Fine Arts Monthly Review
Isle of Wight County Schools
Purpose:
Smithfield High School
CARRSVILLE ELEMENTARY
Kindergarten, first, and second-grade students at Carrsville Elementary made mystery paintings in their art classes. Students began by discussing different types of lines, including vertical, horizontal, diagonal, wavy, zigzag, and more. Using white crayons, students drew different invisible lines on their papers, then painted with watercolor paint to make their secret lines appear. Students were excited to see their mystery paintings appear and to share them with their classmates.
Hardy Elementary School
Westside Elementary School
Working and learning in an art studio-classroom is quite different from the traditional academic setting. As a result, students need to be aware of, and practice, “studio thinking” habits. A vital studio habit is Understanding the Art Community.
Westside Elementary Eagles discovered and developed an Art Community in class through an activity called Art “Sumi-style”. The Sumi Ink Club out of California served as a model. The club has collaborated on Sumi-ink artworks since 2005. While moving about a busy room to get various materials as well as around their artwork, the students:
- Drew together in an open, socially-engaged & creative way.
- Built onto, added to, and/or modified a single artwork in a respectful manner.
The final “Sumi-style” artworks were an evolution of all students’ minds and hands. They were built over a single class period and were all different. The 1st step required students to work together to get a 6ft paper cut from a giant paper roll. As the students worked, they actively created TOGETHER, problem-solved TOGETHER, and respectfully altered/modified/or changed each other’s efforts within the artwork with each swipe of the pen. No one got offended or angered by this because of the respect and camaraderie - it was actually supported and encouraged to do so! (Oh, the trust!)
Art “Sumi-style” is very collaborative, so it aligns well with Westside’s Eagle Essential #1 - WE ARE A FAMILY. It also supports Essentials # 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8 (2-Respect, 3-Character, 5-Leadership, 6-Speaking and Listening, 8-Being the Best Person). Plus, it’s a lot of fun :)
CARROLLTON ELEMENTARY
In art class at CAES, students have been executing lessons that help me assess their skill levels specifically with Color and Line in grade levels 1-3.
PK - “Rainclouds”: Learning Color Order and applying Texture for the cloud.
K - “Tractors”: Students learned about what a tractor does on the farm. We discussed LINE, SHAPE, and TEXTURE for this lesson. They used shapes to assemble their tractor and used stamping to print their wheels and Texture for smoke.
1st Grade - We discussed what OVERLAPPING is and how to Overlap Shapes when drawing. Then we discussed different types of LINES in order for them to create their patterned designs in their background.
2nd Grade - Learning Directional Lines to divide paper and discussing a variety of LINES to create patterns. They explored the COLOR WHEEL to understand the color order. They created a strip of Color Spectrum and glued it on to represent a 3D paint strip with a paintbrush.
3rd Grade - Students learned about the symbolism of the seasonal fall flower “The Marigold” as it is used in different cultures around the world, such as Mexico, India, and Europe. Applying Concentric lines to create Marigold flowers and then using chalk pastels to blend colors using their “neighbor” colors from the color wheel.