Fourth Grade Clay Looms

    In Fourth Grade we discussed a type of art called functional art.  Students had the ability to learn about looms and different styles of weaving that artists use around the world.  We looked at different types of weaving like carpets, tapestries and clothing items.

  Once we discussed the process that goes into weaving, the students had the opportunity to create their own loom for weaving.  We used clay and rolled a slab, then cut out an organic shape both outside and inside.  Students then used various tools to poke holes through the clay for the yarn, then texture and decorations. 

  We used oil pastels and tempera paint to color in our looms, so we didn't accidentally glaze holes closed.  Students had a wonderful time coloring in their looms.  Students picked out the yarn colors to use and then began their weaving.

    Here are some of the results:

Third Grade Van Gogh Corn

In Third grade we are looking at Van Gogh's painting style and how it shows movement with his short brush strokes working together to fill his canvas.  We also discussed the drawing technique Contour Drawing.  We learned when Artists make contour drawings, they are focusing on three things- Shapes found in the object they are drawing, the outline of the object and any details that can be seen on the object.

We practiced Van Gogh's painting technique, using two lines for guide lines and then placing our short brush strokes around them.  These are some examples of the practices:

Our final artwork combines our contour drawing where we looked at some Fall Harvest Corn and then filled the background with our painting technique.

Third Grade Monet Lily Pads

In third grade, our first project of the year was discussing the artist Monet and his famous Lily Pad painting.  We talked about how Monet uses his colors to express the light that he would have seen while painting En Plein Air or Outdoors.  We drew lily pads on our paper in the foreground, middle ground and background to help us show distance and space.

We also talked about the lines that could be utilized to show movement in the water- ripples, currents... Oil pastels were used before adding paint so they would stand out, using the resist technique of painting.

The students used oil pastels to blend and color their lily pads and then used paint to add their water.  Some chose to create creatures in their water-fish, frogs, etc... They had a lot of fun creating their paintings!  So many came up with creative solutions for their artwork.