GRAPHIC ARTS . . . In the bag!

Illustrated bag by Gabrielle M., 5th grade Graphic Arts

Graphic art students created an illusion for a shopping bag, designing both the front of their bag and the handle. They had a choice for their image, to use a photograph, an illustration, or a completely different material. In the example above, Gabrielle sketched an illustration of a girl on a swing. As a graphic artist, Gabrielle put a good deal of thought into her design and her artwork, adding subtle colors to enhance her drawing. She also used real rope for the handle, extending it down to the swing and making it look like the knots at the base are actually holding up the seat!

Below are more examples of our bags.

SECOND GRADE . . . A Ranney School scene

Drawing by Mia G.

Second graders created landscapes of Ranney School. Can you recognize some of the buildings in Mia's illustration? Using creative choices for her colors, she drew the Commons, the Little White House (the art building) and the Clock Tower! Children are playing in the scene and it is a bright, sunny day.

Inspired by the artwork of Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), we saw how the amazing details of Rockwell's scenes help capture our interest and tell us a story about life in 20th century America. The image below is a street scene of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the town where he lived. Norman Rockwell not only included the buildings on Main Street in Stockbridge, but he filled his painting with people and cars passing by to give us a feeling of life in the town. We can also tell it takes place during December by the Christmas decorations on the buildings, the bare trees outside, and the snow on the ground.

To create our landscapes, we looked carefully at the architectural details of the buildings on our campus. For the most part, the buildings all start off as a rectangle and many of them have a triangular roof just over the front door. Adding special details, such as the windows, the columns, a flag, a winter tree, a sign, and kids playing outside, help to tell our story of Ranney School. Here are some more wonderful examples of our landscapes! To see all of our work, follow this link to our exhibit page on artsonia.com.   http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Drawing by Tyler

Drawing by Brooke

Drawing by Claire

Drawing by Jonathan

Drawing by Sydney

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

KINDERGARTEN . . . Crazy Hat Day!

Drawing by Andrew

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

To celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2 and 'Crazy Hat Day', Kindergarten artists drew a picture of a very familiar friend of theirs . . . 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.

In our drawings, we drew the famous cat wearing his tall hat and juggling objects as he balances on a ball. Here are more examples of our illustration. 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

Drawing by Annika

Drawing by Asha

Drawing by Reilly

Drawing by Harley

ART CLUB . . . Paper Mache animals!

Side view of dog by Savanna S., 3rd grade

Front view of dog by Savanna S., 3rd grade

Our after school art club this session worked with materials to make 3 dimensional art! Beginning with photos of an animal each student selected on the computer with views from the front, the sides and the back, we created our animal forms with bundles of newspaper and masking tape.

After we were happy with the head, body, legs, ears and any other special detail of the animal, we covered them with plaster strips.

This was a messy but fun step! Small plaster strips were dunked in containers of warm water and wrapped around the animals. We worked in pairs for part of this step to make it easier to hold the animals still while wrapping them.

After the plaster dried, we had fun painting the animals. The bright paints really give our sculptures a bold and colorful personality!

Here are more pictures of our finished animal sculptures! To see them all and different views of each one, follow this link to our home page of artsonia.com   http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Sculpture by Alexa H., 2nd grade

Sculpture by Ava A., 3rd grade

Sculpture by Lyla G., 2nd grade

Sculpture by Caitlyn C., 4th grade

Sculpture by Lukas V., 3rd grade

Sculpture by Ryan H., 3rd grade

Sculpture by Rory H., 2nd grade

THE KINDERGARTEN ARTIST WHO PAINTED A BLUE POLAR BEAR

Congratulations to our Kindergarten artists! Our latest audiobook was published by iTunes to the iBookstore. "The Kindergarten Artist Who Painted a Blue Polar Bear" is available for you to download into your iBooks app on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac computer. Each page features a painting based on the style of Eric Carle's illustration, along with a short story written and read aloud by our student artists.

Here is how the book is listed in iTunes...
Enjoy the creativity of our young artists at Ranney School!!

Description

This audiobook was created by the Kindergarten artists at Ranney School, Tinton Falls, NJ. The illustrations were inspired by the book, “The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse,” by Eric Carle. The stories and audio are all presented by the student artists.

View in iTunes

• Free
• Available on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac.
• Category: Education
• Published: Mar 01, 2017
• Publisher: Ranney School
• Seller: Barbara Levine
• Print Length: 33 Pages
• Language: English
• Requirements: This book was designed for an iOS device and some features may not work as intended with a mouse or trackpad. To view this book, you must have an iOS device with iBooks 3 or later and iOS 5.0 or later.

BEGINNERS . . . Penguins in the snow!

Penguin by Arjun

It might be a mild winter in New Jersey, but our penguins are enjoying a snowy day. Beginners practiced many art skills with this project. They used scissors to cut out their black penguin bodies and penguin feet. The snow in the background was made with their fingerprints and white paint. The furry penguin fur was made by gluing down soft, white cotton balls. To top it all off, they practiced writing their names in the sky!

Here are a few more adorable penguins to enjoy. Follow this link to our home page of artsonia to see all of our Beginner projects.   http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Penguin by David

Penguin by Emerson

Penguin by GiGi

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

PRE-KINDERGARTEN . . . Sharing a sparkling sticker!

Rainbow Fish by Marlena

Pre-Kindergarten students just completed an underwater scene with watercolor paints and markers, based on the illustrations in the book, "The Rainbow Fish," by Marcus Pfister. In this story, we read about a beautiful fish who learned the way to true happiness only after sharing his special scales with the other fish in the sea. What activities do you do at home that is more fun when you share them with your friends? Doesn't it feel good when you make someone you care about feel special too?

Here is a video of the story we read together in class to share with your family...

To create our paintings, we first learned how to draw a fish using basic shapes, such as a circle and a triangle. We also learned how to add scales inside the fish and how to complete a full underwater scene with an ocean bottom, plants, starfish, crabs and bubbles in the water.

Next, we created the ocean with a large brush, lots of water and blue watercolor paint. With markers, we colored each detail in the scene. Finally, when all the scenes were complete, we shared a sparkling sticker with every fish and friend in class!

Here are some examples of our underwater scenes. To see all of our work, click on this link for artsonia. com and scroll down to the Pre-K exhibit.  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Rainbow Fish by Odin

Rainbow Fish by Kaitlyn

Rainbow Fish by Sal

Rainbow Fish by Sharnagat

Rainbow Fish by David