FIFTH GRADE . . . Our holiday traditions

Fifth graders shared their favorite holiday traditions with their sketchpad drawings! The ornament could represent a religious tradition they share with their family or it could represent a seasonal tradition such as something they do during the winter. We have a rich and diverse class of students in 5th grade and we learned so much about all of our friends through this drawing assignment.

Here are a few wonderful ornaments and symbols of the season for you to enjoy.

Happy Holidays everyone!!

Artwork by Elena

Artwork by Haeun

Artwork by Emerson

Artwork by Megan

Artwork by Trent

Artwork by Jessica

FIFTH GRADE . . . Winter personalities!

Fifth Graders celebrated the beginning of a snowy month by drawing a snowman in their sketchpads. The challenge was to give the snowman their personality. This meant animating the snowman, showing it doing something that the artist likes to do.

If you were a snowman, wouldn't you like to sing, play soccer or play the drums? Here are a few of our snowy friends in 5th grade who enjoy doing just that! To see all of our snowmen drawings, check out this link to our sketchpad assignments for December in Artsonia.com.   http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Artwork by Jillian

Artwork by Jake 

Artwork by Jordan

Artwork by Ava P. 

Artwork by Priscilla

Artwork by Gianni

Note to families...
This art blog will be updated regularly with new posts sharing our daily activities in the art room and news about upcoming art exhibits. To respect the privacy of our students, names will always be limited to first name only and identifiable photos will never be accompanied with a name. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to write in the comment box below or send me an email at blevine@ranneyschool.org. I would love to hear from you!
    In my class, students are given the chance to explore different materials and fun new techniques as they develop their signature style. Some young artists love to draw with a pencil, some like to paint on canvas or create images in a digital format, while others prefer working with clay and molding three-dimensional forms. In my classroom, we use a variety of materials allowing all artists to experiment and figure out which type of art they like the best. At Ranney School, we place a strong emphasis on originality and celebrate artistic differences, always nurturing and encouraging the imagination of every student.
     Remember to check out our display of finished artwork and student portfolios in the Ranney home page of Artsonia.com.  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

FOURTH GRADE . . . Drawing upside down

Why would an artist want to draw upside down? I don't suggest that an artist should stand on his or her head . . . but to draw an image that is turned around. It is a challenge for art students to learn how to observe the world as an artist does and see all the fine details of an image correctly. Drawing this way can trick your eyes into observing more of the fine details of the picture.

For example, when you look at a picture of a horse the regular way, your mind invariably takes over as you are drawing and you tend to draw what you remember how a horse looks, and not focus on the details in the picture in front of you. The image of the horse in your mind probably has an four thin legs as all horses do. But are you really seeing those legs as they appear in the picture, with all the angles and the lines?

Now look at this upside down picture of a horse. By turning the image around, we do not automatically see a horse, but a random design of angles and curved lines. It is much easier to notice how to draw the legs this way. Even the negative space in between the legs is easier to see and that can help us identify the shape of each leg.


Our drawings in class were created by looking at upside down photographs of wild animals in their natural habitat. This was a hard project for all of us but I am very proud of how accurate they turned out. Even the design in the colorful feathers and fur was a challenge to observe! Once we completed our drawings with pencil, we used blends of colored pencils to complete the scenes. To see all of our wildlife studies, click on this link to the Ranney home page on Artsonia.   http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Artwork by Lily 

Artwork by Cristian

Artwork by Devin

Artwork by Zachary

Note to families...
This art blog will be updated regularly with new posts sharing our daily activities in the art room and news about upcoming art exhibits. To respect the privacy of our students, names will always be limited to first name only and identifiable photos will never be accompanied with a name. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to write in the comment box below or send me an email at blevine@ranneyschool.org. I would love to hear from you!
    In my class, students are given the chance to explore different materials and fun new techniques as they develop their signature style. Some young artists love to draw with a pencil, some like to paint on canvas or create images in a digital format, while others prefer working with clay and molding three-dimensional forms. In my classroom, we use a variety of materials allowing all artists to experiment and figure out which type of art they like the best. At Ranney School, we place a strong emphasis on originality and celebrate artistic differences, always nurturing and encouraging the imagination of every student.
     Remember to check out our display of finished artwork and student portfolios in the Ranney home page of Artsonia.com.  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

FIRST GRADE . . . Landscape patterns

First graders finished their weavings using colorful yarn on a loom and learned all about making patterns with color. Following this lesson, we talked about landscapes and discovered ways to add patterns to our painted landscapes too.

A landscape is a type of artwork that shows an outdoor scene. Besides the land, the scene could include trees, flowers, mountains, a body of water, the sky, the sun, clouds, and anything else that could be seen outside. A landscape can also have animals, houses and even people. As long as the scene is about the land and not about one person in the scene, it would be considered a landscape.

Landscape by David Hockney

David Hockney at work

David Hockney is a working artist from England. We looked at some of his landscapes in our class and saw how he enjoyed working with color and patterns to fill his scenes. Inspired by the work of this famous artist, we took large white drawing paper and drew our own landscapes, using separate areas for the ground, the trees and the sky, and then added patterns to each of these areas. Here we are adding bright colors of paint to our scenes...

Posted with Blogsy