Third Grade Op-Art

During this last week in the Art room, before we switch back over to computers, students are using the remaining days working on some fun and interesting art techniques.  In third grade, we have looked at Optical Illusions and what different variations there are.  We focused on ways in which artists can use a simple pattern of lines and colors to give the illusion of distance.

After looking at examples from various artists and talking about similarities and differences that each piece had, we began creating our own.  Here are some examples of our Optical Illusion artworks using lines and colors:

Perspective Shapes

  In Third grade, we discussed perspective and how artists can use perspective in their work.  We looked at some artworks that used different types of perspective and how it helped to show distance, we even explored a bit of optical illusion artworks using perspective.  Students then were able to practice drawing in their sketchbooks using perspective and shapes.

  For our final artwork, students created a collage of papers they cut out and placed to create one point perspective.  They had a lot of fun with this style of artwork.

Here are a few of our works:

Third Grade Coil Pots

   In Third Grade we are finishing up our pottery project, focusing on coils.  We talked about the artwork of the Pueblo Native Americans and also discussed the different functions pottery takes within their daily lives.  We looked at the geometric designs painted on the surfaces of the vessels and also we watched a video showing potter Maria Martinez at work in her house, the students really enjoyed watching Maria working and learning more about her style.  Here is the video link that I show students during class, it is a two part documentary on Maria.

  After the video, we discussed how we will be creating our coil pots.  There are many important steps to take in order for the pots to be successful.  We  discussed the process of scratching and slipping our clay together, this is where you take two pieces of clay and scratch them like Velcro and add water to help it stick together.

  After they were fired in the kiln, the students learned about the glazing process and the steps needed to glaze their pottery.  Students picked out one color for their pots and applied it in three layers. 

 Here are our wonderful 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.

Third Grade Georgia O'Keeffe Flowers

One of the last projects of the year for third grade was inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe.  We read a book about her life and journey as an artist and we discussed how she used her surroundings to create her art.  We talked about how her some of her art is abstracted, larger than real life or slightly altered.  We then began creating our very own flowers.  First, students created a stencil to use for their flower's petals.  The stencil could be whatever shape they wanted, just as long as it was fairly large.  Then, students were instructed to overlap the stencil and trace it around an already pre-cut flower center stencil.  This created their basic flower outline. 

     Once the flower was on paper, students filled the interior with multiple colors of watercolor.  We referenced Georgia's works and how she really looked and identified/amplified the colors within her subjects.  The students then selected a color to fill the background space that was showing.  The petals were outlined with oil pastel to help them stand out.  Third grade really enjoyed working on this project, the freedom they had with the shapes and the design really allowed them to take ownership of their creativity.

Third Grade Texture Prints

In Third Grade we finished working with different textures and the process of printmaking.  We discussed the different appearances of textures within a variety of artworks as well as textures around the school and in every day objects.  We also discussed Complementary Colors within this project and what they are.

Students were given the opportunity to select a texture piece (bubble wrap or saran wrap) to used as a stamp with paint which would create their background.  The students selected a complementary color pair to use with their texture stamp.

After we painted our backgrounds, students were introduced to the printing process.  We created an animal contour drawing on a foam plate, this acted as our printing plate.  Then, in groups, students printed their animal drawing onto their texture background.  Some students had a little difficulty getting a successful print without a proper printing press, but they were good sports about the situation and were proud of their works regardless. The students had a lot of fun getting to explore the world of printmaking.

Third Grade Coil Pots

Third graders spent some time looking at the artworks of the Pueblo Indians in Southwestern United States.  We focused on the artist Maria Martinez and watched a video about her pottery technique and design, it was really informative and the students loved watching it.  We then learned about the hand building technique of Coiling to create our pots.  The students loved working with the clay and the challenge of building up the walls to match their different base shape selections. 

After we built them, they worked on Glazing their pots with different colors and designs.  All of the glazes we use are food safe, so they can place snacks inside if they desire.  

Third Grade Van Gogh

Third Graders just finished up discussing Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night. They had a lot of fun getting to work with paints and exploring the painterly marks an artist makes on their canvas. We discussed movement that can be seen in Van Gogh's art as well as the many colors that he utilized. Below are two pictures of the final product as well as some in-process artworks. The students painted their backgrounds using only the primary colors. We did not wash out our brushes between colors, this allowed the colors to mix together and marble. After the background dried, we used black paper and colored it with Oil Pastels for our buildings. Foiled paper was an option to give the artwork some Emphasis if the artist chose to use it. I will definitely be doing this lesson again in the future!