Gothic Gargoyles

Christopher's Gargoyle

Sarah's Gargoyle

Brian's Gargoyle

Charlie's Gargoyle

Marlon's Gargoyle

Diogo's Gargoyle

Gio's Gargoyle

Anthony's Gargoyle

Jadelyn's Gargoyle

The 4th and 5th graders are practicing shading and drawing from their imaginations.  They learned about Gothic architecture and the history of gargoyles and grotesques, and they designed their own gargoyle.  After a rough draft sketch, they did a sketch that included some shading.  This was their first attempt at thinking of the lights and darks that add value to a picture.  Next, they will use illuminated manuscript to create a story and illustration about their gargoyle!

Middle School Masterpieces

Mercedes, Arely, Lashonda and a few other students are painting a Parisian starry night for the school auction.

Larisa, Samantha, Sally, Carmelita and others are painting a Hokusai-inspired wave.

Ada, Kayla, Samantha and Dajana are piecing together the pitchfork of American Gothic for a class project.

Zarina, Sarah, Adamari and others are working to paint the famous American Gothic pair.

The middle school girls have painted up a storm since winter break.  As a class, they are creating a large-scale version of American Gothic that will be used in their celebration of learning next month.  Also, the ladies in this class are creating two pieces for the school auction.  These projects  have given the girls a lot of freedom to experiment with acrylics as a medium, and I have gained a more thorough understanding of what we need to learn or improve as we begin our paintings for the spring art show.  Nice work Ladies!

Chinese Peace Scrolls

The Kindergarten classes have been studying peace and have created art with various symbols and images associated with peace.  In honor of the upcoming Chinese New Year, they learned about scrolls and brush painting.  They looked at various Chinese symbols and broke them down into basic lines and dots.  With a watercolor brush, they learned to write the symbol for peace.  They made simple scrolls from craft sticks, paper and yarn.  They finished by discussing some scroll paintings from art history.

Messy Fun with Clay

Ms. Estin's 2nd graders got to try out some hand-building techniques with clay this week.  As a finale to the Egyptian Art unit, they worked as teams to create 4 tall coil pots.  Next week, they will design lids for the pots that will make them resemble canopic jars.  These vessels were found in the tombs of mummies, and served as containers for the stomach, liver, intestines and lungs that were removed from the body and stored for use in the afterlife.  They had a lot of fun and worked well together.

Gothic meets Americana

Lily's American Gothic

Arely's Collage

Mercedes' Version of the Painting

Kenny's American Gothic

Our middle schoolers learned all about Grant Wood's famous painting American Gothic.  They learned why it has this interesting title, what Gothic really means, who the characters are, and they heard about some of the criticism the painting received.  They worked in layers to build their own version and were encouraged to make changes and create something new.  This work in layers will be useful when we begin our next unit on painting.  Ask a middle schooler to tell you about this famous painting that is part of the Art Institute of Chicago's permanent collection!

Draw like an Egyptian

Noah, Grade 2

Sean, Grade 2

Ivana, Grade 2

Giana, Grade 2

Michael, Grade 2

The 1st and 2nd grade students are learning all about the art of Egypt.  They had an art scavenger hunt to find images common to Egyptian art like shen rings, ankhs, heiroglyphics and sun disks.  They practiced standing so their bodies showed frontalism, with their shoulders facing the front and their heads and feet in profile.  They heard stories about the gods and goddesses of Egypt and the Egyptian people.  For their activity, the students designed an Egyptian, made a cartouche with their names in heiroglyphics, and attempted to add as many items as they could from their scavenger hunt.  Gold paint and glitter was added as the last step, and was definitely their favorite part.