WELCOME TO ART!

There is nothing more exciting to an artist than brand new crayons, sharpened pencils, and a palette filled with bright colors of paint. The art room (rm 205) is upstairs in the Early Childhood Education Center alongside the music room and World Languages. Our special subject hallway is a fun and cheerful place to visit during the Ranney School day.

Welcome to my art room blog!
This blog is our online conversation where you can see highlights of student artwork, videos featuring our young artists, and be updated with news from the art room all year long! You can follow my blog through the email link to the right. I will also send out messages whenever your young artist is honored and celebrated this way. For privacy in the online community, please know that I will not use last names to identify anyone's artwork, and as well, first names will never accompany a recognizable photo. For any questions regarding my use of photography and video in this blog, you are always welcome to stop by the art room or reach out to me at blevine@ranneyschool.org.

As we begin our creative journey this year, students will be given the chance to explore different materials and fun new techniques as they develop their signature style. 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.

Getting ready for the new year

All lower school students, Beginners through 5th grade, should bring in an artist portfolio. If you have one from last year, you are welcome to use it again. Place a new label on the front with the student name and new homeroom teacher. I prefer to have these thin cardboard portfolios for storage in my room, frequently found as a red cardboard portfolio with plastic or woven handles. 20" x 26" is the most popular size students bring in. Please do not invest in a very large or a thick leather case. It is only for storage in my room and I will not have the space to hold extra large cases. I look forward to filling these portfolios with wonderful artwork all year long!

5th grade art students should also bring in a sketchpad each week on art days. We will talk about the size and style of sketchpads during our first class. Otherwise, all materials you need for art, including artist's smocks, are already in my room. Come ready to have fun!

FIFTH GRADE . . . Creativity and me.

Painting by Grace
Inspired by the the artwork of Edgar Degas

Painting by Hamin
Inspired by the artwork of Keith Haring

Painting by Colette
Inspired by the artwork of Roy Lichtenstein

Painting by Ava
Inspired by the artwork of Vincent van Gogh

Painting by Josie
Inspired by the work of Pablo Picasso

Congratulations to all fifth grade artists! To celebrate the class of 2023 we have an art exhibit in Panther Hall gallery showing off our final art project. Our paintings were inspired by the art and style of our favorite artist and each canvas is accompanied by our thoughts on what creativity means to us.

"Creativity is to think above and beyond, 
to soar with the stars... 

to take something ordinary and make a beautiful masterpiece with it. "

- Grace 

"Creativity is daydreaming of your own world. "

- Brandon

"Creativity when I play basketball means making strategies. "

- Ankush 

"Creativity means you are free to express yourself while having fun. 

It is using your imagination and anything is possible! "

- Colette

"Creativity means that you can be free and be who you are. No one can judge you. 

You do what you want, not what someone else wants. You get to have your own imagination."

- Hamin 

"I get most creative when I have a piece of paper and a pencil. 

With them, you can draw whatever you want. I also find when reading something interesting, 

it makes me be creative in my head and I can picture what is happening."

- Lucia 

"Creativity means you can bend the rules and do whatever you want, and that's okay. 
...it means to accept all of the imperfections, 
the quirkiness and the curves."
-Emilia 

To see all of our paintings, click on this link (Artsonia) to get to the Ranney School exhibit page at artsonia.com.

THIRD GRADE . . . Painting a Still Life

Still Life by Desmond

Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) is a famous Post Impressionist artist from France. He often focused on the arrangements in a still life as his choice of subject matter. Cezanne studied the shapes and angles of his arrangements to create a dynamic composition.
    The composition of a still life is the most important thing to consider. Objects are often arranged on a table top in a way to create interest, to highlight color, and to keep our eyes moving across the scene. We began our still life paintings with a large oval bowl and filled it with fruit. To make the composition more interesting, we made sure that our shapes overlapped. When objects overlap, it is important to understand which one goes in front. We learned that the object or figure lowest on the page should be the one in the front.

Still Life by Elle

   Focusing on color application, we learned how to mix colors to create a sense of depth. The inside of our bowl is slightly darker than the outside to show where the light is hitting the arrangement. As well, each shape of fruit could be highlighted to show light and shadow.
   For even more interest, some of us added patterns or designs on the canvas to give us the impression of wallpaper or a table cloth.

Here are a few more still life paintings to enjoy! To see all of our paintings, click on this link (Artsonia) to get to the Ranney School exhibit page at artsonia.com.

Still Life by Ethan S.

Still Life by James

Still Life by Layla

Still Life by Ava J.

KINDERGARTEN . . . The Lion and the Mouse

Illustration by Elijah

In our Kindergarten art class, we shared a story as first told by Aesop over 2000 years ago in Greece. Aesop's Fables is a collection of stories featuring animals as the lead characters. Even though his messages are told by animals, Aesop teaches us important lessons about how people can better relate to each other. A well known fable by Aesop is "The Tortoise and the Hare." We were all very familiar with this story and many of us knew that it is about animals who run a race. The hare being such a fast animal is so confident in his ability to beat the tortoise that he stops and takes a nap. The tortoise walks right by the sleeping rabbit and wins the race. The moral of this story is "Slow and steady wins the race." We talked about how it is not always a good thing to rush in art class. The first person to finish their project is not always doing their best. Taking your time and being more careful with your work and with the supplies often means you create a better looking drawing or painting.

We then shared another fable, "The Lion and the Mouse." In this story, Aesop entertains us with the idea that a small mouse might be able to save a ferocious lion from the trap of hunters. To read this entire story and play a fun interactive game based on the characters in the tale, click on this link to The Library of Congress Aesop for Children website!

Here are more of our wonderful illustrations for Aesop's fable. To see all of our work, follow this link to our home page at artsonia.com ...    http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Illustration by Allie

Illustration by Ava

Illustration by As'ad

Illustration by Claire

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

LOWER SCHOOL ART EXHIBIT in Panther Hall Gallery

The illustration for our art show poster was painted by Claire F. in Mrs. Bass' 4th grade class

Here is a video of the artwork in our gallery. Congratulations to all of our Lower School artists!

FIFTH GRADE GRAPHICS . . . The Fun of Steam Education

Package Design by Maya B.

FULL STEAM AHEAD . . .
Package design combines the skill of engineering with the art of design. Once a product is created, the job of the package designer is to create a package that fits around the product. We have to use math skills and innovative thinking to create the shape of the box. Perhaps there should be a window in the front of the box so we can see what is inside. Then, of course, it has to look good. Why should we buy one brand over another? It usually comes down to an attractive package or a recognizable logo. The designer makes us take notice.

We began our package design project in the art room and used clay and cardboard to create a product we invented. Once these were complete, we used plain white paper to experiment with a box shape that would fit around the product. With our sample boxes and an idea for a name and a logo, we head down to the computer lab to work on our boxes.

The logo for our box was designed on Adobe Illustrator. Using the measurements for our box based on our experimental paper boxes, we drew the flattened out box on Illustrator and created a window for the front of the box. We decided on a background color, placed the logo on each side, added a tag line and any other information that might be needed for the box, such as a made-up website, or a UPC symbol!

Here is what our 5th grade graphic artists created:

ALDEN
"A box full of fun!"

Alden made a square cube with windows to look like dice.
It is called Dots of Dice!

He created clay cubes for the dice in the package.

Here is what Alden's box looks like drawn in Illustrator

Alden's Logo

GRACE
"Don't dip it, DUNK it!"

Grace's package looks like a glass of milk
with a basketball hoop backboard.
Her cookies are called Dunk-it!

Grace made her cookies out of clay and paint

Here is what Grace's box looks like on Illustrator

Grace's Logo

Christina
"It's so glazie, it's crazy!"

Christina created a box for her donut with a round window.
Her product name is Crazy Glazie Donuts

Christina's donut looks good enough to eat, but it is made of clay!

Here is what Christina's box looks like in Illustrator.

Christina's Logo

EMMA
"The glasses that make you sing!"

Emma made a box for eye glasses that have a built in iPod.
Her box has an Emoji for the face and the glasses are on the outside. It is called iglasses!

Here is what Emma's box looks like on Illustrator

Emma's Logo

AVA
"From caterpillar to butterfly, watch the magic before your eyes!"

Ava created a butterfly oven box for a caterpillar that
bakes and turns into a butterfly cookie!
This is called Cocoa Cocoons

Ava created her caterpillar out of balls of clay

Here is Ava's box drawn in Illustrator

Ava's Logo

CYNTHIA
"Find your own with a phone"

Cynthia made a box for a cat collar that connects to your phone.
It is called Track A Cat

Cynthia's cat collar is made of fabric, a metal clasp and clay

Here is what Cynthia's box looks like in Illustrator

Cynthia's Logo

MAYA
"The lava that's cool enough to eat!"

Maya created a bottle of hot sauce in the shape of a volcano
and her package fits her bottle perfectly! It is called Lava Sauce.

Maya made her hot sauce bottle out of clay and paint.

Here is what Maya's box looks like drawn in Adobe Illustrator.

Maya's Logo

FOURTH GRADE GRAPHICS . . . package designs!

We learned how to be package designers in graphic arts this year! This was a long process for our creative thinkers in graphic arts. It all started with an idea for a product we wanted to build. We had to come up with the name for our product, a logo design and a box design.

As described in the 5th grade post above, we started in the art room and built our product out of clay and cardboard. Once these were complete, we experimented with plain white paper to build a box that would fit around the product. With our sample boxes and an idea for a name and a logo, we met in the computer lab to finish our boxes.

The logo for our box was drawn on Adobe Illustrator. Then using the measurements for our box based on the paper sample boxes, we designed the flattened box on Illustrator and created a window for the front of the box. We decided on a color for the box, placed the logo on each side, added a tag line and any other information that might be needed for the box, such as a made-up website, or a UPC symbol!

Here is what 4th graders created:

NICO
"Time to Shine"

Nico created a watch and called it FENG

His watch is made of clay, paint
and corrugated paper.

Here is how Nico's box looked after it was drawn in Illustrator with his FENG logo

Nico's logo

DAKOTA 
"There's no skating around a deal this good!"

Dakota created a mini hockey stick set
called 8S.

Dakota created his hockey stick and puck
out of clay and paint.

This is how Dackota's box looked after drawing it in Adobe Illustrator with his 8S logo

Dakota's Logo

NOAH
"For every perfect bite"

Noah created a fork
that seasons your food as you eat it!
It is called Salty Spike.

Noah's fork has actual salt in a plastic tube.

Here is how Noah's box looks drawn in Illustrator with his Salty Spike logo.

This is Noah's logo design

LOGAN
"The ball that serves and returns"

Logan created a tennis ball that you hit and it comes back like a boomerang.
It is called BoomBall.

Logan's tennis balls are made out of clay and paint

Here is how Logan's box looks drawn in Illustrator with his BoomBall logo

This is Logan's logo design