May 28th-June 1st

Sixth grade art students are creating abstract paintings inspired by the works of Wassily Kadinsky (1866-1944). During the first step of this project, the students were given very little direction about what they should paint. They were told not to paint anything recognizable. They could not include any symbols, words, numbers, or anything else that could be considered representational. I wanted them to experiment with their brushstrokes and use of color. The next phase of this project will begin on Tuesday. The students will enhance their paintings with marker, pen, crayon, or pencil as they wish. Once again, their embellishments cannot show anything representational. Finally, they will measure out a grid on the back of their paintings and then cut them into one inch, even squares. These squares will then be reassembled and mounted on another piece of colored paper. I have included a student sample from another school to help you visualize the finished product! I can't wait to see what they create.

May 21st-May 25th

Gunter Gerzso, Paisaie Espejismo

Non-Objective Abstract Art

All 6th grade comic strips or comic book covers will be due at the end of class on Monday. These have been quite fun to create and the characters have been very memorable. I laughed out loud at some of the 'gags' that the students thought up to make their comic strips funny. Very creative, indeed. This week, we will begin a brand new non-objective painting/collage project. It will be a very busy week in the art room!

May 14th-May 18th

Cartooning Unit

Sixth grade students will continue working on the cartooning unit until the end of the week. Each student has a choice to either create a comic strip with their own unique characters or design a comic book cover in the style of Marvel or DC comics. They will continue to work on their rough drafts, then move on to their final copies with marker, watercolor paint, or colored pencils.

May 7th-May 11th

Up next...the Cartooning Unit!

The sixth grade students will create their own cartoon character and incorporate it into a comic strip or comic book cover. We will kick off the unit by exploring famous comic strip characters throughout history. We will learn how to create movement, emotions, and gestures in our characters. They will also learn how to include a funny "gag." According to Helen D. Hume, "a cartoonist exaggerates reality and tells the truth with a twist. Yet cartoons are close enough to real-life events that we can relate to the artist's version of the truth. Because of their attention-getting simplicity, cartoons have many applications." I am looking forward to the student "applications" in the Lakeview art room!

April 30th-May 4th

Line Designs

This week, the sixth graders will be painting their pinch pots with acrylic paints. They will be using a self-selected color scheme to add a base coat and design details. Once the painting is completed, they will move on to their texture etching project. Each student has created five unique line designs on a 5" x 5" square of paper. These line designs will be transferred onto copper or aluminum squares to create a beautiful texture design.