3rd Radial Op Art

3rd grade artist learned all about the art style of OP ART. It is art that uses shapes, colors and math to create an optical illusion for the viewer, like a magic trick. Check out the famous artist MC Escher to see some cool stuff!

We finished this project with complimentary colors (color across from each other on the color wheel).  

Totem poles!

Our third grade artist learned about the honor and symbolism behind a totem pole. They also learned why artifacts are important to study history. They have created some awesome totem characters!

3rd Movement Prints

For this project we learned about the Principal of Design Movement. We studied Van Gogh's Starry Night (famous for its sense of movement) and then we used shaving cream and food coloring to create movement prints. To culminate we compared and contrasted the movment in Van Goghs work to that of Action Jackson!

Kandinsky's Colors

3rd Grade artist started this lesson with a "table talk" about why colors are important to artists. We came up with some wonderful answers! We then looked at the work of Kandinsky- an abstract artist- who used line and color like music notes to compose pieces of art. Students combined their knowledge of color theory and their ideas about Kandinsky's work to compose a piece of their own. I am loving everything about this lesson!

Welcome to ART!

This is my welcome to art video :) This was a great introduction to art class, it goes over the basics in a fun way. A major advantage is that I do not have to repeat the "rules" to all 18 of my classes!! 

Peace Dove

Grade 3 artist created these beautiful clay symbols of peace. For this project students carved out a dove shape and applied a texture. When dry the students applied a blue paint wash and finished with a gold metallic blend around the outer edge. 

Winter Carolers

These were created by our grade 3 artist, too cute! They created round heads and little hats with mittens and topped them off with old fashioned sheet music of Christmas songs.

3D Leaf Prints

3rd grade created these beautiful leaf prints by pressing leaves into modeling clay. Then painting them with watercolor when dry.

Whimsical Landscapes

These colorful landscapes were created by our 3rd Grade artists! In this project we learned about perspective space pertaining to foreground, middle ground, and background placements in a landscape. We also discussed color theory pertaining to warm and cool colors!

Complex Forms in +/- space

These turned out great! These complex forms were created by our 3rd grade artists. Form in an Art Term for shape!

Long stem roses

So pretty from our 3rd graders

Proportion Self-Portraits

This is 3rd grade's project for the self-portrait unit. We discussed symmetry and the make-up of our facial features. We watched a video on how to make "cheating" marks to correct common proportion mistakes. Once sketches were complete we used markers to brighten up our images. And yes, the first picture was reallly done by a third grade artist, who can already out draw her art teacher :)

Wayne Thiebaud Cakes

In this lesson as a class we watch a few video clips of ace of cakes. We discuss how even cake can be art and the many forms of jobs that fall into the artistic category. We talk about how Duff, from ace of cakes uses his creativity to think outside of the box; a key element in our art room. We then look for inspirations from artist Wayne Thiebaud and discuss how he used cakes and candy as his main subject matter.

On black construction paper, Students create and elipse shape to start then fill in as a cylider. They may make multiple tears, but tears should get smaller as they go up. Students are to add a cake plate and stand to accompany the cake. Students then add decorations. Warn them not to make too small of decorations as oil pastels will be hard to fill in tiny lettering or details. Students then use oil pastels to decorate their cake giving it an icing feel. Student may follow up with a short story or poem using describing words to tell the tale of thier delicious cakes.

Portraits and Porportion

This lesson is one I do with 3rd grade. We learn all about portraits vs. self-portraits. We have a class disscussion about why artists create self-portraits and how it is a reflection of their inner slef. We study somewhat famous self-portraits and reflect on what we learn about the artist from each one. They I teach about porportion and how if affects our portraits. Now it's time to create. The students sketch out thier individual self-portraits, adding features and details like jewelry, hats and we design our shirts for the picture. Next, we create a border so that the focus of the picture is on the portrait. Lastly we add 3-5 objects in the background that tell something about ourselves, and of course we color it with markers. I was very impressed with how unique each of the portraits were.

TOTEM POLES

This lesson is done with 3rd grade as part of my Native American Unit. Every grade level does an art project that focuses on the native culture. In this particular lesson we study what it means to make symbols and the idea of creating "spirits". By using construction paper we create a 3-D piece of art work. During this lesson we learn about the differnce between balance and symmetry when designing how our poles will look. The process of digging through the large scrap bin and finiding interesting ways to create faces, symbols and charactors is always a process that the students enjoy. This lesson takes approx. 3-4 40 minute periods (including a day of discussion and practice sketching then 2-3 days of work time). We usually end by having a class critique "native style" we sit in a circle on the floor and discuss the meanings behind our poles. All in all, it is a student favorite.