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.

4TH GRADE CONTOUR LINE OBSERVATIONAL DRAWINGS

Students in 4^th grade used drawing pencils to create contour line observational sketches from a conch shell. They drew four contour line drawings of the same object: a continuous contour (one continuous line), blind contour (drawing without looking at the paper and observing the shell only), modified contour (a line drawing including texture and detail), and a cross contour (drawing lines that follow the surface of the shell’s form).

5TH GRADE: FORMS

A simple yet beautiful project that teaches form, value, shading techniques, and a great introduction to realism in the Renaissance!

ELEMENTS & PRINCIPLES

The elements of art and principles of design are important, foundational materials for understanding and creating art. They are known as "essential knowledge" or "common visual language" in art. This year, we will talk about many different styles of art, artists, and time periods, and all of the art that exists in the world has some combination of these seven elements and seven principles. It is essential that students have a good grasp of that knowledge in order to understand how and why the artwork was created and also how to make our own artwork better.



We can see the art elements in nature in this photograph: line in the road and the fence, shape of the barn and the road, color of the cool blue sky, green grass, and red barn, form of the building, trees, and clouds, texture of the trees, grass, road, and sky, and space between us and the horizon.



In this painting we can see several examples of the principles of design being used. The tree branches set up a rhythm. Emphasis is on the reed door on the house. There is movement in the brush strokes on the leaves. Unity is created with the cool color dominance. Contrast is seen in the warm and cool color differences. The large tree trunk on the right balances the smaller trees on the left.

The Art of Education website has great reference handouts for the elements and principles!