I introduced the students to the simple but beautiful line drawing of one of Picasso’s peace doves. I demonstrated a step-by-step drawing of a dove having each student follow along on her/his paper. Then I had each student draw a dove independently by following a simple step-by-step worksheet. They drew several doves each and then painted them. Since they know how to mix colors, they enjoy making colors out of the primary paint colors: red, yellow, and blue. Super work!

Each Lower School artist got her/his own art notebook. I filled each with worksheets to learn and practice the art elements. Today, we learned about and drew different types of lines and geometric and organic shapes. Then we practiced shading forms. Tomorrow, we will create the color wheel. Each artist then shared what they learned and drew.

I gave each student six sheets of paper that had one shape on each page: arrow, pentagon, triangle, rectangle, and hexagon. Each shape serves as a starting point for a creative drawing. For Example, “It’s not a pentagon, it’s a …” Each student used her/his creativity to draw something unique from these basic shapes. They used problem solving and critical thinking! Then they had the option to draw or use air-dry clay. They want to use watercolors on paper with pastels for the next Lower School Art Studio.

The three young artists so enjoyed drawing food for their culinary journals that they asked to paint a real still life with fruit. I set up a pineapple, two apples, two pears, and three oranges to paint. I gave them three primary colors in paint: red, yellow, and blue to create their compositions. They did not want to use paints; they wanted to use oil pastels instead. With the paint bottles as visual aids, we quickly did a little color theory by reviewing how to make orange, green, and purple.

Each artist took a turn arranging the fruit. Libby went to the kitchen with Miss Judie to select a bowl. Once the fruit was arranged, each artist created her/his own still life in oil pastels on paper. We hung each one on the Brag Wall. They worked well and were very successful!

Each student designed a cover for her/his recipe notebook for culinary arts. The students used oil pastels on paper. They worked hard and were focused on drawing food. In fact, they enjoyed drawing food so much, they want to draw a still life of fruit.

Remington glued his bird’s eggs onto his bird’s nest. He added a "cherry" pom pom to his cupcake and insisted that his cherry had a stem. We glued a green cut piper cleaner on top of the "cherry." Then Remington drew two rhinos on beige paper with oil pastels and smudged the pastels to look like they were very old and drawn on cave walls. Lastly, he drew a Gila monster and carefully added the texture of the scales to the Gila monster's body. He was very focused and did great work today!

We started class by having Remington paint his bird’s eggs from last class to complete his bird’s nest activity. He also painted his cupcake made from air-dry clay. He handles the paint brush very well using controlled strokes and carefully applying the paint.

In collaboration with Professor Mark, Remington has been working on a play about prehistoric humans/cavemen. We are connecting this learning with some Paleolithic/prehistoric cave drawings. We used crumpled brown construction paper and charcoal and pastel sticks to recreate the cave paintings and drawings at the famous sites in Europe. Remington did an amazing job looking at the figures, animals, and symbols and recreating them.

I am very proud of his work and his positive attitude towards learning! Super job, Remington!

The sun catchers we made last class did not look so good, so we will try to make them again. Remington's clay cupcake and pizza are not dry enough to paint. We will paint them next class.

We read Bird Builds a Nest by Martin Jenkins. Remy enjoyed the story. He painted two cardboard birds. He handled the paintbrush and paint very well and pays close attention to detail. Then he created a nest for his birds out of yarn scraps and made birds’ eggs out of clay.

Good work, Remington!

First, we made suncatchers with clear Elmer's glue and food coloring. Remington liked to swirl and mix the colors in the glue. They should be dried next class, so he can take them home.

Then we read Pete the Cat and The Perfect Pizza Party and identified the sounds Remington is learning in Reading with Ms. Pam. Pete with the “e” at the end makes the “e” an open or a long vowel. If we cover up the “e,” Pete becomes pet and the “e” is a short or closed vowel. We discussed our favorite pizza toppings and looked at the silly toppings shown in the book. Then I had Remington create a “pizza” collage by cutting and gluing different shapes and colors of felt to create a pizza with texture. It was good practice cutting and gluing. Then he rolled out some air-dry clay and made a cupcake to paint next class when it is dried.

He is doing really well in art class and working hard!