Stay at Home School... Week 3

Hello, My Amazing Art Students.  Boy, do I miss hearing your voices and seeing your faces and creating with you!  I hope you and your families are staying home and staying safe and are healthy and strong!  Enjoy your time together!

Thank you for all the pictures of artwork you've been sharing with me!  I am so very impressed by your creativity.  I hope you've been enjoying your art challenges.  Remember, creating art does not just have to come from my challenge list.  If you feel like creating something totally different, DO IT!!  I just want your imaginations to be working and your creativity to continue to pour new beauty into our world right now! 

Here are WEEK THREE Art Challenges for you to try at home:

Y5-2nd Grade Art Lessons

Week 3: March 30- April 3

Lesson 1:  Silly Drawings and Details

• Draw a crab at a birthday party.
• Draw a seahorse in a blizzard.
• Draw a dinosaur crying.
• Draw an animal with arms for legs and legs for arms.

Lesson 2:  Learn about an Artist:  Greg Mike

Greg Mike creates murals on buildings.  When you watch this lesson by art teacher, Cassie Stephens, look for the LINES, SHAPES, and COLORS Greg Mike uses in his artwork.  The finished project is a collage made from cut paper. However, you could simply draw lots and lots of Loud Mouth characters and color them with crayon or marker!  Have fun creating and remember to keep the loud in your artwork, not in the house! :)

Loud Mouths inspired by Greg Mike

Lesson 3:  Creating with found objects

Challenge 1: Use 3D objects you can find around your house to build a sculpture.  Do you have blocks? LEGOs? Hot Wheels Cars? My Little Ponys? Shopkins? How could you use your toys to create art?

Challenge 2:  Drawing from observation.  Get a piece of paper or a tablet.  Using art materials or a drawing app, try looking at your toy and drawing what you see.  Look at the lines, shapes, and colors used in your toy.  

Lesson 4:  Superhero Self

Ok, superhero friends.  It’s time to use that amazing imagination you have!  Today your challenge is to draw yourself as a superhero.  Think about the following details:  

1. What is your superpower?
2. What does your superhero costume look like?
3. Where do you, superhero, live?  What will your background look like?
4. Do you have a special superhero vehicle?  
5. Do you have a sidekick?  If so, what do they look like?

When you’ve thought through your details, it’s TIME TO DRAW!  Have fun, my amazingly SUPER art students!

Alternative Art Plans 3rd-5th Grades

Week 3 (March 30-April 3):

Lesson 1: Indianapolis Museum of Art​- Mini Golf Sculptures

Watch this video about interactive sculptures!  When you’re done, do some design work to create your own mini golf sculptures.  How many Mini-Golf holes can YOU design? Will you golf course have a theme? You could create this course on paper, with LEGOS, build it with found objects at home or from the recycle bin or draw it digitally!

Mini Golf Meets Interactive Sculpture

Lesson 2: Imaginative Drawings and Details

Lesson 3: Meet the Artist:  Sean Kenny

Have you ever looked at a bin of LEGOs and felt the Master Builder in you start to get excited?  Check out the artwork of sculptor, Sean Kenny. He creates with, you guessed it, LEGOS! Today you may just enjoy learning about a new artist, but if you’re feeling inspired, take the challenge to go to your LEGOs and create something new!  Maybe you could even contact a friend and have an online building challenge and share your work!! Good Luck, Master Builders!

Lego Art with Sean Kenny

Life-Size LEGO Animals

Lesson 4: Creating with Technology: Digital Art

Today is a day to let your imagination run wild!  Can you use technology to create a work of art?  

Here are some ideas for you to try, or use an app you already have:

Google Canvas

Quick Draw (on SJPS symbaloo page)

Purple Mash (on SJPS symbaloo)

Take a photo and edit it to make it your own design

My Amazing Art Students, I MISS YOU!

Thank you for sending me pictures of the artwork you've been creating at home this week!  I'm so proud of the way you continue to create masterpieces.  Your photos are filling my heart with so much happiness!  I love seeing the color and creativity you're putting on paper. Keep those images coming! 

Because we're still staying home, I have a second set of art challenges for you.  Remember, it's fun to create together!  Get your whole family involved if you can.  My son, Ashton, and I have been drawing together following Art Hub for Kids drawing directions.  Ethan and I have been working on 1 point perspective drawing.  Creating art together is a great way to connect and relax.

Here are Week 2 Challenges for you.  You should also get a copy from your classroom teacher.  Have fun, creating, my artists.  Remember, you are LOVED! 

Young 5s- 2nd Grade Week 2:  March 23-27

Lesson 1: Observation Challenge

Artists have a talent to notice and observe beauty in the world around them.  Today, your art challenge is to look at the world with your Artist's eyes. You can answer the following questions in your head, write them down, or draw pictures of what you see.

• Look at the sky at three different times of the day today.  What do you see in the sky? What colors do you see? How did the sky change when you looked at it?
• If you are able to go outside today, look around you and try to find all the different shades of green.  What other colors do you see? If you can’t go outside today, how many different colors can you find inside? 

Lesson 2:  Silly Drawings and Details

• 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.

Lesson 3:  Learn about an Artist

Kindergarten and Second graders, you have already studied Vincent VanGogh’s artwork.  Today, all of our artists can watch this video to learn more about Vincent VanGogh. As you watch this video, try to pick out your favorite work of art.  If you’re up for the challenge, try drawing YOUR version of a Vincent VanGogh work of art!

Art With Mati & Dada - Van Gogh

Lesson 4:  Creating with Cartooning

Artists, for today’s challenge, try drawing in a cartooning style.  We’ve used Art for Kids Hub before. Below is the link to their YouTube Channel.  Today, have fun choosing something that you’d enjoy drawing! There are several characters from your favorite books, TV shows, movies and games that you can learn to draw.  You may simply watch and learn, or draw along. If you’re really feeling like a challenge, try designing your own cartoon today! Have fun, artists!

Art for Kids Hub

3rd- 5th Grade  Week 2 (March 23-27):

Lesson 1:  Finding Art at a Festival

• The cherry blossoms are blooming in Washington D.C. soon! They even have a Cherry Blossom Festival. It is a beautiful site to see! Watch the clip below to take a virtual tour.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eh16fdLiLQ

• When you are finished watching the virtual tour, get a piece of paper. Any size will do! If you have crayons, colored pencils, markers, or paints, you could add some color at the end. Watch the Art Hub drawing video below, and make some beautiful cherry blossoms. Next time you are outside, notice the flowers that are coming out of the ground in Michigan!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJknEdwBQFo&t=1s

Lesson 2: Imaginative Drawings and Details

• 
• Get a piece of paper and draw one or ALL of the “watchamadrawit” prompts. Challenge yourself and add backgrounds, details, an even thought or talking clouds with the characters. Which one do you like best? Why? What happened right before the picture took place? What do you predict will happen later?

Lesson 3: Meet the Artist- Sandra Silberzwieg

• Have you heard of the artist, Sandra Silberzwieg? She is a Canadian Contemporary Abstract artist that I think you are going to love! Our friend, Cassie Stephens is going to teach us about this artist and how to draw artwork similar to Sandra Silberzwieg. You can watch the video and just learn from her, or you can grab a large piece of paper and draw along. You DO NOT need to have the same materials that she has. Be your creative self and make it the way that feels best to you. Be ready to pause the video along the way. Enjoy!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_ZP7Z2UH6M

Lesson 4:  Creating with Pointillism

• Have you ever heard of Pointillism? It is a style where small dots are used to compose an entire composition! Let’s learn a little more about it at this website. Don’t forget to take the ten question quiz at the end!
• https://www.ducksters.com/history/art/pointillism.php
• You can learn more about George Seurat and his pointillism below!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDW4wSTm-V4&t=2s

Collaborative Painting created by 1st Graders at Brown Elementary

Hello, my amazing art students.

Artists, I'm missing you.  Tons.  The painting above is what my heart is feeling for you; all sorts of love and happy thoughts and excitement to be together again, creating!  In the meantime, while you're home being safe, Mrs. Huber and I have created some art challenges for you so you can keep practicing your amazing art skills.  I'll be creating along with you over our time away.  

I'm attaching your art challenges for Week One of school closure.  You should also get these from your classroom teachers.  We've included 4 days of challenges for you each week.  If you have older or younger siblings, you could help them with their challenges too.  We know how much fun it is to create together, so if you're like me, and you have a lot of your family home with you right now, use these challenges as a way to create together.  Feel free to take pictures of what you've created and email them to me.  I would love to see your artwork!

Stay safe, artists.  You are loved.  I'll see you soon!

Love,

Mrs. Warsow

Art Lessons Grades K-2

Week 1 (March 16-March 20)

Lesson 1: Art Museum Introduction

• Have you ever been to an Art Museum? We have our very own Krasl Art Center right here in town! Maybe you can visit this summer. Please watch the video below to learn what we do when we go to an Art Museum. The children we will watch are visiting the Boca Raton Art Museum. At the end, you could draw a picture of your favorite thing you saw!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQMlZHpo6w0

Lesson 2: Silly Drawings and Details

• 
• Sometimes we like to draw silly things! Please get a piece of paper and some drawing supplies. You can draw one of them or all of them. Give them as many details as you can!

Lesson 3:  Study the work of a new artist.

This artwork is by a contemporary artist  (that means she is alive and making art right now) Kelly Knaga.  Kelly lives near us, in Chicago and Northwest Indiana. What do you SEE in this work of art?

What do you THINK about this artwork?  What do you WONDER about this art? If you’re up for the challenge, could you find things around your house to use to create a work of art inspired by Kelly Knaga’s artwork?  You could use paint, markers, crayons, colored pencils, buttons, stickers, your fingerprints, or cut shapes from old catalogs or magazines. Have fun creating!

Lesson 4:  Using FORM to create 3D Houses in a Colorful Village

Check out this lesson from art teacher, Cassie Stephens!  You’ll all remember drawing 3D houses when you created your Starry Night artwork in Kindergarten.  This lesson will challenge you to use your imagination to create lots of different 3D houses.  Mrs. Stephens uses oil pastels and paint in her lesson, but you may use ANYTHING to add color! Have fun creating!!!!

A Colorful Village!

Art Lessons Grades 3-5

Week 1 (March 16-March 20)

Lesson 1: Art Museum Etiquette

• Have you ever been to an art museum? Do you know there is a certain etiquette, or way you’re supposed to act, when you go to a museum? The Krasl Art Center is downtown St. Joseph. The Box Factory also has amazing artwork displayed at their gallery.  You should take a visit through them this summer! Don’t forget these rules when you do!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AozRXE2ssyM

Lesson 2: Imaginative Drawings and Details

• 
• Get a piece of paper and draw one or ALL of the “watchamadrawit” prompts. Challenge yourself and add backgrounds, details, an even thought or talking clouds with the characters. Which one do you like best? Why? What happened right before the picture took place? What do you predict will happen later?

Lesson 3: Meet the Artist- Romero Britto

Today you’ll learn about Brazillian artist, Romero Britto.  Nashville-based art teacher, Cassie Stephens is going to teach us about this artist and how to draw a self portrait in the style of Britto. You can watch the video and just learn from her, or you can grab a piece of paper and draw along. You DO NOT need to have the same materials that she has. Enjoy drawing yourself in a new style with LOTS of color and pattern!!!  If you really enjoy this style, you could keep creating and draw portraits of your friends, family, or even your pets!  

Romero Britto Inspired Self Portrait Lesson

Lesson 4:  Creating with Cartooning

Artists, for today’s challenge, try drawing in a cartooning style.  We’ve used Art for Kids Hub before. Below is the link to their YouTube Channel.  Today, have fun choosing something that you’d enjoy drawing! There are several characters from your favorite books, TV shows, movies and games that you can learn to draw.  You may simply watch and learn, or draw along. If you’re really feeling like a challenge, try designing your own cartoon today! Have fun, artists!

Art for Kids Hub

I AM...

Elementary Art Students have been busy learning rules, routines, and procedures.  We've also been taking time discussing empathy and training ourselves to think positively about who we are as unique individuals.  Every student has created a mini-work of art to add to our school collaborative "I Am..." display in the hall.  Ask your artist about the word or words they've chosen to embrace as their legacy this year!

Hello, My Amazing Art Students and Families!

My name is Rachel Warsow.  I am one of two elementary art teachers in our district.  This year will be my 18th year teaching Art for SJPS.  I grew up in Holland, Michigan and attended Western Michigan University for both my bachelors and master's degrees.  I live in St. Joe with my husband, Mr. Warsow (the Industrial Technology teacher at Upton) our two boys, Ethan and Ashton (who are in 5th and 3rd at Lincoln) and our two crazy cats, Puma and Wheezie.   Along with creating, our family loves to go to baseball games!  We're working every summer to visit as many MLB ballparks as we can.  

I am looking forward to another year of creating in the art room with you!  This year I will be creating with all the artists at Lincoln and 1st, 3rd-5th grade students at Brown.

Throughout the first two cycles of the school year, we will be working on learning and practicing important routines to make our art room run smoothly.  You can ask your amazing art student about our hallway greeting, our quiet signal based on a famous portrait by Leonardo daVinci, and how we model our artist-ready bodies after the painting!

This year, we are going to focus on developing positivity, kindness, and community in our art rooms.  We will begin the year by reading the book, I Am Human, with our students and will challenge our young artists to start to think about all the character traits that make them such a valued part of our art family and school community.  We are looking forward, not only to the art learning and making that will happen in our rooms, but for the love, compassion, confidence and kindness we will see blossom.  You should be able to find your artist's "I Am" word in the hall by the end of the 2nd week of school!

Thank you for sharing your child with our school family and for allowing me to guide them through the adventures of creating artistic masterpieces!  This is going to be a fantastic school year!  I can't wait to get started.

Making Art, Making Art, Making Art

Artists at Brown and Lincoln are so amazing!  I can't wait to get to school and create with these amazing kids!  We've been working hard learning, practicing, creating, and critiquing in our Art rooms!  Here is a small example of some of the work happening.  Your artist can tell you all about their adventures this week!

Young Fives continue to practice fine motor skills.  We read Penguin and Pinecone and discussed the illustrations in the book.  Young fives created a penguin collage using wax resist for their swirling wind backgrounds and practiced cutting, gluing, and adding details to their penguin collages.  We finished our work by using our fingers to create snow for our penguins!

Kindergarten artists have been practicing using lines and shapes to draw objects.  We also experimented with shading using chalk pastels and continue to practice how to hold our scissors correctly to cut.  K artists worked hard on their ink drawing snow people!

First graders are using line and shape to draw objects and experimented with two new art materials, charcoal and gel markers!  They drew and shaded GIANT polar bears with charcoal.  After carefully cutting, our first graders used line and shape to draw a variety of snowflakes with gel pens on their backgrounds.

Second graders are practicing using rules of perspective to demonstrate space in their work.  Students created a winter landscape and experimented with changing the size and placement of their trees to show that some are close and others are far away.  They applied their knowledge of pattern to their trees.

Third graders were introduced to printmaking.  They used line and pattern to create a print plate, then practiced printmaking.  We will be using their prints for our next project.  For their first experience printmaking, they produced some amazing prints!  

Fourth grade artists at Brown are finishing their self portraits inspired by Amedeo Modigliani and beginning their printmaking adventure by sketching various designs for Robot images.  Lincoln fourth graders completed two sessions of printmaking after creating their robot print plates.  We will continue to explore using various art mediums on our prints and learn how to title, sign, number, and mount an edition of prints.

Fifth graders at Lincoln are finishing up their coil bowl ceramic pieces by glazing this rotation.  Brown school fifth grade has been working on practicing creating value in their work and turning flat 2D shapes into 3D forms using highlights and shadows.  They are creating imaginary planets for a space background they will use as a setting for their metal tooling project that they'll work on over the next few rotations.

The New Year is Off to a Fantastic Start!

It's been busy in our art rooms!  Here are some visuals so you can see our artists hard at work on learning through artistic process.

Y5s:  Collage experimentation

K:  Using shape, line, and value to create shaded snow people

1:  Using shape and line to draw and experimenting with charcoal to shade.

2:  Creating space in a landscape by using perspective

3:  Using color and pattern to create artwork inspired by Laurel Burch.

4:  Experimenting with line to create value in a work of art

5:  Building a ceramic coil vessel and experimenting with zentangles

It's a HAPPY December in the Art Room!

Here's a peek into what has been going on in Art at Brown and Lincoln lately:

Young Fives practiced painting while keeping their brush on its tippy toes.  We practiced letter identification and letter sounds along with our painting.

Young Fives also read It's Okay to Be Different  written and illustrated by Todd Parr.  We studied his portrait illustrations and experimented with Ink Daubers to draw our own Todd Parr-inspired self portraits.

Kindergarten artists continue to experiment with using shapes to create animals for their cave paintings.  We've drawn our animals on our "cave walls" and are working on applying crayon with our art muscles so the wax is thick for a wax resist.

First Graders are using geometric shapes, organic shapes, and line to create PATTERN on their fancy pattern birds.  Students used shapes to draw the birds, then filled them with different line and shape patterns.  We are currently reviewing the proper techniques to paint using pan watercolors.

Second Graders are putting the final touches on their James Rizzi inspired works of art.  Students created a Rizzi Self Portrait, then a Rizzi City.  We are practicing coloring with control in second grade and experimenting with shading.

Third graders at Brown are finishing up their Nutcrackers.  We missed a few art sessions due to Thanksgiving break and our snow day.  The third graders have been working diligently to finish before their performance!

Lincoln third graders are studying the life and art of American artist, Laurel Burch.  Laurel Burch was not only an artist, but a successful female business owner who turned her love for art-making into a very lucrative career.  Our third graders are applying their knowledge of proportion, detail, color, and pattern to create their works of art.  

Fourth grade artists at Brown are finishing their Matisse-inspired focal point projects (see past posts for images) . Lincoln fourth graders completed their Modigliani-inspired self portraits and are starting to experiment with using line to create value in a work of art.

Fifth grade artists are learning how to roll clay coils and use the coils to construct a coil vessel.  Students at Brown have finished their work and are waiting for the clay to dry and be fired, our Lincoln fifth graders are beginning the construction steps of the clay process and will be ready for glaze after our winter break.

Please continue to encourage your young artists to spend time creating at home!  Cutting and gluing to make a collage, going online and following Art Hub for Kids to do a guided drawing, finding toys around the house to observe and draw, sculpting with found objects (my own kids raid the recycle bin to do this),  letting them be the "art teacher" and guide you through a lesson they've learned this year, or sitting together as a family and painting are all amazing ways for your artist to practice their craft at home. 

Grateful, Thankful, Appreciative 

I am so very grateful for my amazing art students.  I tell my kiddos all the time that my job is the best and it is true.  I am so appreciative that I get to spend the day with my art family learning, creating, and enjoying each and every moment.  As you enjoy your holiday with your family, please know that I am so grateful for my art kids and their families.  Happy Thanksgiving!

In the art room this week:

Young Fives finished their Pete the Cat collage!  Our young five artists have been busy experimenting with lots of new art materials during their art sessions.  Together we read Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin and looked at the illustrations by James Dean, creator of Pete the Cat.

Our artists experimented with the following techniques and materials to create their collage:

Cutting and gluing

Sharpie permanent markers

Tempera Paint

Oil Pastel

Chisel tip markers

Kwik Stix tempera paint sticks

Using line and shape to create images

 

Kindergarten artists explored the caves of Lascaux and looked at some of the very first forms of art created by humans.  We will continue to study cave paintings and work together to think and wonder about why humans created art so long ago, why we still create art, And then discover together how to use simple shapes to create animals inspired by the artwork of Lascaux.

First graders finished up their studies of geometric and organic shapes by creating a cut paper collage inspired by Henri Matisse.  

First graders are moving into creating a work of art that applies their knowledge of geometric shapes, organic shapes, straight, curvy and angle lines and will start working with pattern in their artwork.  

Second graders continue to create their self portraits inspired by NYC artist, James Rizzi.  We are currently focusing on coloring technique, blending colors, and experimenting with shading.

Third Grade artists continue applying their knowledge of proportion and detail to their nutcracker drawings.  

 Fourth Grade artists are finishing their artwork inspired by The Goldfish by Henri Matisse.  Students worked to create a focal point in their finished piece of art.  This project ended with time to celebrate student success with artist reflections and WOW! comments.  Students reflected on the struggles and successes they experienced while creating their work, then traveled around the room to write WOW! comments to their peers describing the successes they found in the artwork. 

Fifth Graders are working to complete their St. Joseph Great Wave paintings inspired by the print The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai.  Students are experimenting with using line, shape, color, texture, space, pattern, and movement in their paintings.  We even get to see how the artwork we study is used in everyday life... like imagery on our clothing!!!!  I love moments when my students come into the room with surprises for me like wearing our inspiration artwork.  

Thank you, amazing artists, for a fabulous week together!