1st pops

1st Grade: Thiebaud Pops

1st graders explored some of Thiebauds dessert pop art. We noticed how used many different bright colors and various designs in his art. 

Students designed their own lollipops (a good review in different kinds of line). Next day, they painted backgrounds in 4 sections. Next, was adding texture to background with texture stamps. Students had the choice to "press or spin" their stamps. Last day was collaging lollipops and sticks to background. 

I think these were very fun to make and students had a chance to really explore the use of color a lot, as well as line and texture.

Great job students!

Kinder Fruit and Parrot

Kinder: Kahlo Parrot and Fruit

Kinder students studied Frida Kahlo's work as well as work of Jan Van Os. We focused on fruit still life paintings. We looked for fruit we easily recognized (apples, watermelon, oranges) and some tropical fruit that was not so easily recognizable (mango, papaya). We also realized that Kahlo placed a parrot in some of her paintings. She had a pet parrot and loved to represent him in her paintings. 

I had done a similar project 2 years ago with kinder. However, this was the first time we put the parrot in the picture. I think it adds a nice touch! 

Students watercolored the background using red and blue to make violet (secondary color intro for these 2 colors). Students designed a tablecloth with pastels. I did a step by step of this, realizing after one class that the tablecloth would be too busy had I let students choose a free design. We focused on creating a line design that pointed to the focal point of the picture. On subsequent days, students drew the fruit and parrot (step-by-steps for these). They added color with oil pastel, cut them out and glued them to background. Overall, I think these are quite lovely!

2nd Cakes

2nd Grade: Thiebaud Cakes

2nd graders looked at Thiebaud's work and then set to work on creating their own cake art. I did this project 2 years ago with 2nd grade. Only difference this time around, was I photocopied a single vertical line (for the center of the cake) on each cardstock piece. This way, students had a good starting point. This saves a lot of time I found in correct placement of the intial line and eliminates line length issues. We did a step-by-step of the rest of the cake (triangular prism). Students were encouraged to use values, tints, blending and creativity. "Toppings" for cakes were made from colored paper. Students also named their creative cakes and glued the title to their project. Some of these names were quite unusual!

Great job 2nd grade! Spectacular!