Art at GLE!

 The Art at GLE

It's that time of year when the hallways of our school are starting get filled with displays of all the various art and writing projects that are going on. Mrs. Thompson's art projects always attract our eyes as we walk through the school. We're going to try and feature new art as it gets put up through the year. All of the grade levels started off the school year by studying still life art. Here are a few examples of each grade's project and a brief explanation of the art process behind each project. 




Kindergarten Color Wheel Flowers

K classes learned about primary colors and how they can be combined to make secondary colors. Food coloring was added to clear cups so that students could clearly see the effects of mixing colors. Whole sheets of paper were then painted and left to dry before being cut into petals for flowers. The students then learned the definition of a still life and arranged their painted flowers in vases on the table to complete their art pieces.

1^st Grade Van Gogh Sunflowers

Students began by studying artist Vincent Van Gogh's Sunflowers painting, a very famous still life. The first graders used this as inspiration to create their own sunflower still lifes. Their pieces included torn paper flowers, with real sunflower seed centers, placed in painted vases on a table. The flowers were made even more vibrant by being placed on bright green paper.

2^nd Grade Still Life of Flower with Vase

Second graders used a variety of mediums to complete their still lifes. The flower petals and vases were cut out of paper that had been colored with paint and watercolor crayons. The centers of the flowers were coffee filters that were colored with markers and then sprayed with water, causing the colors to bleed and blend together. The final arrangement was made on a solid colored background.

3^rd Grade Chinese Vase Painting

  Third graders began by studying Blue Willow pottery. This served as the inspiration for their still lifes. They paid particular attention to the borders of dishes, noting the scenery and patterns. They took what they learned and applied it to the pattern on their painted vases. They practiced brush strokes when painting the flowers in blue, yellow, and white.

4^th Grade Van Gogh Oil Pastel Sunflowers

For their still life, the fourth graders did an oil pastel take-off of Van Gogh's Sunflowers. They talked a little bit about Van Gogh and his artwork before beginning. They drew single sunflowers on a single color backgrounds of their choice. When they made the sunflowers, they learned to blend the colors of the oil pastels. To top it off, they used line design to make their backgrounds as well as their borders.

5^th Grade Matisse Still Life

To do this painting, the fifth grade first learned about Henri Matisse and how his paintings were characterized by black lines, bright colors, and many patterns. They incorporated all three of these elements into their still life paintings. They used all three elements of design to make these vibrant paintings.