ART OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM

Let’s keep the creativity flowing while we are away from school!!!


Even though we may not be meeting once a week in my art room, my Golden Hill PAX Eagles, I wanted to put together some ideas of how we can extend what we have already been learning in the art room into where you are right now.  I have also created a few ART CHALLENGES for you to work on with your adults at home and any brothers or sisters that might want to help!  You don’t have to stick to the activities for your grade, feel free to give any of the following ideas a try over the next few weeks we are away!


MATERIALS NEEDED?
I say use whatever you can find.  I know in my art room I encourage all of you to use pencil first but if you have pens, markers, crayons, scissors to cut up magazines or junk mail, any of that will work.  If you have access to sidewalk chalk you can use sidewalks outside. Find a stick and try some of these ideas by scratching into the dirt. Get outside and find objects from nature to create a work of art with.  If you don’t have extra paper for drawing, search your backpacks for sent home work that has a blank side and use that. White envelopes from junk mail will work. Be creative and think about how you can take magazine or newspaper or junk mail pages and create your drawings and artwork right on top of the writing that is already there.  Many of the greatest artists sketched their famous ideas on scrap pieces of paper!


Kindergarten


We have been busy learning about color with our three mouse friends from the story Mouse Paint by Ellen Walsh
Here is a link to a read aloud of the story on Youtube https://youtu.be/gWtzmp3mIbA


ACTIVITIES YOU CAN TRY to continue to explore color:


*Search around your space for anything that is RED, YELLOW, or BLUE.  Remember these are the PRIMARY COLORS.  Now search around for anything that is ORANGE, GREEN, or PURPLE/VIOLET.  Remember these are called the SECONDARY COLORS.  What two PRIMARY COLORS mixed together to make each of the SECONDARY COLORS? (Listen to the book again to help you REVIEW and to teach your adults at home.)


*Take one item that you found that was each of the PRIMARY AND SECONDARY COLORS and arrange them to make a color wheel.


*Using pencils or crayons draw your color wheel or even ask an adult to take a picture of the color wheel you created with your found objects!


*Sort your color objects into two groups: 
WARM COLORS: red, orange, and yellow
COOL COLORS: green, blue, and purple/violet
Now create a picture using just all WARM COLORS or using just all COOL COLORS.


FIRST GRADE


We have been learning about the artist CLAUDE MONET    and his style of painting called IMPRESSIONISM.  The impressionist style got a big thumbs down at first as people thought their paintings looked unfinished.  What people didn’t understand was that the Impressionist painters were taking their paints, paper, and canvases outside to paint in the natural light.  Ask your first graders about why the Impressionist needed to paint quickly( think about how the light changes throughout the day). Because they worked quickly, their work is less detailed and might seem unfinished.                                                             


ACTIVITIES for you to try:


*Have someone strike a pose for you.  Set a timer for one minute. Try and draw that person as quick as you can before the timer goes off.  If you don’t have a person to pose for you, choose an object from around your house. Set the timer for just a minute and see how quick you need to work to get it drawn.  How detailed are your drawings? What challenges do you discover when trying to work within just the minute?


*Take some paper, drawing materials, even chalk to draw on a sidewalk or driveway.  Grab an object or two or a person again to be your model. Head outside on a sunny day.  Place your object in the center of your paper and trace its shadow. Leave the object and return to the paper in 15 minutes, 3o minutes, 45 minutes.  Keep retracing where the shadow is on your paper but don’t move the object. If you are having a person strike a pose make sure they stand in the same spot and try tracing their shadow every 15 minutes or so.  What do you notice about the shadows? Are they staying in the same place? Why or Why not? Are the shadows the same size? Why or Why not?


*The Impressionist loved to be outside capturing how nature looked in a particular moment.  If you have an adult with a camera or other device that takes photos, step outside and take a photograph of nature in your area at different times of day.  Try taking a photo when you first wake up, lunch time, late afternoon and evening. What do you notice in the pictures you take? What similarities and differences can you find?


GRADE TWO


 Alexander Calder       and his three dimensional stabiles have been the focus of our discussions.  A STABILE is a sculpture that has NO moving parts.  As seen in the examples below.  


           
Calder also created MOBILES, three dimensional sculptures with MOVING parts (kinetic sculpture) see examples below


 


Even some of his sculptures were BOTH a mobile and a stabile!!


   


ACTIVITIES for you to try:


*Collect whatever materials you can from around your house: scrap paper, reuse cereal boxes or other food boxes, scissors, yarn, string, straws, paper clips.  With what materials you have, create your own STABILE OR MOBILE, OR an example that is BOTH! See some tips below


*Calder also designed toys.  Using game pieces from a game you already have.  Design a new game. What is the goal/objective? How many players?  What math skills can be used to move around your game board? Design a new game board for the pieces.  Try designing new pieces for a game you already have.
 

Grade THREE
The artwork of Georgia O’Keeffe   was due to be our next source of inspiration in grade three.  Before leaving, we had the opportunity to look at and discuss a couple of O’Keeffe’s paintings.  Georgia O’Keeffe was an American painter who wanted the viewer to stop and look closely at the world around them.  I shared the following quote by her:


 I'll paint what I see - what the flower is to me but I'll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it - I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers.”


   


As you look at the above paintings by O’Keeffe think about and discuss the following:


What do you notice about the:
Size? Color? How does Georgia O’Keeffe use the space in her painting? Does it look real? Why? Why not?
ACTIVITIES to try:
*Get outside and collect a couple of objects from nature (dried leaves from last fall, sticks, stones) or collect some things from around your home (sneaker, piece of fruit, your favorite toy).  Take one minute to just look at your object.  Turn it all around and look at it from all angles.  What do you notice as you look? Is your object shinny and have reflections from light? How does the object feel as you hold it?  Now try ZOOMING IN on it.  Find a piece of paper and something to draw with.  Try to make your drawing touch all four sides of your chosen piece of paper.  See my example below:
                   
*Borrow a device that takes photos from an adult.  Use your collected objects as inspiration for photos.  Zoom in on parts of your objects. Make a challenge out of it by trying to have others in your house try to guess what the zoomed in images are.  
*Try a game of I SPY outside on a walk or in a room in your house.  Use descriptive words to help give clues: How it might feel, smell, taste like, sound like. Be as detailed as possible without giving it away.
Grade Four
We have been focusing on PORTRAITS (paintings and drawings of people) and the artist Leonardo Da Vinci who painted The Mona Lisa               It’s me in Paris and that tiny painting in the background is the original Mona Lisa hanging under bullet proof glass on the wall of the Louvre art museum in Paris, France!


Students have also been comparing the Mona Lisa to paintings created by the contemporary (meaning he is alive and creating art now and not hundreds of years ago) portrait artist Kehinde Wiley.  Wiley is known for having painted former president Barack Obama’s portrait.
  Compare the two paintings below:
What similarities and differences do you see?  Which one is the more contemporary painting? Why?
Kehinde Wiley is inspired by painters who painted hundreds of years ago (his painting is on the left), where do you see examples of inspiration from much older painters (such as the Mona Lisa above or the painting on the right)?


 
  
ACTIVITIES for you to try:


*Create a self portrait using correct proportions.  See the examples of the handouts below to help remind you where eyes, nose, ears, and mouth should be drawn on your oval.  Take some time to look at your face in a mirror before you even begin. Look closely at the proportions of your face.




               
*Have someone sit for you so that you can draw their portrait.
*Take turns having someone model for you by striking a pose for a minute.  How quickly can you create a gesture drawing? See examples below.

ART CHALLENGES
COME ONE, COME ALL!!! TAKE ON ONE OR MORE OF THE CHALLENGES BELOW:


Art Vocabulary Find It Activity
Go around the house or outside (weather permitting) and try to find as many of the following items for each line. You have 1 minute to count as many things as you can find in that category. Have a family member time you.


Challenge Item
# of Items
Primary colored items (Red, Yellow, Blue)

Soft textured surfaces (blankets, stuffed toys, etc.)

Secondary colored items (Orange, Green, Purple)

Things with lines on them

Warm colored items (Red, Orange, Yellow)

2D Shapes (Square, Circle, Triangle, etc)

Smooth textured surfaces (tables, chairs, etc.) 

Things with patterns on them (dots, checkered, wallpaper, etc.)

Cool colored items (Green, Blue, Purple)

3D Forms (box/block, sphere/ball, cone, cylinder, etc)

Rough Texture surfaces (Tree bark, concrete, brick, etc.)

Neutral colored items (Black, White, Brown)



Create a DRAWING a day


Try creating a drawing a day.  Just start doodling, check out one of the links below, or try one of the drawing prompts, whatever will get you going.  Set a timer to challenge yourself not to get too hung up on the finer details. Those can be worked on another day if you choose to revisit and rework another day’s drawing.  


Drawing links to check out:


Author of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! LUNCH DOODLES with Mo Willems:  https://youtu.be/MjaYnyCJDdU
Every school day (Mon.-Fri) Mo Willems will be adding a guided drawing video to his YouTube account. 

Art For Kids Hub: Art for Kids Hub 




Drawing Prompts


• Draw a llama surfing.
• Draw a fish swimming in something other than water.
• Combine two animals to create a new one.
• Draw a shark eating a cupcake.
• Draw a crab at a birthday party.
• Draw a seahorse in a blizzard.
• Draw a horse throwing a horseshoe.
• Draw a shark waterskiing.
• Draw a squirrel roasting a marshmallow.
• Draw an octopus with spoons for legs.
• Draw a flamingo doing ballet.
• Draw a cat playing a sport.
• Draw a chicken skydiving.
• Draw a Pop Tart lifting weights.
• Draw French fries on a rollercoaster.
• Draw a food eating another food.
• Draw a cookie with googly eyes instead of chocolate chips.
• Draw an annoying orange.
• Draw a donut riding a skateboard.
• Draw a cheeseburger wearing a dress.
• Draw an apple talking to your art teacher.
• Draw a hot dog flying.
• Draw an ice cream cone eating a Popsicle.


Create a piece of art inspired by the artist Andrew Goldsworthy

             



       
Take your art making to the outdoors or try creating a temporary work of art indoors with your toys, cooking utensils, or whatever your adults at home will let you use!  The key to this art making is that you NOT destroy or change the materials you use. For example, if you use objects from nature you must not tear branches or leaves from trees. Use only what you find on the ground.  If you scratch up the ground, make sure to return it to the way it was when you began. If you borrow all the silverware from the kitchen, make sure you wash it and put it back when you are done!


When creating your work of art think about the following questions:


*How does it fit into the place you are creating it?
*Do all the pieces work together to make a final, complete, three dimensional sculpture?  If not, what might you leave out or change for something new?
*What will you title/name your work of art?
*How would the passage of time change your work of art if you left it there? Why?


***The most important thing is to return items to the places you found them when you are done.  This is meant to be only temporary.***  Take a photo of your completed work of art and email it to me at:



Happy Creating! Make sure to follow this blog so that you get emails when I update.  I would love to share some of your creations in my next blog post and to see and hear about what you are creating while we are apart.  Email me or leave a comment on my page!


Keep Making Your Mark!


Mrs. Smullin

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