If I could fly...

Faith Ringgold is a contemporary artist who combines quilting and painting to create her artwork. She is more well known among Irving students as the author and illustrator of the book "Tar Beach."

The first graders looked at images of Faith Ringgold's quilts and read "Tar Beach," a story about a girl who uses her imagination to pretend she can fly. Using Ringgold's artwork and story as inspiration, the students each created their own "quilts" that each tell a story.

The students used pieces of cut paper to make a patterned quilt boarder around the edge of their paper. In the center of the paper they drew a picture describing where they would fly to if they could go anywhere in the world.

Happy Halloween!

Ms. Zaragoza (Spanish), Ms. Linne (art), Mrs. Stachyra (library), Mrs. Hiolski (music), Mrs. Tarabus (music), and where is Mr. Hancock (P.E.)? He missed the picture.

It was a rainy day for Irving's Halloween celebration on Friday, but we still had fun parading around the school. The Specials Teachers were dressed in a costume that was a little tricky to figure out. Did you guess what we were?

Sound it out, we were "Spe-shells"!

Fall is here!

It is easy to see by the changing of the leaves that fall is here! During the past few weeks the second graders have been working on a fall tree collage. In class we discussed the techniques that artists use to make objects in an artwork appear closer or farther away. When objects in a painting or drawing are bigger and closer to the bottom of the paper, they appear closer. When objects are closer to the horizon line and smaller, they appear farther away. They learned that objects in a work of art that look close are a part of the foreground and the objects that look far away are a part of the background.The students drew a horizon line on blue paper then cut a tree out of brown paper and glued it onto the blue paper. The tree is a part of the foreground because the tree is big and close to the bottom of the paper. Each student then drew picture in the background making the objects smaller and closer to the horizon line so that they look farther away. The last step of the lesson was to cut leaves out of red, orange, and yellow paper and glue some on the branches of the tree and some on the ground as if they had fallen from the tree.

The finished drawings look great!

They can be viewed on Artsonia:

http://www.artsonia.com/museum/gallery.asp?exhibit=225390

5th Grade Pop Art Paintings!

Pop Art, short for popular art, was an art movement in the United States during the 1960s. It was called Pop Art because the artists used took popular images and objects and transformed them into works of art.

The 5^th grade students learned about three artists who lived and worked in New York City during the Pop Art movement. Andy Warhol was an artist famous for his silkscreen prints of 1960’s icons such as Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley as well as the Campbell’s soup can. Claes Oldenburg became known for turning everyday objects into large sculptures that can be found in cities around the world. Finally, Roy Lichtenstein is famous for his large paintings that resemble people and scenes you would find in comic books.

After learning about these artists and looking at their work, the students created their own Pop Art paintings. Each student chose an ordinary object to draw. Similar to Lichtenstein’s work, they outlined their drawings with black marker and painted using only primary colors.

The finished paintings can been seen hanging in the Irving hallways and on Artsonia (click the title of this post to view artwork).

4th Grade Op-Art

Op-Art is short for optical illusion artwork. After looking at and discussing some popular optical illusions in class, the 4th grade students created their own using complimentary color pairs. Check out the final drawings on display in the art hallway of school or on Artsonia.

See more optical illusions:

www.optical-illusion-pictures.com/art.html

Figures in Action!

During the past few weeks, the 3rd graders have been learning about the artist Keith Haring. They have seen pictures of his artwork and learned a little about his life. Haring is known for drawing and painting simple human figures that can be seen throughout his artwork in many different poses. The 3rd grade students practiced drawing figures in different action poses in the style of Keith Haring. They chose four figures from their practice drawings and created a final drawing adding color to the figures and line patterns to the background.

The finished drawings look amazing! They can be seen on display in the Irving hallways and will soon be published on Artsonia.

Want to learn more about Keith Haring? Check out www.haringkids.com/ for his bio along with fun coloring pages and other activities.

New Art Work Published!

All of the students have been hard at work in art these last few weeks and finally some of the first lessons are complete! Click the link on the right to view student artwork at ArtSonia.

4th and 5th Grade Sketchbook Assignment!

All 4th and 5th grade students are required to keep a sketchbook for art this year. The purpose of this is for the students to practice their drawing skills outside of art class, and it allows them to draw things that interest them. I gave them a list of drawing ideas, “I didn’t know what to draw” is no excuse for not completing the required drawings each trimester. Students can pick an idea from the list or they are welcome to come up with their own ideas.

Below is a copy of the assignment sheet the students received in class. Report card grades will be based on a combination of each student’s sketchbook and class assignments.

4TH AND 5TH GRADE SKETCHBOOK ASSIGNMENT

Requirements:
· 10 sketchbook drawings are due each trimester.
· Select an idea from the list or get creative and make up your own.
· Spend at least 20 minutes on each drawing. Take your time and add lots of details.
· Draw during free time in class or at home, just don’t forget to bring it back to school!
· Sketchbooks will be checked randomly during art class and graded each trimester.

Sketchbook Grades:
4 = Student completed more than 10 drawings on time. Drawings are detailed and it is obvious that student put a lot of thought and time into each drawing.
3 = Student completed 10 drawings on time. Drawings are detailed. It is obvious that student took time to complete.
2 = Student did not complete required amount of drawings and/or sketchbook was not turned in on time. Drawings that were done looked rushed, and do not include much detail.
1 = Student did not complete or did not turn in sketchbook on time. Drawings look rushed and/or incomplete.

Sketchbooks will be collected and graded these dates:
Tuesday, November 24th
Friday, February 26th
Friday, May 21st
(All sketchbooks that are in the art room on the due date will be considered on time.)

Welcome Back!

It’s that time of year again and I can’t wait to get started! I am so excited to see how the students have grown over the summer and to meet the new kindergarteners.

One of my goals this year is to keep this blog updated. Throughout the school year you will be able to check in here and read about what you’re student is up to in art class. I will include a little info about artists and concepts we discuss in class and hopefully you will continue the discussion at home.

In the top right corner, you will see a link to ArtSonia where you can view student artwork. You can always look back on what your child has created in years past, as well as see the artwork they are doing this year. It is also possible to purchase items (like t-shirts and mugs) from the website printed with your child’s masterpieces. They make awesome gifts and are a great way to preserve your favorite artworks.

Check back soon!