FIRST GRADE . . . Our views of a landscape

First Graders worked on completing their colorful landscape paintings this week. Inspired by the vivid artwork of David Hockney's large painted scenes, we first created a drawing of a landscape with rolling hills and tall trees that stretch from the bottom of the page all the way up to the top. Each area of land was then defined by a specific pattern, a technique that David Hockney often used. We drew stripes, circles, and wavy lines to create our patterns. A very bright color palette of paint was used to complete our scenes.

Check out my earlier post on this blog for images of our students working on this project: http://lowerschoolartroom.blogspot.com/2013/12/first-grade-landscape-patterns.html

To see all of our finished projects, follow this link to our first grade art exhibits on Artsonia.com.  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Artwork by Anthony

Artwork by Marley

Artwork by Ella

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

FIFTH GRADE . . . Welcoming in the New Year!

Fifth graders returned to art class after their exciting winter break full of stories about how they welcomed in 2014 with their friends and family. Our drawings of the New Year are as different as our traditions are at home. By listening to our friends' artist statements in class, we learned so much more about what they drew and why they made the creative choices that they did.

Many students created a colorful and very graphic looking design with the numbers. Anna not only created colorful numbers, but her entire page is a bright pattern of color! Maria filled her numbers with a scene of Times Square as the ball drops. It is such an busy and exciting time and she captured that moment in her drawing perfectly. Chloe's pencil sketch is of a scene in a painting she has at home and she turned the images of that scene into the numbers 2014. How amazing is that idea? Tatiana created a lovely design with color and explained how she made the airbrush effect of the background with a new art tool that she used at home. I am always so thrilled to hear about new and creative ways of working with color! Gianni received a scarf as a present over the break and his sketch is a copy of the scarf design. I love how he incorporated the year as a signature on the scarf. Haeun added a sketch of horse into her design since this will be the year of the horse as well as the year 2014. With such amazing and creative ideas coming from our fifth grade artists, I am sure we can all look forward to a wonderful year ahead.

HAPPY 2014 EVERYONE!

Enjoy our artwork and please add your thoughts and comments below!

Artwork by Chloe

Artwork by Anna

Artwork by Maria

Artwork by Haeun

Artwork by Tatiana

Artwork by Gianni