(Posted 12/7/09)Tappan Hill Art Gallery
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Georgia O’Keeffe Sunflowers
American artist Georgia O’Keeffe was the inspiration for our next project in Ms. Gallo’s kindergarten art classes. We took a close look at some of O’Keeffe’s beautiful sunflower paintings. What made Georgia O’Keeffe’s work so unique was the way she depicted her flowers so up close and big. She once said, “No one notices a flower because it is so small and they haven’t the time. To see it takes time.” Kindergarteners took the time to look at a sunflower closely and study the center of the flower, the petals, stem, and leaves. Using pencil, students then drew their own sunflowers up close and BIG on their papers. After the drawing was done we used oil pastels to color the sunflowers. Students learned how to blend colors together by smudging the oil pastels with their fingers. Lastly, we sponge painted with blue and purple watercolors to create the sky. We were all so pleased with our masterpieces!
(Posted 12/7/09)
Ms. Gallo’s Kindergarten art students studied the element of shape for our next project. Just like the element of line, shape is an important foundation of drawing. We read a story together titled When a Line Bends…A Shape Begins by Rhonda Gowler Greene and discussed the different characteristics of each shape in the book: square, rectangle, triangle, circle, oval, diamond, octagon, star, crescent, and heart. Students were able to choose between using squares or circles for their shape project. It required lots of practice with their cutting and pasting skills in order to successfully complete the project. In addition, students learned about texture, which is defined as the way things feel. You use your hand to touch and to feel, but you can also use your eyes to see a texture. Artists will often times create the illusion of texture in their artwork. Kindergarten artists set out to create their own texture rubbings using crayons and textured surfaces. Students used these rubbings to cut out additional shapes for their project. Following directions carefully, students glued down their shapes in a pattern, alternating between the solid colored shapes and the textured shapes. In the end we learned that not all art has to look like something recognizable. It can simply be made of beautiful shapes, patterns, textures, and colors!
(Posted 12/3/09)
Line Paintings
Kindergarten students in Ms. Gallo’s art classes started off the school year learning about one of the seven elements of art called line. Knowing line variety is not only important in art. It can help young learners with their writing skills as well. To start off the lesson we watched a video of Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson on the classroom Smartboard. We discussed all the different lines we found in the video like curvy, zigzag, horizontal, vertical, diagonal, wavy, and curly. We even tried to act out with our bodies the different lines we found!! Then we got down to work. Kindergarten artists first created a grid on their papers by drawing each line with a different colored oil pastel. We then discovered that when the lines intersected, shapes were created. Kindergarten artists used watercolor paints to fill in each shape on their paper until there were none left! The results were a bright and colorful abstract work of art.
(Posted 12/1/09)