FIRST GRADE . . . How many patterns did we use?

Ranney students love their weaving project! Taking a break from drawing and painting, we used yarn to learn about what makes a pattern in art. We began by recycling cardboard that was used as a tray for water bottles and made handcrafted looms for our weaving project. Each loom has 6 strings attached to the cardboard and we used an over and under pattern to weave colorful yarn through these loom threads.

Cardboard loom

Weaving on the loom

First graders learned how to measure the correct length of yarn for their loom and cut their own pieces of yarn out of 16 different colors! We practiced the over and under pattern of weaving using our fingers first. That was a little tricky for some of us! Then we wove the colorful strands of yarn over and under the loom threads, following one basic pattern for weaving and creating yet another pattern by alternating colors of yarn.

The wonderful bark that each weaving is displayed on are twigs and sticks that the students found outside and brought in for their project. Here are a few examples of our finished weaving. Please check out our page on Artsonia.com for all of our first grade projects!   http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Weaving by Ian

Weaving by Eva

Weaving by Gavin

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

SECOND GRADE . . . Talking about Ranney School

One of our favorite projects in Second Grade has always been our landscapes of Ranney School. Each student has their own idea of how to represent the campus of our school. Some of the drawings are as realistic as the illustrations of Norman Rockwell, the artist who inspired us with this project, and others are more creative and unique in style and color. For everyone who loves Ranney School, these will all bring a smile to your face.

With this video taken today in art class, we can now also enjoy the voices of our second graders as they describe what they like about their school and their drawings. Enjoy!!! (Make sure your sound is on!)

 

FIRST GRADE . . . Art Appreciation

First Graders are being introduced to art history this year as we learn about famous artists and other cultures around the world. So far, we learned about the realistic portraits of Leonardo da Vinci in 16th century Italy, and then we moved forward in time and had fun creating colorful landscapes based on the work of David Hockney, a present day artist who lives in England.

Our next stop in our journey around the world is Joan Miro, (1893-1983), an artist from Barcelona, Spain. He is best known for his bright and colorful paintings. Enjoy this slide show of our First Grade classes today as we discovered what kind of an artist Joan Miro was and how he was inspired by the whimsical shapes and movement of the circus. Make sure your sound is on!

THIRD GRADE . . . Abstract Art

   ab·stract art

       noun

1. 1.

   art that does not attempt to represent external, recognizable reality but seeks to achieve its effect using shapes, forms, colors, and textures.
2. 
   

Leonardo da Vinci

Piet Mondrian

Third graders had a lesson about art history in order to better understand abstract art. We took a journey through the 19th and 20th centuries and saw how there have been dramatic changes in art. For hundreds of years, realistic paintings such as the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci were what people considered "Art". Before the use of a camera, it was an artist's job to make a rendition of any scene or person as realistic and recognizable as possible. An important way to record history was through depictions of portraits, landscapes, paintings of battle scenes, and illustrations from the bible.

During the 19th century, artists began to express their feelings in their artwork and they started to break away from the rigid rules of the masters in Europe. Artists who experimented with impressionism or cubism had a difficult time becoming accepted in a traditional art world, but it was their ideas that eventually changed the way we view art. Pure abstract art, such as the painting shown above by Piet Mondrian, is not supposed to represent an object or a person. It is meant to stand on its own as a wonderful composition. Learning to appreciate abstract art means understanding and appreciating the art of the design.

Third graders created their own abstract designs with a cut paper collage. We balanced colors, textures and random shapes together to create a pleasing design. My only rule was that it should not be based on a portrait or a scene, but just a random arrangement of paper. Here are two very different abstracts by Cynthia and Ryan. Both vary in color and composition, and are equally successful. As well as creating the collage and deciding which way to hold the picture, selecting just the right color frame was another important design decision they had to make. To see all of our abstract collages, follow this link to our 3rd grade exhibit on artsonia.com.
http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Artwork by Cynthia

Artwork by Ryan

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 . . . 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

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...

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