Sea Creatures

We're on the road to some very, very cool sea creatures. 

 5th graders have done some exceptional drawings.

Reflections on the Process
of
Watercolor Paintings

                     This year, purely by coincidence, 3rd, 4th and 5th graders are doing watercolor paintings at the same time.  3rd grade is working on their animal research in connection with habitats.  4th grade is studying weather and have chosen a weather event to paint.  5th grade studies oceans and so are painting and researching sea creatures.

                      It's always hard to decide on a picture to use as a reference or even a topic.  The first sketch is always hard.  Students sometimes choose what they think will be easy and those are always the hardest ones because it is hard to see subtleties.  By the time they get to 5th grade, students have done a great deal of drawing with  me.  Some students are so proficient at drawing, that it boggles my mind.  At this point, we're doing one-on-one because of course, they all pick different things to draw.  "What exactly do your eyes see?"  "What is the relationship of this line to that line?"  We're only trying to get a line drawing  with no shading.

                       It helps if students have done some research prior to drawing.  That knowledge informs drawing specifics just as drawing asks questions that need to be researched.  When the drawing is exactly how they want it, they transfer it to watercolor paper.  I think young students only have the capacity to draw something so many times.  I let them trace their art onto the watercolor paper either with the light box or using the window.  This always brings up the reminder about not tracing other people's work.  

                       They always forget to use their pencil very lightly at this stage.  Tracing takes some of the organic spontaneity away but at this point, they really can't do it any other way.  Their pencil lines are mostly dark.  They also don't know that much about the watercolor process to totally think it through.  I will often times say, "Don't worry about that, you can add it later on top of everything else."   I also let them use other mediums like tempra paint, watercolor pencils, and colored pencils.

                       I want the students to be thoughtful about their painting and plan and even to experiment.   I like to work on the same kind of art the students are doing.  I have mixed feelings about this as I don't want them to do their art like mine just because they have no other example.  I like to work on the same art so I can "remind" myself about pitfalls they may find.  I try to convey this to them and I think most kids who have been with me for years, know they can change anything about a project if they are thoughtful and trying hard.  I love to challenge them.  And I love to empower them.

                       The 3rd and 5th graders pencil their animal onto the watercolor paper.  The 4th graders start with a horizon line of some kind and watercolor the very back background.  5th graders paint mostly blue watercolor on the paper and while it is wet, add salt.  The 3rd graders use watercolor and salt or whatever works for their background.  At this point, I will talking about these projects individually.

Visual Arts Festival Poster

It's the leaf people!

I took a few of the 5th graders' leaf creations that they made for their Fractured Fairytale stories and put them together.  I submitted it as Stony Point's art for the Visual Art Festival Poster.  These leaf creatures reflect the wide range of personalities of the students and I love them.

Stony Point School Dragons

We made a very large sign for the gym..  It said "Stony Point Talent Show"  and was in two parts.  The second part got ripped and the students suggested making a new one.  After a lot of discussion, we agreed it should say, "School Dragons". 

Mrs. Bolton's Class Auction Project

 Zentagles or "doodles"  were a big hit with the 5th grade.  Mrs. Bolton had the idea to take the classes doodled leaves and make it into an auction project.  One of our talented moms put it together.  It came out fantastic.

Autumn Leaves

Mrs. Butler's class finished their leaf printing project.  

Chinese Blue and White Porcelain

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

is a fantasy-adventure novel written by Grace Lin.

 It was a recipient of a 2010 Newbery Honor.  

In the Valley of the Fruitless Mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents.

In the evening, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man of the Moon who knows the answer to all life’s questions.

4th grade student reflections…

“My pot is about when the monkeys don’t let anyone go through the peach tree path.”

“My pot reminds me of the happiness paper.  I hand drew the characters.”

“It reminds me of Minli because it tells about her age, gender and friend, Dragon.  Minli recued Dragon from the river.”

“My pot has a rabbit inside like Minli’s plate.”

“My pot is a rice bowl like Minli, Ma and Ba ate out of.”

“My pot reminds me when Minli gets home and they have a party.”

Through a Cultural Lens

Third graders used craypas to visually represent something special about their family.

At The River

Church with My Family

I have family in Paraguay so we go there often.

Thanksgiving with My Family

"I can't think of anything."

For some children, thinking about family traditions was hard.

"Do we have to do it every year?"

"Does the whole family have to be there?"

"How do I know if it is special?"

How BIG does something have to be before it is special?

 I like to meet my daughter for tea.  That is special to us.

Drippy monsters

Mrs. Frazier's kindergartners made these great monsters.  

We talked about warm and cool colors.  

If the monster was cool, we tried to add warm colors  and visa versa.  

We tried to make the monsters pop out of the paper.  

The monsters themselves were made with colors of paint and a straw.

Once we dabbed paint onto the paper, we blew and blew.  

"This is really hard work!"

The Seasons

Kindergarten has been studying the seasons.  

We've done many projects about the seasons.

Sketch Books

3rd graders have been working on the covers of their sketchbooks.

We studied different patterns in nature.  We realized that most of them are repeating.  We made sketches of repeat patterns and from there, we made our printing plates.

The covers came out great!

1st Grade Printing

After studying fall leaves, we all made a printing plate with a leaf on it.  

On our first day of printing, we printed with cool colors... blues and greens. 

 We used recyclable materials... plastic cups, bubble wrap and packaging materials.  

On the second day of printing, we printed our leaves with warm colors... red, orange, and yellow. 

The students claim they LOVE printing and I can tell from the mess, that it was a huge hit.  They wanted to keep the printing plates and so we decided to make them part of the art.

Next, there will be poems to go with these.