3rd grade artists
Royal Self Portraits! There were a lot of prince and princesses in 3rd grade! We started by talking about facial features and facial proportions. We drew together as a group talking about where facial features actually are on the head and proportions of them. One tip we talk about is that there is enough space for one eye in between your two eyes. Also ears go from eyes to the bottom of the nose. We also use lines across the face to properly place all of the facial features. They used a mirror to be able to look at themselves as it was a self-portrait. They did a little practice drawing from a mirror and drawing from observation. We really wanted to concentrate on drawing what they were seeing. When they started drawing their final they drew in pencil, added their royal details, traced in sharpie, erased any missed pencil lines and colored with crayons. We talked about techniques and suggestions that we could use with crayons. We talked about blending colors together, pressing hard and light to get different values, and of course staying in the lines and coloring in one direction. These turned out great and had a lot of royal artists!
Jim Dine Analogous Hearts. There were new words and new artists in 3rd grade. Jim Dine was introduced to 3rd graders along with the word analogous. Analogous colors are the colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. These colors also create a tertiary color such as red-orange or yellow-green. When saying a tertiary color, the primary color is said first. The students started out by using a ruler to split the paper into 4 sections. Next was drawing a large heart on a white 9x12" paper. They had to think of different designs to fill each section of the heart. Once everything was drawn in pencil they traced over with crayon. At least 2 of the sections had to be using analogous crayon colors. After crayon was watercolor and this is where the students would be blending analogous colors to create the tertiary colors. We discussed using water to blend the colors together, using more water for light colors, less water for dark colors, and using analogous colors in the checker pattern background. I think the kids had a harder time saying analogous than understanding what they were. These were bright and colorful and the kids love painting over crayon. They were matted on black paper once they were dry and ready for Fine Arts Night.
Clay Weaving. This project turned out beautifully. Students started out with clay to make their loom. They used guide sticks and a rolling pin to roll out a slab of clay. Students used tops of containers to trace around and cut out the middle circle. Next was cutting the outside and punching 15 holes around the circle. These dried and were fired and then weaving started. To create the warp we worked together as a group. We numbered our holes, put tape on the end of the yarn to create our "needle" end, and students followed my demonstration to create a pattern that would be the warp. Once the warp was created it was onto weaving. They could choose any color they wanted and when they needed to start a new color they tied the new yarn onto the previous piece of yarn. The pattern that they were following was over, under. The students heard over, under many times during this project and did a fantastic job of following that pattern. Weaving is very therapeutic for most students and it was a nice relax time for students to work on these weavings. They were SO proud of these and thought they were amazing. They had to show off theirs in the display case to all of their friends.
Cave Art is one of my favorite projects to do with 3rd grade because of the fun I get to see them have! The first day that Cave Art is introduced we take a virtual tour of the Cave of Lascaux. We discuss what animals we saw, what materials cave artists used, and how dark it must have been! Then they get to discover something under their tables. Animal pictures had been taped under their tables and they had to draw them under their tables. We turned off the lights and the little cave artists got to work. This gave them a tiny bit of what it felt like to be a cave artist. A lot say that it was uncomfortable and hard. The next day they got to make their own caver art pieces by crumpling up brown craft paper, making texture by covering the whole paper with earth tone chalk pastel, and then choosing an animal to draw with chalk pastel. The next day they joined their skills to create a group cave art. They had to work together to create a story with their pictures. They followed the same creating steps as the individual cave art. At the end of the day each group shared their story with their art. It was great to see the collaboration go into these pieces!
Landscapes were the buzz in 3rd grade. First we read the book "Sky Tree" that gives a lot of inspiration on landscapes and all the different seasons and how things change. We discussed foreground, middle ground, and background along with how landscapes become lighter as they go further away. We also did a little practice with a new way of drawing a tree. "Split V" trees were a big hit with 3rd graders and they caught on so quickly! Each of their landscapes had to have at least 1 "split v" tree. They also had to choose a season, time of day, and weather to show in their landscape. Students drew in pencil first, colored everything except the sky with crayon, and used watercolor to paint the skies. We discussed blending different colors to create a sunrise or sunset. The detail and creativity that went into these landscapes were amazing! I loved watching them create this project!