Students learned about one of the oldest traditions around the world of Henna. To this day Henna is still popular in our culture and many students had stories about siblings or parents who had gotten Henna before. Outlining their hand and fashioning a border students designed their own Henna tattoos using the Design Element Line. With mixed mediums students then colored in their design experimenting with various patterns. 

For this Optical Illusion students created a scene of a bird's eye view of a city. Students learned about a vanishing point, the 1960s art movement OP Art, optical Illusions, one point perspective, shading and dexterity with a ruler. 

Students learned patience while creating a maze with one continuous line. Students had to make sure to end their line where they began while filling the space of their paper. Then students chose one of the several analogous color groups to color in overlapped circles. 

It's that time of year again when kiddos get to dive into Japanese Notans, which are a great introduction to the Design Element Space. Students learned about positive and negative space along with symmetry and mirror images. Dexterity was practiced while using scissors and a glue bottle to get tiny pieces glued down to create their Notan.

During this trimester students received art newsletters where I gave them art that inspired me from around the world, indoor and outdoor activities, resource videos of innovative art and artists, and challenges that students were to try and send me images of. Below are examples of student's work from the past few months.
Challenge: Art Creatures, where students had to work with others in their household to create one body section each that were to be hidden from one another until the last piece finished and opened to see what was created. 

Challenge: Optical Illusion creations! Students received three videos of different optical illusions where they were to pick at least one to try.

Challenge: Sequential art! Or as you may know it as...comic strips. Students had to create their own comic strips with invented characters.

Challenge: Be aware of those shadows! Students were to keep an eye peeled for items that created interesting shadows where they saw something new take form.

Challenge: Kindness hearts. For this challenge I gave students several different ideas on how to create hearts for kindness week to put in their windows at home.

Challenge: Create outside of challenges. I gave several activity options that included both indoor and outdoor opportunities. Students really stepped up to creating wonderful artworks. 

For this unit students were inspired by the Assemblages of Joseph Cornell and Robert Rauschenberg. With a ruler students measured five sections on a piece of paper then in each section drew a different object making sure to crop on at least three sides. Students used pen to create cross hatching shading, afterwards they used watercolor to paint four values in the backgrounds. Students then used rulers to create armatures out of poster paper to assemble their work on an Abstract painted background at different heights. 
Vocabulary Learned: Assemblages, 2D vs 3D, observational drawing, hatching & cross hatching, shading technique, Value, cropping, armatures, levels & heights, Abstract art, line work, Joseph Cornell, Robert Rauschenberg. 
Materials Used: 8'x9' piece of paper, pencil, various objects, rulers, pen, watercolor, scissors, hot glue guns, black & white tempera paint, cardboard. 

For this unit students learned about Contour art, watercolor techniques and wire sculpture. Students had to manipulate new materials while improving hand-eye coordination. 
Vocabulary Learned: Contour art, watercolor techniques, silhouette, interior and exterior line, layering technique, wash, texture, wire sculpture, connection types- wrap & twist, hand-eye coordination. 
Materials Used: Watercolor paper, pencil, black colored pencil, watercolor paint, electrical color coated wire. 

For this unit my Student Teacher Kayla Thoits had the opportunity to teach Value through the inspiration of the artist Keith Haring. Keith Haring was a street artist in the late eighties and early nineties where he created glorified stick figures through pose and movement incorporating vibrant colors. Students learned how to mix paint to gain three values using one of their primary colors and then another three values through complementary colors.
Materials Used: Pencil, scissors, black crayon, glue, tempera/acrylic paint, ruler. 
Vocabulary Learned: Keith Haring, Street Art, Movement, Value, Design Element, Color Wheel, Complementary colors, Primary colors, outlining, 

For this unit students learned about the Design Element Texture through the inspiration of Moroccan Pottery and their rich culture. When creating textures instead of using materials such as bubble wrap or sandpaper students instead created the illusion of texture through design. This multi media project involved learning correct painting techniques and the freedom of color and design. 
Materials Used: Pencil, sharpie, white crayon, construction crayon, watercolor paint. 
Vocabulary Learned: Design Element, Texture, Illusion, Design, Symmetry, Moroccan Tradition, Pottery, watercolor resist, solid coloring, soft round brushes, sizing. 

Students learned about One Point Perspective for this unit that included looking at Optical Illusion work from famous Graphic Designer MC Escher. Students learned how to create their own optical illusion making them appear more 3-dimensional with the help of prismacolor colored pencils, highlighting and shading. Students learned different watercolor techniques to paint in the tops of their shapes as well as the background for their photograph and Illusion. 
Vocabulary Learned: Professional Grade Materials, less wax-more pigment, Optical Illusion, MC Escher, vanishing point, warm versus cool colors, wet on wet watercolor techniques, shading & highlighting, Value, design, One point perspective, OP Art.
Materials Used: Prismacolor colored pencils, pencils, rulers, erasers, watercolor paint, watercolor paper, thin tape, scissors, glue.