First Grade Picasso Portraits

In first grade we are just finishing discussing Pablo Picasso and how he created his artwork using cubism.  We viewed as a group a lot of Picasso's paintings and discussed how he used shapes within each image to help create the subject.

We also reviewed the warm and cool colors, which all of my groups this year ROCKED! All the hard work and focus in Kindergarten is really paying off with their recall.

We took the idea of Picasso's paintings and how they utilized cubism to create our own portraits.  Within each portrait, students were asked to divide the space into shapes as well as the background.  We used crayons to color in and a felt tip marker for outlining when we finished coloring.  Here are some of our final products:

                                                        

First Grade Sculpture Fish

   In first grade we just finished learning about sculpture and what it is.  We looked at a power point that showed students a variety of sculpture that allowed them to start building an understanding of what sculpture can be. 

   We then had an activity that students did where they applied their learning, they were grouped by tables and were given images of artwork that was both sculpture and not sculpture.  The students were challenged to look through the images and organize the images into what was and was not sculpture.  They had a lot of fun with this activity and it allowed them to talk about their learning.

   We then created our own sculpture out of paper, a fish.  The students created their own fish and then rolled paper strips and glued them onto a base to create water.

   Here are some of our products:

First Grade Abstract Kandinsky Painting

   In First Grade, we finished discussing the Artwork of Kandinsky.  We learned that he loved to put shapes in his Artwork and felt that Art did not have to show one specific thing, it could be Abstract. We discussed what Abstract means in Artworks as well as how colors can be used to show emotion within the Art. 

 After looking at some of Kandinsky's works, we began creating our own Abstract Art inspired by his paintings.  First Graders selected one shape or a variety of shapes and then outlined them with Oil Pastels.  We then learned about Watercolor and how it is different than other paints, it needs to be light in appearance and needs to be made wet to work with.  The Oil Pastel resists the paint and allows the different colors to show through. 

Here are some of our Abstract paintings:

First Grade Fall Printmaking

  In First Grade we discussed the warm colors and their relation to fall.  We painted our background papers with acrylic paint, the students were allowed to create any type of design for their paper that they wanted. 

   We then learned about the printmaking process that Artists go through to create their printed artwork.  Students really enjoyed learning about the multiple steps it takes for a print to be created.  We also discussed the parts of a leaf and how they can all look different, but still have the same parts. 

   Students created their own leaf drawing, then transferred the image onto a foam plate.  This plate was used for their printing project onto their warm colored background.  Students also created movement lines in the background using white crayon and tempera paint dots.  The students did so well with this project!

First Grade Weaving House

In First Grade, our first project had us looking at the art of weaving.  We talked about the patterns of motions that happen when any type of weaving is created.  We used colored construction paper to create our weaving artwork. 

After we finished our weaving, the First Graders discussed what the outside of many different types of homes look like.  The weaving was glued onto a paper and a roof was drawn to create the house.  Then, students drew their selected home details on another sheet of paper and glued them onto their artwork when finished.  When complete, the students were asked to Title their artworks.  It was fun to see the creative names they came up with for their artwork!

First Grade Cave Art

     One of the last projects we did in first grade for the 2013-14 year was look at Cave Art.  We talked about how the cave people were using their world around them to communicate with one another through pictures.  The first graders loved looking at some cave videos from around the world, showing the elaborate cave drawings deep inside.

      We also read the book The First Drawing, where a young cave boy creates the very first drawing.  Using inspiration from the cave animals we saw in the videos and images, the students created their own rock wall drawing.  After completing their animal depiction, we created symbols often found in the caves behind our animals.  The students were then instructed to crumple up their paper, carefully, to give their artwork the feel and appearance of a rock wall.  Most of the kiddos had a difficult time doing this because they were worried about ruining their artwork, some really liked being able to do it and ended up ripping their paper because they went too fast.  In the end, the results from everyone were great!

First Grade Keith Haring Figures

In first grade, we just finished looking at the artwork of Keith Haring.  We talked about two key ideas for his works, Figures and Movement.  We discussed that figures within art are bodies or other objects.  In Keith's work, his figures lack details and look a lot like cartoons.  The movement within Keith's art is depicted through the black lines around the arms, legs, or heads of the figures.  We discussed the many different types of movement there could be, tying in a great discussion and brainstorm of verbs.

We first sketched eight figures with various movement being shown through the movement lines.  Upon completion of their brainstorming, the students selected four of their favorite figures to use on their final paper.  The students drew their four figures as well as the movement lines, traced them with sharpie to help them pop, and then colored them in with crayon.  I gave the students the option to add a background to their figures, some of them got really creative with their backgrounds and some chose to just stick with creative figures.

First Grade Hundertwasser Paintings

First graders finished their project in which they learned about the German artist and architect Hundertwasser.  We also discussed the warm and cool colors along with Hundertwasser's work.  The students used circles, spirals and squiggly lines within their paintings because Hundertwasser did not enjoy working with straight lines.

The students created two paintings, one warm colored painting and one cool colored.  They then selected one to be their background and one for their flowers.  The flower paper was cut out and glued onto their background to create their Hundertwasser inspired painting.

First Grade Mondrian Monsters

First graders looked at the artwork of Mondrian and his use of shapes and primary colors.  I saw this project on another teacher's blog and I was so excited to use it with my first grade kiddos!  We discussed the way Mondrian used lines in his artwork and his use of colors within his shapes.

For our monsters, we looked at the many details of a face and then discussed how we could make them into monster facial details (they had a lot of fun making their monsters!).  Upon completion of their monsters, they were instructed to place Mondrian-inspired lines within the body of their creatures.  Paint was added and the monsters were complete!  We then discussed background and environment, brainstorming the many different worlds our monsters might live within.