Raccoons

Our fist graders learned about different kinds of paint when we created raccoons! First we read "The Kissing Hand" to get inspired to create raccoons!  Then we drew the outline of the body using basic shapes.  We talked about techniques and strategies for creating smooth lines with thick tempera paint. These strategies include: lots of paint on the brush, pull the brush towards yourself without picking the brush up until you run out of paint. For good craftsmanship we practiced painting the "sides first and then the middle." We also used "lawnmower lines" to smooth out the lines and cover all the white spaces.

After the grey paint dried, we cut white circles from squares by cutting the corners off.  We also did a double cut (fold the rectangle in half first) to get two eyes that were exactly the same! We outlined with black tempera paint and added stripes.  Finally, we talked about the difference between thick tempera paint and thin transparent watercolor paint for the background.

Learning Goals: I can...
- Create circles from squares
- Paint smooth lines
- Tell the difference between watercolor paint and tempera paint
- Use good craftsmanship when adding color

Tractor Landscapes

Fifth graders learned about the art elements of space, color, form and shape during our tractor project.   At Forest Grove we used tractors as our subject matter and at Bauer we drew pickup trucks!

Learning Goal: The learner will be able to...
- explain that a landscape is a picture of landforms
- explain how distance affects perceived color and size
- explain the distance between form and shape

We began our projects by creating landscapes.  We talked about how to show distance by drawing large hills in the front (foreground) and smaller hills in the background.  We also talked about how the hills are overlapping.  Both size and overlap help to create the illusion of space and distance.  Next, students were given yellow and blue tempera paint to create hills.  We talked about how hills look blueish in the distance.  Students began by mixing paint for a yellow-green hill and ended with a blue-green hill.

Next, we talked about the difference between a shape (2D enclosed space) and a form (3D version of a shape).  We started by drawing our tractors in 2D and then changed them into 3D drawings by changing the angle so that the viewer can see the thickness (third dimension) of the truck.

Students were encouraged to decorate their tractors in their own unique way!

Finally we cut out our tractors and glued them into the landscapes.  We made our barns small so that they looked like they were off in the distance.  We finished up by using watercolor paint to create sunsets with warm colors.