3rd Grade Warm/Cool Portraits

These colorful portraits were created by Nelson's third grade artists who spent several weeks learning how to draw faces using correct proportions as well as learning about warm and cool colors.  The backgrounds were created by collaging tissue paper and construction paper in layers.  The faces were drawn on a separate paper, painted with watercolors, and then cut out and glued onto the backgrounds.  Our artists had to be careful to use the opposite color family (warm or cool) for their backgrounds and portraits.  They did a great job!

Kindergarten Line Paintings

During the first few weeks of art class our Kindergarten artists learned about LINES and how artists use them to create artworks.  Here our some beautiful paintings that show some of these lines that we studied: straight, wavy, loopy, zig-zag, dashed, and dotted.  The artists used black crayon to draw the lines and then watercolor paints to add color.  This was a good lesson in how to properly use and take care of our paints and brushes, too! 

Kindergarten Primary Color "Splats"

Our Kindergarten artists have started studying colors and how they are made.  We learned about the three most important colors in the whole world...the primary colors!  These special hues (yellow, red, and blue) are used to make all the other colors on the color wheel.  We read a wonderful book called "Mouse Paint" in which three little mice get into a mess with yellow, red, and blue paint and end up creating three new colors.  We did a little color mixing of our own to see if we could make the same new colors...orange, green, and violet.  See if you can spot the new colors in our artworks below!

Our 2nd Grade Collaborative Mural project is officially finished!  This lesson took several weeks to complete as the students learned about community art and how to work as a team to create a completed artwork.  This mural began as 12 large puzzle pieces; four per class.  Each work table in the art room had to cover their piece with newspaper using collage techniques.  Then they added a personal drawing that somehow represented themselves (hobbies, family, pets, etc...)  After all classes had finished, we pieced the mural together, and...voila!  A masterpiece was born!  Great job 2nd grade.  The mural will be on display in the cafeteria for a good while so please stop by and see it when you are in the building.  

Finished Metal Repousses



To finish up their metal repousse projects, our 5th grade artists added a colored "frame" around their pieces.  On top of this frame, they used the same stencil that they used on their metal to rub a  leaf pattern around the perimeter. This added an element of "repetition" to the piece--a technique often used by artists to add visual interest to their work.     

Pumpkins!

These adorable pumpkins were made by Mrs. Hughes's class in honor of the arrival of Autumn.  We're going to embellish them a bit more in our next session, but so far they are looking good!  They are simple enough to create.  Here's how we did it. 

1. Open up a brown paper lunch bag and sit it flat on a surface in front of you.
2. Stuff the inside of the bag with two pieces of newspaper that have been slightly crumpled into a ball. 
3. Grab and twist the top portion of the bag, using a piece of masking tape to keep it closed.
4. Paint the outside of the bag using tempera or acrylics. 

Stay tuned to see how we finish these with some vines and leaves.....

Colorful Weavings

These beautiful pieces were created by the students from Mrs. Hughes's class.  We began with a 12X18" piece of white paper that the students completely covered with watercolor paints.  Then they used texture tools to "roll on" tracks of black paint in various patterns.  During our next class we cut these paintings to allow black strips of construction paper to be woven through.  This kind of art requires patience and the use of fine motor skills. We all agree that they turned out beautifully!  

Welcome to a New School Year!

Welcome back, Nelson artists!  I hope that you have all had a wonderfully relaxing summer and that you had some time to do creative things with your families.  We're already hard at work in the art room.  Younger artists and learning about line, shape, and color while our older artists are brushing up their drawing skills and using some exciting new materials.  For the next several weeks, we are lucky to have a teacher candidate from Old Dominion University working with us in the art room.  Mrs. Bouthillet is training to be an art teacher and will be working closely with our Nelson artists until October 19th.  She has some awesome projects in the works so stay tuned for more updates and pictures!  

Have an ART-FULL summer!!!  Take time to sit outside and paint or draw.  Use sidewalk chalk and make a masterpiece on concrete.  Put on a play with your friends.  Write and illustrate a poem.  Use your imagination every day and it will continue to grow and grow....  :)  See you in September....

4th Grade Op Art

Our 4th grade artists studied Optical Art...a style of art that is mean to fool your eyes.  Check out the simple illusions that they were able to create using only line, shape, and colors.

Can you see the illusion of "tunnels" in the two pieces above?

The second piece that we worked on uses a "bull's eye" design and alternating pattern to create the illusion of movement on the page.  

3rd Grade Cupcakes...finished!

First we painted our cupcakes with watercolor paints.  

Then we added a good helping of glitter glue to add a bit of "sprinkles" on top.  These are now keepsake, lidded boxes that look good enough to eat!

5th Grade Clay Gargoyles

Our 5th graders worked hard to create these cute little creatures.  The basic form starts with a pinch pot and then the students used their imaginations to add eyes, tongues, claws, wings, etc...  A good glazing really makes them pop with color.  

Gargoyle...or alien?

Look at those wings!

A trio of cuties!  

First Grade's Sparkly Pinch Pots

Check out these pinch pots our first graders created! They had a great time working on them. First they had to "pinch" their clay into the shape of a bowl. We added decorations using a variety of stamping tools. After they were fired, we painted them with watercolor paints and finally added a nice "glaze" of glitter glue all over. They are glitzy and beautiful! Great job, first grade artists!