Last week the kindergarteners used only primary colors to recreate the colors of the rainbow, inside the birds they drew last week. I love how different they all turned out! So much personality :)
They did such a great job getting their work done and cleaning up, that I had time to close the class with a book that gives us a new perspective on colors, "The Day the Crayons Quit" by Drew Daywalt.
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Last week, we finished our color unit by talking about another way to categorize colors: warm and cool. I pulled out my trusty color wheel and showed them how to identify the cool colors and the warm. They helped me think of great examples in nature where we can find both groups of colors. Using colored paper to create a sunset and sea collage, students illustrated their understanding of the color groups by using warm colors in the sky for the sunset and cool colors in the water. Some students wished to challenge themselves and try their own idea. If your child brought home something that was not a sunset, ask them to identify the warm and cool colors in their work!
Last week, the second graders used black, white and one color paint to depict values and tones in their painting. I demonstrated how to draw a 3D layer cake as an object they could try, along with varied colors of ice cream scoops in a cone. Here you can see some of those examples, along with some original ideas. After the object was painted, students were allowed to choose a separate color for the background.
Such delicious deserts and innovative ideas! Last week, the kindergarteners practiced do drawing shapes and using rulers to create these very adorable seven birds on a wire. We talked a bit about rainbows and how the colors of the rainbow appear in a specific order, even if you can't always see every color. They did a great job following directions! Next week they will use the primary colors to mix and paint these seven birds in the order of the rainbow.
On Friday, the first graders and I talked reviewed primary colors and the secondary colors they can make. Some students were familiar with the acronym Roy G. Biv ( red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet). For our first portrait of the year, the students sketched and painted their own version of "Roy" to practice mixing colors out of just red, yellow and blue paint. Students also practiced making skin color by mixing the primary colors (with white and black as needed). The objectives today were to mix the seven colors of the rainbow (there was also a visual chart that described how to make each color), and to paint the seven colors as the hair, in rainbow order.
From spikes to curls, these kids covered a lot of hair styles! Today I talked to the second graders about how to creat value in their art. Value is the range of possibilities within a color. We discussed that adding black to a color will make it darker (if you are painting) and this is called a shade. Adding white will make a color lighter- this is called a tint. Value is the range of dark to light within one color.
I showed students examples in paintings including one form Picasso's blue period. Next week they will paint using just a color, black, and white. They prepared sketches for their paintings next week, and created the works below to practice creating value within their shapes. Using colored pencils, I showed them how to apply or lighten pressure while making marks, to change the amount of color. Looking good! Kindergarteners had a busy day last week. We started with a review of primary and secondary colors and they got to watch a very catchy song by OK Go to help them remember how to make secondary colors. Found here http://youtu.be/yu44JRTIxSQ I talked to them briefly about the color wheel as a common visual representation of primary and secondary colors that artists use. Students finished their pumpkins by cutting them out, pasting them on black paper and drawing a moon and stars . They used oil pastels to add highlights on the pumpkins and to draw vines. When they finished they used oil pastels to color in a color wheel of their own, using only primary colors which they lasyered on top of each other to make green, orange and purple.
Last week, the first graders were challenged to draw and paint anything they wanted, but they could only use primary colors. Mixing colors is so tempting! But they succeeded and came up with some very vibrant compositions.
Last Thursday, I reviewed the primary and secondary colors with my second graders. They rememebered that yellow and red make orange, red and blue make purple and yellow and blue make green. In order to review some of these color combinations, I taught them how to make sunsets, a great example of how nature mixes colors in the sky. Once again, we talked about the horizon line, which is a horizontal line that separates the sky and ground. I also explained what a silhouette is and why objects appear dark when light is behind them. I invited them to create their own landscape silhouette against the sunset. I think they really surprised themselves!
The kindergarteners recently went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch and are becoming experts about the parts of a pumpkin. In art last week, I read "Little Blue and Little Yellow" by Leo Leoni and "Mouse Paint" by Ellen Stoll Walsh. Both books are about the primary colors red, yellow and blue. I supplied the kindergarteners with only red, yellow and blue paint and showed them how to mix orange and green to paint their pumpkins. Next week, they will cut out their pumpkins and add some finishing touches. These are beautiful!
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