KINDERGARTEN . . . Crazy tall hats!

'The Cat in the Hat' by Michael

Crazy Hat Day?
The Cat in the Hat knows a lot about that!

Last week, Ranney Kindergarten artists celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday and Crazy Hat Day! In art, we drew a picture of a very familiar friend . . . a cat in a tall, striped hat! "The Cat in the Hat" is one of 44 books illustrated and written by Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991), better known to all of us as the beloved Dr. Seuss. This project was all about looking for the details of a drawing to make our rendition recognizable. The curves in the cat's face, the eyebrows showing surprise and the bow tie at the base of the neck are all as important to the famous illustration as the tall striped hat.

Here are more examples of our illustrations. To see all of our cats, follow this link to our home page at artsonia.com...   http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

'The Cat in the Hat by Lila

'The Cat in the Hat' by Mariella

'The Cat in the Hat' by Aastha

'The Cat in the Hat' by Valentina

'The Cat in the Hat' by Zaid

PRE-KINDERGARTEN . . . Bunnies!

Bunny by Henry

Art in Pre-Kindergarten is all about experimenting with the materials and becoming more comfortable with the tools. Our bunny project gave us many different opportunities to discover how much fun art can be! We practiced our drawing skills as we drew very big bunnies on big paper. We outlined our bunnies in black and then colored them any way we wanted. The background landscapes were done on separate paper and painted. We drew a ground line to separate the sky from the ground. Again, we were able to choose any colors of paint to fill in our ground and sky.

Here are a few more examples of our big bunnies popping up in our landscapes. To see all of our bunny scenes, follow this link to the Ranney home page of Artsonia.com.
http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Bunny by Amelie

Bunny by Angela

Bunny by Arjun

Bunny by David

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 . . . The art of Georgia O'Keeffe

Flower by Savanna

If you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for a moment." - Georgia O'Keeffe

Fourth graders paused in their busy schedules at school to admire the beautiful work of Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986), an American artist, best known for her studies of nature. She often zoomed in on her subjects, getting us all to slow down and notice the beauty she captured in the world around her. She did not paint an entire field of flowers, but instead focused on the shapes and colors of just one blossom.

As well as inspiring us to admire the details in a single flower, a seashell, or even an animal skull, Georgia O'Keeffe was also a master of color and blending. To follow her example, we each chose a photograph of something from nature and drew the image very large on our canvases. Then, we selected our color palette, considering carefully how to create the best blends.

To make two colors blend together, we referred to the color wheel. Colors that are close to each other on the wheel will make the most natural blends. Adding white will create a tint of the color and adding darker hues will create a shade of the color. Any of these color choices would work well. To blend the colors directly on the canvas, we worked in one area at a time, letting our paintbrushes do the blending. For a flower with many petals, that meant applying wet colors and blending them together before they dry, one petal at a time.

These fourth grade nature paintings are sure to be the highlight of our upcoming art show next month and I am just as proud for them to grace the screen of my art blog. Bravo to all my artists! Here are more examples of what we will be showing off in the gallery. To see everyone's paintings, follow this link to our home page on artsonia.com. http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Flower by Ryan

Landscape by Hamid

Animal Skull by Olivia

Seashell by Zuri

FIFTH GRADE . . . Illusions!

Courtney's illusion of a cupcake is beautifully drawn. Can you find the first letter "C"?

Maurits Cornelis Escher, best known to us as M.C. Escher, was a Dutch graphic artist. His woodcut, called "Sky and Water," from 1938, is typical of Escher's work. It plays around with the positive and negative spaces in the print, tricking us to focus on just the birds in the sky and not realizing that the white spaces between the birds actually create the fish in the water. In mathematical terms, his artwork is often called a tessellation, a repetition of tiles that fit together like a puzzle.

Fifth graders worked on original illusions with one image that transforms into another image. This project was difficult for us to do and definitely called on our creative thinking skills. It is hard enough to solve a problem, even harder to come up with our own puzzle for everyone else to solve!

Here are a few more examples of our illusions. To see all of our work, check out our exhibit page on Artsonia.com.  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Rithvik's illusion focuses on an adorable drawing of a boy. Do you see the word boy as well?

Ruby created a real tessellation just like M.C. Escher.
The negative space between the orange birds forms the head of another bird perfectly!

Krishna's illusion is a play on the word ruler. Do you see the two meanings of the word?

Lynna's illusion takes us on a visual journey with her letters. What country is this?

Cole's delicious illusion is right in the crust design of his pie!

Gabriel's initials are GG. His illusion was tricky to do but represents him well!

Elle's illusion is perfect for an artist. What drawing tool would you use to write the word pencil?

Abriella stumps us with a puzzle. She wrote the word fruit, but what kind of fruit is this?