of sessions.
Sincerely,
Mr. Woodward