5th GRADE JAPANESE KOI FISH DRAWINGS

Many cultures have influenced Japan’s art, but it has distinct characteristics such as elegance in form and design. Japanese art honors nature’s splendor as seen in many landscape gardens, woodblock prints, and sculptures. Koi fish are often found in Japanese meditative landscape gardens. Students studied the history of the carp, or koi in Japanese. Originating in central Asia, Japanese farmers began keeping them for aesthetics in the 1800s. Over the years, koi fish meaning and symbolism has become iconic around the world. After sketching their koi fish on drawing paper, students used ink brush pens and colored pencils to create their work.

5th GRADE PERSPECTIVE PROJECTS

One of the biggest discoveries in art was during the Renaissance: linear perspective. Students studied artwork by Renaissance painters such as Da Vinci and Raphael, and compared them with Medieval paintings before perspective was discovered. We discussed how drawing one-point perspective is challenging because we change the angles of lines that we know to be parallel in real life, called orthogonal lines. These lines go back into space and converge to a single point called the vanishing point, which is located on the horizon line. Students practiced identifying the horizon line, vanishing point, and orthogonal lines in famous works of art, and then drawing examples of one-point perspective using rulers. We used a photograph of a pathway with trees going back into space as a reference photo for our project and completed the drawing using oil pastel techniques such as stippling and scumbling for texture in the landscape.

4th GRADE CHINESE HANGING SCROLLS

4th graders just finished studying ancient art of China. We learned about porcelain pottery, calligraphy, and different types of scrolls. These types of artwork are significant to Chinese culture and are also used today in contemporary Chinese art. Students viewed several hanging scrolls of vertical landscapes, which would be hung up for decoration. In Chinese culture there is a great appreciation for nature,so we often see this reflected in the artwork. Chinese landscapes included intricate brushwork as well as blended areas to give the appearance of mist in the distance, which we were able to replicate with soft pastels. Students created their landscapes by layering mountains and valleys. They included a cherry blossom tree in the foreground with a sunset in the background to show depth of space. They completed their projects by writing the Chinese characters for "mountain" and "valley." Chinese calligraphy is considered a form of art, and would often be incorporated and written directly on the artwork, such as a piece of poetry or the title of the work.

5TH GRADE MICHELANGELO INSPIRED HAND DRAWINGS

Michelangelo Buonarroti was talented in many fields including sculpture, painting, poetry, and architecture. He studied human anatomy to perfect realistic qualities of his subjects in his work such as the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the statue of David. 5^th graders studied their hands and learned how to draw from close observation to depict contours and a range of values to achieve realism. They shaded their hands using a hatching or cross-hatching technique as Michelangelo and other Renaissance artists used in their sketches.

4th GRADE UNICORN TAPESTRIES

In their Middle Ages Unit, 4^th graders studied the Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries. Students discussed the stories that these woven artworks told. They studied and practiced drawing the proportions of a horse, and created their own unicorn tapestry using colored pencils and oil pastels on black drawing paper. They finished their tapestries by adding small plants and details similar to the nature designs surrounding the Unicorn in Captivity. We are currently finishing up our last project in the Middle Ages, Gothic Cathedrals!

Student work

Unicorn in Captivity

SECOND QUARTER WORK

Dear Trivium Families,

Welcome back after a safe and happy winter break! The end of the second quarter was a busy one, and I wanted to catch everyone up with what we were working last quarter.

In 4th grade, students studied the significance of medieval illuminated letters and their importance due to the lack of education for the common people during the Middle Ages. Monks created these highly decorated symbols for people to understand a story or meaning, such as the Chi Rho page from the Book of Kells. Each student chose one of their initials to create an illuminated letter with markers and metallic pens on brown drawing paper to mimic the beautiful and intricate artwork created during that time.

In 5th grade, we're still in our large Renaissance unit and have two more projects yet to complete since this was a massive time for discoveries made in the arts. Students learned that the Renaissance, or “rebirth,” was a time of humanism. The Renaissance looked for realism and human emotion in art. 5^th graders created a lifelike still life composition using soft pastels after viewing several Renaissance still lifes. Using their knowledge of color, form, value, and light, students created subtle changes across the objects to make them appear realistic. They included all parts of a form and carefully blended their pastels as they shaded the fruit, vase, and background.