Week of November 9

This week we were learning about shading and I introduced the children to Monet's Haystack Series of paintings. We looked at this one which is titled "End of Summer". 

Monet's haystacks and cathedrals from Warren Criswell on Vimeo.

This video will give the children a chance to see more of Monet's Haystack painting. The second half is looking at his cathedrals. 

We talked a bit about Monet this week and I told the kids about a book and a movie called Linnea in Monet's Garden. I am pretty sure you can get both from the library.

Week of October 22

This week we will be look at FORM in art. Form shows the object's roundness or depth. Form does not appear to be flat. Form is made by drawing inside the shape which is the outside edge around an object.  Watch this short 1 1/2 minute movie to get an idea of what FORM looks like in art.

Week of October 15th

This week we will be repeating last weeks art project. Unfortunately we didn't have enough paint brushes to go around and I had to borrow a few from the church preschool. Needless to say, the quality of these paintbrushes was very poor so this led to some frustration.

I also feel that the kids learned a lot last week about tints and shades and would like to give them the opportunity to do the project with the knowledge they gained doing the project last week. I suggested this in class and they were all excited about it. They are going to paint their "Indian" names this week.

Assignment: Last week I told the kids that I was going to have a short drawing activity at the beginning of each class lasting about 10 minutes that will teach them actual drawing techniques to make 3D objects. They will need to bring 15 sheets of white computer paper to class this week to make an art doodle journal for this portion of class. If you have a piece of colored card-stock, please send one sheet of this as well. We will assemble the booklets in class.

Supplies:

• 15 sheets of white computer paper
• 1 sheet of colored card-stock

Week of October 8th

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Things have been going very well in Art Class. This last week we covered Value. The kids made a value scale and drew pictures using different values.

Be sure to get a look at their art prints. We are adding new ones often and I will be quizzing them each week to see if they remember the names and artists.

Also, next week we will be taking a step away from drawing and doing some painting! I know the kids are excited about that. Please send a couple of good quality paint brushes with your kids this week. If you only have one to send, please make sure it is a thinner brush, something like this:

Please do not send a paintbrush like this:

These type of paintbrushes do not produce good results and the kids will just be disappointed in their projects. If you have any problems, let me know! 

Week 3 - 10/1/2012

This past week we reviewed line, shape and texture. We drew line art by first drawing a turtle and adding many different lines inside the shell to make many different patterns. If you would like to, you can challenge your child and home to try this project again using a different animal and adding color. Here is an example of an Indian elephant art project:

Here are some projects from when I taught this class last year in my home:

Week 1 - 9/14/12

This short video shows the elements of art. Show it each week as a review.

Art Class Elements Schedule

Week 1 - Shape
Week 2 - Line and Shape
Week 3 - Texture
Week 4 - Value
Week 5 - Form
Week 6 - Form using Value
Week 7 - Local Value
Week 8 - Contrast
Week 9 - The Shapes of Natural Forms
Week 10 - Edges

(Looks like this movie is no longer available, sorry!)

This week we looked at the art of George Caitlin. We added this print to the art portfolios. Here is a bit of history behind it.

George Caitlin, The White Cloud, Head Chief of the Iowas (1844/1845)

Mew-hu-she-kaw, known both as White Cloud and No Heart-of-Fear, was one of several tribal chiefs of the Iowa people in the mid-nineteenth century. His father, also named White Cloud, had been a tribal chief before him. By the time this portrait of the younger White Cloud was painted in 1844/1845, the Iowa population had dwindled from fourteen hundred to about 470 people. Treaties, some signed by the senior White Cloud, and laws passed to promote America’s westward expansion had forced the Iowa people from their traditional territories on the plains of eastern Iowa to a small reservation in southeast Nebraska. Missionaries tried to convert the Iowas to Christianity and teach them farming, contrary to the tribe’s traditional beliefs and customs. Deprived of their hunting lands and related livelihood, the Iowas became increasingly impoverished.

At this time of great crisis, White Cloud decided to raise money for the tribe by taking a small group of his people to London around 1844-1845. There the American artist George Catlin had opened an exhibition of his large collection of paintings and artifacts representing American Indians. A decade earlier, Catlin had traveled across the American West, recording images of American Indian life and customs. In Iowa territory, he visited with White Cloud’s father. Knowing Catlin’s sympathy for American Indian life and ways, the younger White Cloud hoped that he could raise money by performing within Catlin’s exhibition. White Cloud and thirteen other Iowas wore their native costumes and performed tribal dances at Catlin’s gallery and met with British dignitaries while touring London.

This portrait reflects White Cloud’s stature within the Iowa tribe and his brave nature. He wears a white wolf skin over the shoulders of his deerskin shirt, strands of beads and carved conch shell tubes in his multipierced ears, and a headdress of deer’s tail (dyed vermillion red) and eagle’s quills above a fur (possibly otter) turban. His face is painted red and marked with green handprints. The Iowas’ traditional dress for men included such adornments. The bear-claw necklace White Cloud wears may testify to his skill as a hunter; it was reserved for those who earned success as hunters or warriors. Look closely at White Cloud’s expression. Perhaps his resolute gaze is the most direct clue to his bravery. For he crossed the Atlantic to save his tribal culture even after Iowa land and livelihood had been deeply eroded by the politics of expansionism.

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This weeks project we focused on the element "Line" and did this project.

To get the full project directions, go to Line Art

I would encourage you to have your children try the project at home again this week. I would love to have them share it with the class next week.