Realistic Self Portraits

5th Grade Self Portraits 

During the first quarter in both Visual Arts and Health the fifth grade classes focus on positive self images.  Our first project included the students creating a profile portrait that was made up of 10 positive characteristics, selected by each student. For our second portrait the students were focusing on drawing realistic self portraits.

For Day 1 of this project the students watched the first 2 and 1/2 minutes of a youtube video that showed the students how the different parts of the face were measured and related to each other. To see the video click on the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WROSZ6803cE

Then using the worksheet below, we learned how to correctly draw the different proportions of the human face.

On Day 2 of our project we practiced making a skin tone that was similar to our own.  The students drew 5 circles on their papers and using different combinations of 2-3 markers they experimented making a skin tone that was similar to their own. Once they have filled their circles with the different marker combos, the students used a small amount of water to blend the different markers together. 

Teacher's Exemplars

Teacher's Exemplars on how to color in and paint the final drafts.

EXAMPLES OF STUDENTS COMPLETED PORTRAITS ARE COMING SOON!

2nd Grade Landscapes

Jug Bay Natural Area in PG County

2nd Grade's Landscapes

We are continuing with our study of the artist Vincent Van Gogh and his many wonderful works of art.  For this project we were looking at examples of some of his many landscapes.  

We learned that landscapes are paintings or drawings of things found in nature; for example trees, hills, fields, and lakes. We also learned that there are 3 sections in a landscape. There is a foreground, a mid-ground, and a background.

The grass in the foreground is larger than anything else in the landscape because it is closer to us.  The wagon and person in the mid-ground are medium sized objects; they are not as close to us as the items in the foreground so they need to be smaller, to show that they are further away.  The items in the background such as the mountains and houses are drawn very small because they are very far away from us, and the way to show that they are far away is to draw the mountains and trees smaller than the people in the mid-ground and the grass in the foreground.  

For our landscape the students looked at 2 pictures from a local natural reserve in Prince George's County called Jug Bay.

They were able to pick which picture they wanted to base their landscape off of.  We first drew out the items in our landscape in pencil. Then using markers we added patterns to the different areas in our landscape (example short lines of dark and light green in the grass areas).

Once all areas were filled with patterns, the students used a small amount of water to blend their markers together to get a painted effect on their landscapes similar to Vincent Van Gogh.
Take a look at the wonderful examples of students' artwork below.

Once completed with their landscapes the students filled out a worksheet that asked them to identify what elements of their landscape were in the foreground, mid-ground, and background of their landscapes.

4th Grade Landscapes

Warm vs. Cool Color Landscapes

Our landscape project this year, included a lot of review.  We reviewed our colors (primary, secondary, warm and cool), shapes, the elements of a landscape, and the Element of Art Texure. The fourth graders were also introduced to a new artist this year David Hockney and his artwork Mulholland Drive: The Road to the Studio.

We started off by looking at our Landscapes powerpoint and the students took notes as we went along. 

The worksheet the students used as we went through the powerpoint.

They then had to plan out their warm and cool colored landscape, using their pre-planing worksheets.

Below are some student examples of their landscape plans.  

"Headless" Self-Portraits

Preview of Art 2's Headless Self Portraits

For this year's drawing quarter, I wanted the students to focus on creating a self portrait.  However, instead of creating another frontal view drawing of their faces, I wanted the students to create a more abstracted idea of a self portrait. 

For this project we were focusing on the element of art-value and the principle of design-emphasis.

The students were required to bring in 2 objects that represented themselves and their personalities; they must be able to interact with these objects in order for a photo to be taken of the students and their objects.  

We had a range of objects brought in everywhere from soccer balls to polished rocks found during a family trip, the students were very eager to get started.  

Last year the students use a grid to help them draw their portraits, this year I wanted the students to try to see the correct proportions without the assistance of a grid or guidelines.  

Here are some sneak peaks at what our students have been working on. 

The students are about halfway through this project.
One of their 2 objects will be colored in to create emphasis.

Van Gogh's Sunflowers

2nd Grade's 

Van Gogh's Sunflowers

In second grade we have been studying the artwork of Vincent Van Gogh.  More specifically for this project we have been looking at his paintings of sunflowers.  We began with a class discussion on the different colors and shapes we saw in his paintings. The list our classes came up with is below.  

Yellow             Circles

Red                  Rectangles 

Orange            Squares

Green              Ovals

Brown             Triangles

                        Crescent or Moon Shapes

Once we determined what shapes were needed to create our flowers, the students began to participate in a directed drawing.  

We started out by using our hand to get us the size and shape needed for the centers of our sunflowers.  The students were to have two sunflowers on our drawings (1 full flower and half a sunflower).  They were then to use triangles, crescents, ovals, and circles to create the petals for their sunflowers.  Then they used a long skinny rectangles to create the stems for their sunflowers.

The students were able to get such vibrate colors and great texture!!!