It's The Journey, Not The Destination

Art is an exploration. Sometimes the journey leads to new, beautiful lands. Sometimes those new lands are not exactly the places we wanted to end up in. Sometimes we get stuck in the airport, not able to even board that plane to start the journey. A studio based classroom is all about the journey, not the destination. Yes, sometimes that journey ends in a beautiful or satisfying art piece (because not all art is beautiful) but sometimes it doesn't meet either the child's expectation or an adult's preconceived notion of "art." In cultivating an artist's mindset, the focus is on developing creativity, problem solving skills, and the willingness to explore and push our own boundaries. Yes, there is technique instruction, art principles and history, but the bulk of the time is spent in self selected art activities. Here is a peak into some student projects this week:

Working with line and color for a collaborative project

Sketching before painting

Sketchbook work - drawing from models

Paint - exploring color

Paint - mixing tints

There are many in progress and completed pieces posted each week to our Instagram account, @thursdayart

Don't forget to clip those Box Tops! Help support the art program by turning in box tops to the Oak Room or any classroom by October 21!

The Drawing and Painting Studios are Open!

This week the painting studio opened, and although it was a big hit, I still had students at the drawing studio table, too. We have covered three elements of art so far this year - line, value and shape, and have also touched on color. It's exciting to see the students recognize these elements in their own pieces.

When we get back from break the students will be introduced to their project tracking sheets and some artistic challenges to incorporate into their work. I can't wait to see what they come up with!

Collaborative Art Project

Welcome to the 2017-18 school year! We began the year with a collaborative art project. We looked at one of the elements of art, line, and created giant feathers using different kinds of lines. The students then colored their feathers with warm or cool colors. We will be combining all of the feathers from all of the classes to make one giant owl that will be displayed in the Oak Room!

Many Irons in the Fire

These last few classes before winter break have been a mix of starting new projects while finishing old ones. Most of the students have completed their final print making/mixed media project, where they combined printmaking, drawing and collage.

The first - second grade class made some mixed media "What did you find in the snow?" paintings. First they made oil pastel drawings:

Then they added the snow with paint and Q-tips:

 Today all of the classes began the first phase of some holiday clay work:

And also began work on some collaborative art projects:

Next week is our final class before break. The students will be bringing some art pieces from this semester home on Thursday, although some might be labeled "Do not open until Christmas!"

Printmaking with Mixed Media

 This week we worked with foam printing plates again, but instead of using paint, the students colored them with water soluble oil pastels (you can find the brand on my Pinterest Favorite Art Supply board. The link is on the right)

 After painting the plate with water, the students printed the background.

 They used oil passes or colored pencils to create a foreground, and next week they will be using collage to add characters to their foreground.

 The younger students explored painting with the oil pastels. First they created a city scene using Sharpie markers.

 Next they colored it in with oil pastels.

Finally, they used water to activate the oil pastels and give the picture a painted look.

You can find more examples of work from this week on our Instagram feed, @thursdayart. You can also find some student drawings inspired by this sketchbook prompt:

Printmaking

Thank you to all of the parents that placed orders! We should receive them by the end of November.

We are back to our print making unit, and the students carved foam printing plates.

 After carving the image with a pencil, they cut off the remaining background.

 We used black tempera paint to ink them, then the students practiced on scratch paper before printing on their watercolor background papers.

By the time we got to the final printing phase, I was running around so much I forgot to take pictures of their cityscapes! The lovely results will be up next week!