3D Cardboard Relief Sculptures Inspired by Frank Stella

The Fifth Graders Studied the Pop Art of Frank Stella. They learned how he wanted his paintings to look dimensional and eventually created sculptures working with corrugated steel. He composed some dynamic relief pieces with unusual shapes and bright colors. Inspired by those sculptures, the students drew concentric shapes on corrugated cardboard. The shapes were cut and painted solid and then patterned. Additional patterns were added with craypas, then the pieces were assembled with spacers to create more depth and finally the students collaged all sorts of fun items on top. This project has many layers and steps and the 3D sculptures are fascinating to see.

William Steig Storybook Figures

As the 5th graders did an author study of William Steig in their ELA class, they learned about the artist William Steig in the Artroom. The students then got to create a storybook "bottle figure" based on their favorite Steig character. The base is made from a recycled water bottle and newspaper, first covered in plaster and then adorned with paint, fabric and other assorted collage supplies.  

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Greek Narrative Vases on Paper

This year the 5th graders made 2-D Greek vases on terracotta and bisque shaded cardstock. They drew narrative scenes on their vases with themes and colors similar to traditional Greek vases. The students drew scenes from everyday Greek life, War, Gods and Goddesses, Olympics and Mythology. The scenes are framed by typical Greek patterns and motifs.

5th Grade Chalk Pastel Butterflies

These butterflies were created in the Art Room by 5th graders in conjunction with their World History unit on the Holocaust and inspired by the poem "I Never Saw Another Butterfly." The line drawing was made with black oil pastel on black paper and then the color was added with chalk pastels. Butterflies are a symbol of hope.

Winter Trees- 5th grade

The fifth graders observed and sketched trees outside at the end of Fall. From those observations, they drew these trees using marker. The drawings were painted with watercolor and salt was added for a cold, winter-like effect. 

 

 

3D Greek Vases

Using recycled cardboard and paper-mache, the 5^th graders created three-dimensional Greek vases. Viewing samples of Ancient Greek red and black bisqueware and taking inspiration from their in-class lessons, the students depicted a central figure on their vase inspired by Greek mythology , accompanied by patterns and motifs. Their creations will be on display for the Greek Symposium. 

 

 

Egyptian Sarcophagi

The 5th graders studied Ancient Egypt in their classroom and had the opportunity to visit The King Tut Exhibit in NYC. Following their trip, they created a paper sarcophagus with typical Egyptian motifs and design style. They students used markers and craypas and made a two-sided figure stuffed with newspaper.

 

 

Fall Still Lifes, many styles, different grades

In the Fall I set up a still life in the middle of the art room with apples, gourds and pumpkins which I use for Second through Sixth graders to create a still life in an age appropriate style or technique. The Sixth graders were inspired by cubist artists like Picasso and Braque. They drew a simple line drawing from life, fragmented it with black marker and then filled each section with one color "family" of colored pencil. The Fourth graders were limited to a colored paper and black, white and the complementary color craypas for their still lifes while the Fifth graders could only tear construction paper. The Second graders looked at Cezanne's fruit paintings and created mixed media still lifes practicing drawing fruit, decoupage, wallpaper patterns and more.