Third Grade Takes a Closer Look

Our third grade artists started out this unit with a discussion around Modern Art and why this radical change in art making took place in the late 1800’s.  We learned that one of the biggest reasons for this shift, was the development of the camera.  If a camera could do the job of an artist, artists could focus more on expressing how they felt or exploring a particular technique.  Students examined the work of  Modern Artist  Georgia O’Keeffe and described her artwork as ABSTRACT, since she exaggerates color and often ZOOMS IN to a particular object. 

Georgia O'Keeffe

Georgia O’Keeffe, Red Canna, 1924 

To get started on our own abstract art, we brought in an object from nature and drew it realistically, making sure to include the entire shape and all of its details.  Next, we created a VIEW FINDER and found our favorite part that had the most interesting composition.  Then, we re-drew what we saw in the view finder on a new piece of paper.  Before we could start painting, we had  a discussion on VALUE and defined it as how light or dark a color can be.  We created our own value charts for homework, with a colored pencil by applying different amounts of pressure and worked on value charts in class, by using a color plus black or white  to prepare  for our monochromatic (color+ white or black) paintings.

Taping viewfinder to realistic drawing of object from nature.

Creating abstract drawing from composition in viewfinder.

Practicing making a monochromatic painting.

 

Painting abstract drawing with a color plus white or black

Lastly,  we learned the properties of complimentary colors and even discovered how many brands use them on their logos or our favorite sports teams uniform.  After we painted our zoomed in object monochromatically, any negative space was filled in with our complimentary color, and finished off with oil pastel to blend our values and add more contrast.

Student Artwork