Picasso Faces, Many Many Masks, and a Cozy Fireplace! Oh my!

As usual, there are many things going on in the art room...maybe we should call it a creative frenzy. 

Preschoolers have been learning about the warm colors--red, orange, and yellow. Inspired by this idea, we used the warm colors to create a very warm looking (and chilly weather appropriate) representation of a fireplace. Children used collage techniques to add tissue paper to the fire and crayon rubbing to add texture to the bricks. 

Here you can see some warm "kitties" lounging and enjoying the cozy ambiance. 

Kindergarten students have been creating ripped paper self portraits. We discussed the definition of a self-portrait--a picture you make of yourself--and we have been focusing on all the different important parts of ourselves that we need to make sure to include in our pictures to add realism. 

First and second grade students have been learning about the Cubist movement and, specifically, about artist Pablo Picasso. We viewed and made observations of several of Picasso's "mixed up" faces. Students noticed that he often portrays faces from two angles at once!  

Using this idea, the students were very cooperative as I traced each of their faces. We, then, created our own mixed up faces with the actual silhouette of each student right in the center.

In other news, the art room is being taken over by animal and solar system masks. The third graders have been working hard to create representations of the animals they had studied in their biome unit. Meanwhile, the fourth graders have been creating masks of differing celestial bodies. 

Students began the project by considering the idea of form in 3D art. I.e. What 3D materials can I add to my mask in order to make it the shape of my animal/celestial body? Then, each child had to come up with a plan (written or drawn) to make their ideas a reality.

Student used various 3D building materials to change or add to the form of the mask. Afterwards, these details were secured to the mask using papier mache. 

Students then had to consider the use of color and texture. What colors is my animal/planet? What textures do I notice? AND what paint techniques could I try to imitate that texture?

Lastly, we have been doing all this hard work in a "standing" classroom. In other words, we have not been using chairs. Mr Spence very kindly raised the heights of several tables to accommodate. 

Many students seem to prefer doing artwork standing and a great deal of research has proven that our brains like movement, so standing it is!