Meet The Woods Road Families!

Our second grade artists started their painting unit by  exploring how to make a variety of secondary hues,  tints, and shades by limiting their palate  to the primary colors plus black and white. Before  we were ready to start our family portraits, we looked for inspiration from two very different painters that were familiar with the subject.   We learned how American born painter  Mary Cassatt was one of the first women to be accepted into the mostly male dominated art world  in the late 19th century.  Additionally, we recognized  how her work often depicts mothers taking care of their children using an impressionist style of painting.   Next, as a sharp contrast to Cassatt,  we examined Columbian artist Fernando Botero and students  quickly identified how he  exaggerated color and shape in his work.

At last, students anxiously got back to their seats and started placing different family members on the page, paying careful attention to letting paint dry before small details such as facial features, outfits, and accessories could be added.  They finished off their portraits by including
visual clues to let viewers know if their families were posing inside or out.

The Childs Bath, 1983 Mary Cassatt

A Family I, Fernando Botero

 

STUDENT WORK

 

Pre K Finger Puppets

 

 

 

 

Our young art spent weeks becoming familiar with the routine of COLLAGE (arranging shapes into an interesting design or picture and gluing them down) and using different TEXTURES (how something feels).   We started by discussing how a PUPPET is a type of art that can be used to tell stories and play with! Once our young artists realize they were making a toy, they become even more intrigued!

Each student began with a small rectangle for the body with two holes for there fingers to act as legs.  Next, we discussed the simple geometric shapes that make up out body.  The last step was for students to start cutting and gluing different shapes, patterns, and textures to create their own finger puppet people.  This unit concluded with a discussion around the word DIAGOLOG (when to characters talk to each other/have a conversation).  We read the book My Friend is Sad by Mo Williams and brainstormed what our puppets would say to one another if they could have their own dialogue!

 

 

Student Work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gutai

 

After our kindergarteners  became familiar with using primary colors to paint bright secondary hues, we decided to change things up a bit!  We looked at the 1950s post-war Japanese art movement Gutai, a radical group of  artists who challenged the process of art making.  We examined artists who made their work by dipping remote controlled cars in ink, smashing glass bottles of paint on canvases, using their feet, and even riding bicycles with paint over large canvases spread out on the ground!

 

 

 

Kazup Shiraga, Work II, 1958, oil on paper.  from "Gutai: Splendid Playground." 

 

 

SHOZO SHIMAMOTO making a painting by hurling glass bottles of paint against a canvas at the “2nd Gutai Art Exhibition,”

 

     Gutai artist using remote control cars.

 

Inspired by this movement, our artists went back to their table with  forks, popsicle sticks, feathers, bottle caps, sponges, Q tips replacing their old paintbrushes.  Artists also explored ways to make different kinds of marks (wiping, smearing, flicking, stamping, dragging, etc.) with the same tools and shared what they discovered.  Once our paintings were dry, we layered oil pastel on top, noticing the different ways we could use our drawing tool.  Some artist's put it in their non-dominant hand others dragged it across the page. See below for the student examples.


 

Student Work

 

 

 

 

Feeling Faces

We first looked at artist David Hockney's self-portrait and discussed how we thought he felt at that very moment.   Next, we took turns passing around a frame and acting out whatever emotion they chose from a bag. In our discussion afterward, we identified specific visual cues for different feelings, such as when we are happy your eyes crinkle and your cheeks push up.  Additionally, when you are surprised, your eyes get bigger and your eyebrows create an arc.  When you are disgusted, your brow furrows and your nose wrinkles.

 

Finally, students went back to their tables and started to make self portraits of their own showing a specific emotion of their choice and acted them out in a mirror.   We learned that drawing from observation is only drawing WHAT YOU SEE and a SELF PORTRAIT is when artists create a picture of themselves.  The next day, we read When Sophie Gets Angry, Really Really Angry, and noticed how the artist used specific colors such as green and red when Sophie was angry, blues and light greens when she became calm, and purples and yellows when she was happy again.  The last step was coloring in their portrait and choosing a piece of construction paper to best express their feeling face! 

 

 

 

 

David Hockney

 

 

 

 

"Shy"

 

 

 

"Silly"

 

"Angry"

"Devastated"

 "Devastated"

 

"Excited"

 

"Exhausted"

 

"Silly"

"Angry"

 

"Excited"

 

"Excited"

 

"Silly"