5th Grade: Portraits!

In 5th Grade, students have continued their studies into art of the Renaissance. The Renaissance began in Italy but quickly spread to other areas of Europe. This became known as the Northern Renaissance. Thus far, students have studied the works of Northern Renaissance artists such as Jan Van Eyck and Albrecht Durer. In looking closer at the incredible realism that these artists spent their lives achieving in their artwork, students have become inspired to learn how to draw portraits. Last week we focused on learning how to draw facial features. This week students have now learned how to use the proper proportions to combine these facial features into a portrait. Although, they may not see it, I have seen an incredible improvement in a very short time. You should be proud!

4th Grade: Islamic Tiles

To start off our unit on Islamic Art students learned how to use line, shape, and symmetry to create beautiful Islamic tile designs. Students practiced radial symmetry by repeating a simple design made in one corner of their paper with oil pastels three times around the center. Here are some examples of excellent student work:

Drawing Birds!

I had a little extra time between projects this quarter to warm up the students with some drawing practice. Third, Fourth, and Fifth grade students each had the opportunity to learn how to draw birds. We practiced drawing basic shapes by locking our wrists and moving our entire arm to create nice clean and smooth lines. Students were reminded that each complex drawing starts out with very simple shapes and lines and then gradually becomes more detailed and coherent. 

Take a look at some of the amazing work these little artists did.