Picasso Part 2

Up early on a Sunday morning... thanks to my teacher schedule. however, the likelihood of seeing at student at the local super market is less than usual at this hour in the morning. I will be headed out soon! but not before a post. oh how I missed blogging the last few weeks!

Rose and Blue Period 4th Grade Portraits

Another lesson I totally stole from Phyl! check it out
I introduced Picasso to the 4th grade by reading Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists- Picasso. We talked about Picasso's different "styles" and how he "invented" Cubism. We focused mainly on the Rose and Blue period though. It fit in really well because we had been doing a lot of portraits in 4th grade. So much so that I think I need to switch it up next year. This one focused more on color and expression than others though. The kids actually had fun having to pick from a bowl which period they would be painting and I think they had even more fun once we started painting because they got to switch up their seats!

2nd Grade was also introduced to Picasso this year. This lesson was essentially my own. I did find some guidance at the Incredible Art Department, but had to do some tweaking to get into the 2nd grade mind set. I also had 2 classes and experimented with the process just between the two. Its one that I will revisit and continue to work on. It wasn't a total flop, but I would like a higher success rate. anyway...

2nd Grade 3 Musicians 
I blew up a copy of Picasso's 3 Musicians and we sat on my rug to make some observations.

What is this a picture of? How many people do you see? What instruments can you see? What simple shapes do you see? What colors? What patterns?
We talked a little bit about Cubism and I tried to stress how Picasso made pictures out of shapes.

We went back to our seats and drew... this is where I need to start revising.
I asked students to draw 3 instruments using simple shapes. They got that part... but they somehow missed when I asked for them to be big. We had teeny tiny guitars and drum sets!

this one, not so much. this student is an outstanding 2nd grade artist

After drawing the instruments, we added the "shape people." This was another area of struggle. Some kids totally grasped the idea of block heads and triangle legs, others couldn't get over it. Understandable. Then, some kids struggled with how the instrument they just drew connected to the person they needed to add. I know my instruction for this could be better. It was also an opportunity for the students to really use their imagination and creativity and I didn't want to push them in any one direction (wow do I sound like the crazy art teacher! but its true!)

I go back and forth about starting with black crayon. I had one class draw with pencil, trace with crayon then use watercolor. The other drew with pencil, painted, then used Sharpie. (I don't like the younger ones using Sharpie and I told them how special of an occasion it was!)

Overall, I am happy with this lesson. It needs some revision and I know that not every lesson I do is going to be a home run, or even a double!
These are 2 of my favorites from this activity:

before paint

after paint

matisse meets middle school

home sick today, with the first case of strep throat this year! not excited about being sick, especially since its the beginning of vacation and we have lots of fun things planned, but I've made it to February without getting really sick.

middle school Matisse
sixth and seventh grade recently learned about Henri Matisse, the king of color, as my little ones call him. For sixth grade, who have difficulty focusing and not constantly socializing, I introduced Matisse by reading "Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists: Matisse" by Mike Venezia. As I read, they had focus questions to answer. The exercise worked pretty well, as they could tell my lots about Matisse, even after a week! With both grades, we also looked at a power point of various Matisse works and talked about lines, pattern, complementary colors and composition.

grade six

After learning about Matisse, we looked at a still life set up in the room. Students did not have to draw it exactly as they saw it. Instead they were encouraged to take their inspiration from the still life and what they knew about Matisse. We completed 3 thumbnail sketches and took a day to make our own color wheel and introduce or review tints, tones, and shades. Students were only given red, yellow, blue, turquoise, green, black, brown and white. I think they did a great job, and I know they had a blast being allowed to mix their own colors!

grade seven
after spending about a month drawing in one point perspective, I wanted my seventh graders to explore other ways to create a space. Students were asked to come up with about five different patterns that they could possibly use in an interior. I have a TON of fabric samples, donated from a local design firm, so we had fun go through those. We also came up with 3 thumbnail sketches of rooms. The last activity was a bedroom, so I encouraged them to think of other rooms. There is an Ikea store near us, so I had students think about what its like when walking through the show rooms! Again, we talked about tints, tones and shades, and made a practice color wheel. We are still in the process of finishing, but these are some action shots.

you can see, in this shot in particular, how we work too. Recycled cup holders and yogurt cups and stryofoam trays for mixing pallets. clean up takes a little less than 10 minutes, depending on the speed of the middle schooler, but I can't really think of anything easier. one table washes while another puts paintings away. while waiting for the sink, all tables are sprayed and washed.
I'm just thankful we have a sink! And I know the kids really enjoy being able to mix their own paints. They feel like "real artists." Plus, the clean up teaches responsibility on some level. So, if it takes ten minutes, it takes ten minutes.