GRAPHIC ARTS . . . In "Love" with word sculptures!

In 1964, American artist, Robert Indiana, designed this Love design for the Museum of Modern Art as their Christmas card. The iconic image shows the four letters of the work LOVE stacked together with the letter "O" at a tilt. This same design became an image for a US postage stamp and then as a sculpture in 1970. His sculpted word designs are now on display all over the world. Fascinated with letters and numbers, Robert Indiana is a self-proclaimed "American painter of signs."

As graphic artists, we often look at letters and numbers as an important feature of any design. Each lower school graphic artist selected a four letter word, such as LOVE, that they identified with. Using Adobe Illustrator, we learned how to work with shapes, colors and text to create a colorful design with our words.

Just as Indiana transformed his flat design into sculpted art, we then used the tools in Adobe Illustrator to play around with 3-Dimensional images of our flat designs. In this digital transformation, we learned how to make objects move forward and back in their orientation, so that each part of our 3D design looks like it is supported by the forms underneath. Here are a few wonderful examples of our work...

"COOL"
Designed by Christopher

"FIFI"
Designed by Fiona

"FINN"
Designed by Alexa

KINDERGARTEN . . . The creativity of play

In kindergarten art class, we are learning that art can tell a story. Young artists are eager to express themselves through art and tell you a story about what they created. While many of our projects have structured limits and directions, part of every art period also allows time for independent drawing or building. Not all of what we do is about the finished project. If you listen closely while the young artists are "playacting" with their creative materials, you can hear their imaginations come alive through a narrative that almost always accompanies their work. It is the job of a young student to discover the intricacies of a creative world and how they fit into that world. We might all copy a picture of Dr. Seuss' "Cat in the Hat," but each one will look very different on paper as the personalities of the students shine through.

To best see how well my art students can express their creative stories to the world, I have put together a video of Ranney Kindergarteners at play. My only directive to the students was to build a world with blocks, either in groups or individually. As they were creating sculptures and not drawings, it was also important to notice how the piece looked from all sides.

Enjoy our glimpse into narrative art in the Lower School art room...


 

THIRD GRADE... Tropical forests with monkeys

Our latest third grade project was a mixed-media project using waxy crayons, watercolor paint that resists the wax of the crayon areas, and markers for definition. We created jungle scenes in the style of Henri Rousseau (1844-1910).

Although Rousseau never left Paris during his lifetime, and never actually saw a real jungle, he was best known for his paintings of jungles and tropical forests. Inspired by the plants in the botanical gardens and animals in the Paris zoo, he created many imaginary painted jungles. "Tropical Forest with Monkeys" is perhaps one of his most famous paintings. Even though he was a self taught artist, he gained the praise of artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse and his paintings can be seen in museums all over the world. This painting now hangs in Washington DC at the National Gallery of Art.

Our third graders learned how to draw monkeys and created a composition on the page with tall trees and many different shapes and colors of leaves to give us the illusion of a forest. Here are some examples of our work. To see all of our tropical forests, click on this link for Artsonia.com.

http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Artwork by Lily

Artwork by Claire

Artwork by Matthew

Artwork by Maggie

Artwork by Sophia

Artwork by Mason 

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 . . . The Miro Project

This is our first grade Miro project! This month, we worked on different activities to experience the whimsical style of Joan Miro. On the Smart Board, we discussed the work of this artist. In this first video, you can see what we thought of his paintings and sculptures...




Joan Miro's observations of the world as we saw in the video were quite whimsical and creative. Miro's art teacher tried to get him to observe objects in a more realistic way and as an exercise, he asked him to draw objects that he could only see by feeling with his fingers. We tried this in class. Students put their hands inside a paper bag and drew what they felt with their other hand. Once all objects were drawn, we looked inside and compared the objects we felt with the ones we drew. They were remarkably realistic! Our fingers will often notice small textures and a rounded edge that our eyes might not detect. Finally, we put all the shapes together, creating a drawing of a Miro-inspired person. Here is a video showing this surprisingly fun activity...

For the final part of our Miro project, first graders created a sculpture of a person using assorted materials, such as paper, wood, pipe cleaners, straws and feathers. Our only rule in our interpretation of a 3-D person was that it should tell a story about the person we sculpted. It could be an artist, a musician, or perhaps a veterinarian. The sculpture can let us know about who the person is by what it might be wearing or holding in its hand. Here are a few examples of our completed sculptures.

You can see all of our work by following this link to the first grade exhibition on artsonia.   http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Sculpture by Ava

Sulpture by Drew

Sculpture by Jayden

Sculpture by Eli

KINDERGARTEN . . . What is a sculpture?

We learned about 3-D art in Kindergarten this week! What is the difference between a sculpture of a person and a flat painting of a person? We talked about how a sculpture can be made of many different materials, such as clay, wood, plaster, cardboard and metal. We also saw how a sculpture can be seen from all around. You can take a walk around the sculpture and see the sides, the back, the top and the front. You can even see the bottom if it is displayed on a clear base! What happens if you turn a flat portrait around? You just see the back of the paper or canvas. You do not see the back of the person!

We started with white modeling clay. To dye the clay a color, we first learned a technique of applying a water based marker on the clay and then kneading the clay until the marker has turned the clay into whatever color we selected. Kneading clay takes time and a lot of muscle power!

To make our sculptures, we rolled part of our clay into a ball. That was the easiest step for everyone and so much fun! Then we rolled a smaller ball for the head and even tinier balls for the feet. Using the extra clay we had left over, we created ears, a tail, a horn, stripes or spots. Friends in class were also eager to share their different colors of clay to make very creative looking animals.

Here are some examples of our Kindergarten sculptures! To see all of our animals, click on this link for artsonia.com.
http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Cat by Vanessa

Unicorn by Lexi M.

Spider by Nathan

Bear by Brooks

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 . . . Ranney School Landscapes

Our latest drawing project was inspired by the work of Norman Rockwell, a beloved artist and illustrator who created scenes of everyday life in America during the mid 1900's. His drawings and paintings are remarkably realistic and show details that never fail to amaze his viewers. Best known for his illustrated covers of a popular magazine, "The Saturday Evening Post," Rockwell captured American culture at its best, through images of children, life in a small town, and current events. If anyone has a chance to travel to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, please stop off and visit the Norman Rockwell museum. It is the most wonderful place to visit in the Berkshire mountains!

Our project was based on Norman Rockwell's painting, "Stockbridge, Main Street at Christmas". Here, he captured the town he lived and worked in, creating a full street scene with festive details of the season and realistic architectural images.

To create our Ranney School street scenes, we studied the architectural details of the buildings in our school campus. Most of our buildings can be created with a long rectangle and a triangular roof over the front entrance. Some have a sloped roof, such as the Commons, and others might have large white columns, such as the GPA. Focusing on these differences makes our buildings very recognizable. To complete our scenes, we used colored pencils, and just like in Norman Rockwell's scene, some students added snowmen and bare trees to represent the season.

Here are some of our landscapes. To see them in detail, click on the image to enlarge the view. For all of our Ranney School street scenes, click on this link for artsonia.com.

Artwork by Eva

http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Artwork by Catilyn

Artwork by Marcella

Artwork by Alexander H.

Artwork by Peter

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 . . . Sharing our sparkling scales

Kindergarten students just completed an underwater scene with watercolor and tempera paints, 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 an oval 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 a small, detail brush, we added shimmering colors of tempera paint for each detail in the scene. Finally, when all the paintings 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 Kindergarten exhibit.  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Artwork by Joy

Artwork by Alexa

Artwork by Benjamin

Artwork by Tyler

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 . . . A month of celebrations!

Fifth graders worked on a few fun sketches for the month of January, including a bright and colorful design in celebration of the New Year. We saw 2015 decorated with streamers, bright colors, symbols of a party, and clever illusions where the artist turned the numbers into pictures of other things.

Sketch by Kayla

Sketch by Alexa

Sketch by Cynthia

We also shared amazing drawings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as we honored him with a postage stamp design. Not everyone drew a portrait of Dr. King, some drew symbols or messages of equality. Which drawing do you think would make a good stamp design?

Sketch by Anthony

Sketch by Sophia Z.

Sketch by Reese

Sketch by Sophia A.

Sketch by Christopher

Celebrating Mrs. Levine's favorite artist, we tried our hands at drawing just like Vincent van Gogh. Did you know that van Gogh sketched just the way he painted? He drew with short repetitive strokes, showing direction and movement on the page. Here are some of my students' interpretations of his work. Beautiful drawings!

Sketch by Lily

Sketch by Ross

Sketch by Melanie

Please add your comments below. Our 5th grade artists would love to hear from you!