I tasked Remington to create symmetrical patterns for each wing of a butterfly. The challenge is that the left wing: top and bottom and the right wing: top and bottom must be symmetrical or match. This art project supports critical and creative thinking. He worked hard this morning!

PJ is continuing to work on his character development with iconography (symbols). PJ has been enjoying reading my Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic Symbols by Henry Dreyfuss. I am exicted that he wanted to use heavy watercolor paper and will try some watercolor pencils and paints.

Jackson finished his watercolor sunset painting. He followed the step-by-step procedure, and he understands the watercolor painting process. He did very well!

Cam finished his drawing of lizards inspired by artist M.C. Escher. He created a good design!

Aiden finished his drawing of the skeleton and will add its teeth. He is bringing his sketchbook home and is going to draw the teeth this weekend. I am happy to see Aiden excited about drawing.

Jackson finished his watercolor sunset painting. He signed it and will bring it home. It is beautiful!

We watched the video “Why Is the Sunset Red?” by Astronomic. We are learning about the science of light and sunsets as part of our STEAM learning. We reviewed our ROY G. BIV and looked at Remington’s notes from our color theory work. Then Remington finished his sunset painting.

Remington finished his sun catcher and attached the four sun fun facts to it. We hung it up in media center where the sun can shine through it, and our school community can read about the sun and learn! Then Remington wanted to paint a sunset. We are learning about the science of light and sunsets as part of our STEAM learning.

I introduced Cam to the artist M.C. Escher and his artwork. I showed him Escher’s Intertwined Lizards artwork where each lizard repeatedly interlocks with another lizard of the same design. The positive space is the negative space and vice versa. Cam was interested in this idea and starting working on it for his next project.

In yesterday’s Upper School Studio class, I showed the class The American Alphabet by artist Heidi Cody. Each letter of the alphabet from A to Z is represented by the first letter of a well-known American product logo. For Example: A is from All Laundry Detergent, B is from Bubblicious Bubble Gum, C is from Campbell’s Soup, and so on. We talked about the identity of these products from popular American culture. Then I showed them the video Looking Past Symbolism: Meaning in Dutch Still Life Painting presented by Smarthistory.org. We learned about iconography: the use of symbols or images to signify meaning and concepts. I introduced them to the concept of the 17th Century vanitas style of painting that depicts the transient character of youth, beauty, and wealth. For today's class, Aiden has selected his objects that he plans to draw, and he started sketching his ideas.