PROGRESS

I am excited to post some examples of student art in progress. 3rd and 4th grade finished their unit on color, where they studied color theory including the color wheel, primary, secondary, complementary, warm, cool, and monochromatic color harmonies. We talked about why color theory is important in art and how artists choose color schemes in their artwork. 

3rd grade has been spending the past couple of weeks studying the style of impressionism and the artist Claude Monet. Impressionist artists created paintings with intentional short brush strokes, to convey mood and emotion of the subject matter rather than a realistic interpretation. Monet completed 30 some versions of his Rouen Cathedral at different times of day and weather to reflect changes in appearance under different lighting conditions. After the scholars completed their unit on color, they were able to choose warm or cool colors using oil pastels in their versions of Rouen Cathedral.

Examples of Rouen Cathedral series by Monet

Examples of student work in progress

4th grade has been studying art of the Middle Ages, which is also the unit they are studying in history. We discussed highlights of the Middle Ages, including monks and monasteries and illuminated manuscripts. The scholars learned that illuminated manuscripts were highly important because they served as a means of communication for the common people since few could read or write. Illuminated manuscripts were highly decorated and detailed images that had a meaning or told a story. We studied the Book of Kells, one of the most well preserved examples of illuminated manuscripts, and have begun creating their own illuminated letters using one of their initials.

Chi Rho page from the Book of Kells

Illuminated manuscript

Illuminated manuscript

Student illuminated letter in progress

In 5th grade, we will be studying art of the Renaissance for most of the first semester, which also parallels their unit in history. The Renaissance was the rebirth of Greek and Roman culture and a wealth of great art was produced during this time. 5th grade has been looking at line, value, space, light, shape, and form in Renaissance art and discovering how artists used these elements to create 3D realism. They have been practicing drawing forms in their sketchbooks and are completing their sphere drawing project in the next week.

Leonardo Da Vinci

Albrecht Durer

Jan Van Eyck

Student work in progress

More photos of student work to come in the next week as we complete our projects!

UPDATES

Hello Archway families,

I wanted to check in to let everyone know that our academic year has gotten off to an excellent start! Classes have been going well so far, and the scholars are beginning to dig in to some exciting things they'll be learning in art this year. 

If you are looking to check and see what your child is doing in art class, this is the place to be! I will be updating my blog with information for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade every couple of weeks. I had the pleasure of talking with several of you at each school's curriculum night last week and the week before. We discussed the art curriculum and expectations for each grade.

In class, we began the year discussing the basic elements and principles of art. We started with the element line, and what artists can do with different types of lines. In 3rd and 4th we moved on to an exploration of color theory. 3rd is starting their warm and cool versions of Monet's Rouen Cathedral in oil pastel. We began talking about art of the Middle Ages in 4th grade, specifically the Book of Kells and illuminated manuscripts. The scholars learned about the art history and are now creating illuminated letters of their own! 5th grade went straight from line into value, shape, and form. We began our unit on art of the Renaissance and looking at how artists use light and value to create the illusion of 3D objects. The scholars are starting to creating spheres with graphite.

I hope that everyone had a restful long weekend and I look forward to a new week of learning and creating!

Kindly,

Ms. Kober