Henry Ford Art

Even though we only had art for two classes during the month of March, a lot of learning and creating still happened in the art room!

During the month of March young 5 and kindergarten artists finished their caterpillar collages! They glued their leaf prints to a background paper and drew some leaves of their own, then glued their painted caterpillars on top.

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First grade artists created pear still lifes!

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They started with black crayon to practice looking for shapes and lines that they could draw to show what they were seeing in front of them. They also began to learn about shadows and how to use shadows to create the illusion of a 3D shape!

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The next class they used chalk to try to create shadows and colors that they saw on the pears on their tables on a new paper.

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Second grade artists finished their circle weavings! They could choose to add fringe, beads, and/or feathers for extra decoration.

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Then they started sketching a house design that was going to be used as a plan for a clay project.

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Third grade artists finished their non-objective, balanced collages!

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Then they learned how to draw using one-point perspective! They drew shapes floating around a vanishing point and then made the shapes look like they were moving back into space.

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Fifth grade artists finished folding their abstract poem books.

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Then they began to create notans! They had one day to practice a notan before school was closed. (I did not have a chance to take photos of these notans before we left school.)

Kindergarten and young 5 artists created a caterpillar by making spheres out of Model Magic clay.

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They painted their caterpillars and made a background by printing leaf stamps and drawing their own leaves. In March they will collage all of the leaves they made and then glue their caterpillars on top of the collage.

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First grade artists chose their favorite mask prints and glued them together to make a finished composition!

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Then they created a symmetrical monster by cutting out a shape from a folded paper and then adding monster details, making sure to keep both sides the same!

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Second grade artists warped the looms they made at the end of January and began to weave!

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They learned how to add beads to their weaving, too!

Third grade artists created non-objective, balanced collages that also showed unity by cutting and gluing shapes from a limited color scheme in a way that would show visual balance. They used the papers they had painted in January for this collage.

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Fifth grade artists used their mini abstract paintings to create an accordion book with a free verse poem! They thought of what their paintings reminded them of, wrote a poem about it using descriptive language, and then assembled their paintings into an accordion book.

Young 5 and Kindergarten artists began the new year creating artwork that shows different emotions!

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They drew self portraits and changed the direction of or the shapes of their facial features to show different feelings.

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Then they created an abstract painting to show how they feel when they are experiencing each emotion. They used color and lines to express these feelings.

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Then they created robots by drawing, cutting, and gluing shapes together to design their own unique robot.

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First grade artists created crayon rubbings of their symmetrical masks! They used watercolor paints to paint over 2 of their crayon rubbings.

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Then they used brayers and ink to create prints of their masks!

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On the last art class in January, they covered their masks in foil and colored them with permanent markers. In February they will choose their favorite three versions of their mask to mount together.

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Second grade artists added color to the trains they drew during one art class.

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Then they prepared a paper plate to be a weaving loom by painting it and adding small notches for yarn around the edges. In February they will warp their looms and begin to weave with yarn!

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Third grade artists glazed their coil creations they had made in December before break!

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Then they created painted papers that will be used for an upcoming collage!

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Fifth grade artists mounted their favorite collagraph prints and used descriptive language to write about their memory they were showing in their artwork.

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Then they finished a foil sculpture that they had started with Mrs. Russell.

Lastly, they painted a series of 8 mini abstract paintings that will be used to make an accordion book in February.

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Young 5 and Kindergarten artists painted their texture collages in the beginning of December!

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Then they created a textured turtle out of clay!

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Once fired, they painted their turtles and took them home.

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First grade artists learned about symmetry and looked at masks from around the world!

Then they cut shapes out to create their own symmetrical mask.

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When we come back after winter break, they will be using these masks in new ways to create prints, rubbings, and a a shiny foil mask!

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Second grade artists created a mandala design that showed radial symmetry!

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Then on the day before winter break they learned how to draw a train using one point perspective. After we come back from break they will use chalk to color their trains.

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Third grade artists finished their Zentangle buildings with a colorful painted background!

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Now they are working on creating a clay coil bowl or cup.

Fifth grade artists printed with their collagraph plates that they made during November.

(pictures coming soon)

Young 5 and Kindergarten artists continued to mix primary colors at the beginning of November. They mixed new colors to paint around their black lines they had painted several weeks ago.

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Then they began to learn about texture! They used crayons and texture plates to create a textured landscape.

Then they glued found materials with different textures to make a collage. We discussed ways to make our artwork feel balanced, too!

Next week, in December, they will be painting these collages!

First grade artists used the PTA reflection theme “Look Within” as inspiration for their next artwork!

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They drew a large pair of binoculars and drew things that described them, things they liked, or ways that they feel inside of the binoculars. We talked about the difference between seeing what someone looks like and learning more about them. We love that we can use our artwork to show the world more about ourselves!

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Second grade artists celebrated the season of fall with our next artwork!

They practiced printmaking and printed colorful leaves on their papers.

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Then they used that they know about pattern and line variation to create designs around their leaves with metallic markers!

Third grade artists were also using patterns; they are making cities with Zentangles inside of each building.

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They learned that a Zentangle design is a type of pattern that might start out simple, but when you keep adding lines or shapes, it can look much more complicated. A zentangle drawing is also thought to be relaxing to make.

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They painted a paper with different colors and used textured tools to add designs during one art class. This paper will be used for the sky behind the city.

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Fifth grade artists have been working on collagraphs. They wrote about a memory they have, sketched the memory on a piece of cardboard, and then glued different materials to show each piece of their drawing.

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They started by making a crayon rubbing of their plate and then painted over the crayon rubbing. During the next two art classes they will print their plate with paint or ink!

Young 5 and Kindergarten artists painted lines at the beginning of October!

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Then they learned about 3 different types of line directions: horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines. They used these to draw a spider web and learned about the primary colors to color in their webs.

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Then they used the primary colors to create an abstract city collage inspired by Mondrian’s “Broadway Boogie Woogie”

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Then they got to experiment with mixing the primary colors to see what new colors they could make! They used oil pastels, paint, and clay to mix new colors.

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Young 5 artists also learned about the rainbow order and created rainbows with crayons and paint-dotters one day of art class.

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First grade artists mixed primary colors to make secondary colors and created three secondary color painted papers with added texture lines and designs.

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They used these papers to create a pumpkin collage!

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Then first grade artists were able to make a piece of jewelry using the bead they had made when learning about secondary colors! They showed a pattern with color or size of beads and put their hand made bead in the center.

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Second grade artists used their bubble people paintings that they made in September as inspiration for a wire and plaster sculpture!

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They created a stick person out of pipe cleaners, covered it in tape, posed it, and then covered it with plaster strips so it would hold its pose.

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Third grade artists finished painting their sunflower still lifes!

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Then they looked at Victorian houses and drew their own Victorian house with metallic markers on black paper.

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They painted a sky using one color and white to create as many tints as they could. They chose whatever design they wanted for their sky; some artists chose to show a full moon, some showed mountains, some even used splatter paint to show snow falling!

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Then they cut their houses out and glued them to their skies.

Fifth grade artists finished drawing and coloring their self-portraits!

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Young 5 and Kindergarten artists have started the year learning about lines!

So far they have drawn lines with crayon, made lines out of pipe cleaners, sculpted lines with clay, and have created line sculptures with paper and glue!

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First grade artists created rocket ship drawings to review the types of lines they learned last year!

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Then they created mini-Mondrian masterpieces to review the primary colors and vertical and horizontal lines.

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Then they experimented with mixing the primary colors together to make new colors! They mixed colored clay, molded it into a shape, and then tried to see how may colors they could mix with paint!

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Second grade artists are learning how to turn a stick person into a “bubble person” and are working on showing movement in their drawings.

They posed for each other and tried to capture what each part of the body was doing. Then they chose their favorite pose and created a moving-bubble person- painting!

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Third grade artists have been working on sunflower still lifes! They are learning how to draw what they are seeing in front of them, not what they imagine in their heads.

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Fifth grade artists created sketchbooks at the beginning of the year that they have been using for warm-ups, planning sketches for final projects, and free-drawing.

Then they started their first self-portrait project of the year! They are showing the way they look with half of their self-portrait and are showing their interests on the other half!

Every artist at Henry Ford has read the story “The Dot” on the first day of art class and created their own dot artwork for our school dot display.

We created self-portrait dots by drawing ourselves with Sharpie, coloring with washable markers, and then spraying our dots with water.

Walking down our long hallway of colorful dots definitely brightens my day! It is also a good reminder that if you feel stuck, just make a mark and see where it takes you!