Texture Rubbing Collages--- 1st Grade

Our first graders have been working with one of the Elements of Design: TEXTURE. We looked at many examples of items that have different kinds of textures like fur, sand, and wood. The students have fun coming up with words that describe the texture of these these items, such as furry, rough, and hard. To create these Texture Collages, our artists used plastic texture plates under construction paper shapes and rubbed their crayons over the paper to create the patterns you see here. We glued some of our shapes flat onto the black background paper, but save a few to apply with 3D sticky buttons. This made the shapes stand out from the background, giving the collages a fun multi-dimensional look.

"Repurposed" Magazine Bowls-- 5th Grade

Our fifth grade artists are creating these "repurposed" (or recycled) bowls from magazine pages that have been rolled tightly together. It's a great project for exploring the possibilities of unusual materials and for teaching us to be frugal with out waste! We looked at artworks from several artists who use recyclables or "found objects" as their artistic medium.

Shadow and Light...Finished Works

Using oil pastels and their fingers (for blending colors), our fourth grade artists completed these realistic drawings of simple 3D shapes.

Shadow and Light--4th Grade

Our fourth grade artists have been studying the way that artists use shadow and light to create realistic looking objects in their work. These are a few of the practice sketches that were made. Students learned how to vary their pressure upon the crayons to create dark areas and light areas. Vocabulary for this lesson: cast shadow, light source, highlight.

First Grade Pattern Fish in Progress...

First grade artists reviewed LINE and PATTERN to create these whimsical fish. The background is collaged pattern that represents the waves in the water. During our next art class we will do some stamping to create seaweed and bubbles....

Fifth Grade Paper Sculptures in Progress...

This is a fun way to get students to think 3-Dimensionally. Using scrap strips of paper they have to create an interesting sculptural work that incorporates some of the Principles of Design: Movement, Unity, and Balance. Simple elements like zig-zags, waves, and curly-cues take on a new life in 3 dimensions.

Welcome to a New School Year!

Well, it's that time again! A new school year is upon us. That means a new year of art classes and a year full of creative adventures awaits our Nelson artists. This year we will place an emphasis on practicing "Habits of Good Artists." The sign pictured here is hanging in the art room to encourage our artists to use these habits, not just in the art room, but in all of their academic endeavors. I expect great things from our Nelson students this year and can't wait to get stARTed!