Oil Pastel Autumn Leaves! 1st Grade!!

To celebrate our first cold front of the season, our first graders got to explore the medium of oil pastels! They are so bright and vibrant and so much fun! We discussed the colors associated with autumn leaves and the different shapes leaves can come in. The students then traced each leaf shape and filled it in with beautiful fall colors. Then, they painted the backgrounds with blue and purple watercolor paints! We've been talking about indigo and how to mix it, so it was perfect!!!

Just check out the awesome finished products!

Color Mixing Pumpkins! 1st Grade!!!

Our 1st graders have been learning about color mixing! This week, we used our color mixing knowledge to paint some lovely pumpkins!! After drawing the pumpkins, the leaves, and the vines, the students mixed the colors for their paintings right on their paper! Here are the awesome results:

I just love how these turned out! Great Job!

Grumpy Cat Animal Portraits! 4th and 5th Grade!

Hello again! For the past couple of weeks, our 4th and 5th graders have been learning about animal portraiture! For our project, the students drew a portrait of Grumpy Cat. Now, if you dont know who Grumpy Cat is, this is what he looks like:

He is has become an internet sensation! And as you can see, he just naturally looks grumpy! So, we started off with pencil sketches and used a black oil pastel to add some definition and shadows, like this:

Then, the students were given red and orange paint for the background. They were able to use the paint however they wanted, in whatever design they chose. These are the awesome results!

Great Job, 4th and 5th Grade!!!

Primary Gumball Machines! First Grade!

In First grade, we had so much fun making mixed media gumball machines! We used our prior knowledge of lines and shapes to create the different pieces of the machine. Then, we glued all of the parts down to our background paper, and last, but not least, we got to use our fingers as a paintbrush to paint the gumballs!!!! The students mixed the primary colors together if they wanted orange, green, and purple gumballs for their machine! These turned out absolutely fabulous!

Here's Ms. Carney's!

and here are some great student examples!

Great work, First grade!!!

Mouse Paint Color Mixing with Kindergarten!

This year, I decided to jump right into color mixing! My eager kindergartners were super excited to be painting for the first time in Art class! To start out this exciting lesson, we read the super fun book, Mouse Paint by Ellen Stohl Walsh! After learning about color mixing, we set to work drawing and painting our own mice. Together, we used just red, yellow, and blue to create orange, green, and purple!

Here is my example:

 And here are some wonderful student examples!

Russian Matryoshka Dolls - 2nd Grade!

For the past couple of weeks, our 2nd graders have been creating mixed media paintings of Russian Matryoshka dolls! These are the fun dolls, usually made of wood, that have smaller versions of each one inside one another. I actually collect Matryoshka dolls myself, so this project was extra fun and special!

First, the students drew out their dolls and designed them with a bunch of beautiful patterns. Then, they created a background for the dolls with watercolor paints. Check out some of the wonderful projects below!

Mixed Media Handprint Peacocks - 2nd Grade!

Our fabulous 2nd graders just finished up their wonderful peacock paintings! They started with they're handprint and then added in details after they dried! Check these out, they look absolutely wonderful!

Picasso Hearts - 1st Grade!

Since Valentine's is right around the corner, what a great time to learn about Picasso and symmetry! This is our second Picasso Project this year in 1st grade! The students first painted a lovely design on pink or red paper and then learned how to cut a giant heart out of their paper while it was folded in half! Then they got to add even more decorations to make it really special! Check out the great hearts below:

This is our lovely hallway display right outside the art room!