2/3s Try Their Hands at Charcoal

The leaves have fallen off the trees exposing all the lovely lines of the bare branches. This seemed like a perfect time to try to capture the feeling of the colder weather by drawing a moon behind the branches without their leaves in black, gray and white. The charcoal was applied with a light and heavier touch and smudged with a kleenex to get varied grays. Erasers were used to bring back some of the lighter tones that might have gotten a bit overworked.

The moon being added

A dark tree trunk taking shape

K/1s Observe and Draw Fall Mums

Two large pots of orange and yellow mums gave the K/1 students a chance to observe and figure out how to draw different shapes and textures. They began with the fluted terra cotta plastic flower pot, cut that from colored paper, glued it down and filled the rest of the paper with their rendition of the leaves and flowers.

Drawing the terra cotta pot

Cutting out the pot shape

6/7s Draw After Observing the Hudson River

Students trooped to the banks of the Hudson to participate in Hudson River Snapshot Day, despite the cold and rainy weather. Observational drawing, one component of the data gathering, happened back at school right after we returned where it was dry and warm, but recollections were still fresh. The students discussed what they had noticed; colors, shapes, tree and rock formations.  Working from this recent memory they then drew pictures. 

Recollections from the river

Parker students and Spanish visitors drawing

Empty Bowls...Clay for All

After reflecting on the good fortune of our community members to have enough to eat each day, and how they can help others who may be less food secure, the kindergarten through eighth grade students are beginning to work on clay bowls for our Parker Empty Bowls Event.  An introduction to or review of clay properties and various techniques happens in all the art classes. The younger students knead their clay to get out the air, roll out even slabs with a rolling pin, and cut out a flower shape using a stencil that they created. The slab is eased into a paper bowl and decorated with incising and/or scoring and slipping on additional decorations. Older students review techniques, create a bowl using either pinch, coil, or slab construction or a combination of those. Once dried and fired the bowls are glazed and refired in time for our December Empty Bowls event where families will come to admire and "purchase" the bowls as a way of raising money for a local organization that helps to feed the hungry. All the students created a work of art while reaching out to help others.

Kneading the clay

Rolling a slab

Cutting a base

Assembling slabs

Coil construction

Figuring out what's next

Joining a side to the base

Just getting going

A Parker grad came back to help with the bowl production!

Glazing begins in 2/3

Sharing colors

Middle schooler glazing a mug

                                            Some of the finished bowls

Some 2/3 Bowls on Display

Checking out all the bowls at the Empty Bowls

Event

K/1 and 2/3 Observe, Draw and Collage Sunflowers

Vases of beautiful, bright sunflowers provided inspiration for some observational drawing in art class. Looking carefully at the shapes and colors of the flowers and in some cases the stems in water in the vases, the students filled their papers with large sunflowers, colored them with oil pastels and painted backgrounds with tempera paint. The resulting discovery of oil resisting water added to their enthusiasm. When done with these pictures the students looked at the very tall sunflowers growing outside the Pre-K 4 classroom. They worked with green and yellow paper to make their own tall versions that will be part of a group collage greeting all who enter the front lobby.

Observing and drawing

Adding paint over oil pastels

Careful coloring of the dark center

Petals cut and glued

Overlapping petals around the dark center

Gluing flower petals

A finished picture

More finished pictures

One group of sunflowers

A large wooly bear

Beginning a monarch caterpillar

Painting with liquid watercolors

Careful application with a very small brush

K/1 and 2/3 Lines, Shapes and Colors

The new school year began with the younger students listening to Leo Lionni's Matthew's Dream and talking about lines, shapes and colors in abstract art. They drew long, lazy lines across their papers and noticed the shapes that emerged as their lines crossed each other. The different shapes were then colored in to create abstract drawings reminiscent of Matthew's paintings in the Lionni story.

Long, lazy lines

Some thoughtful areas of color

Contemplating the overall design taking shape

Concentrating on color application

4th - 8th Grade Students Begin Locker Names

Each year the older students begin art class creating art work to differentiate their hall lockers. This year they are working on name pictures that appear different when viewed from different angles. By combining their distinctly written name with a picture that tells something of their interests, anyone walking in the hall will learn a bit about each student. Two separate pictures are created, cut into 1 inch strips, reassembled and glued on a backing paper in alternating strips. The backing paper is then accordion folded so each picture is visible from opposite angles.

First pass at sketching ideas

Working an a name in Chinese characters

Bold lettering

Eye-catching color

Making sure the name is legible

And here is the sequence of putting it altogether!