1st & 2nd grade Gallery

1st graders created

Tree Silhouette Paintings 

inspired by 

Alma Woodsey Thomas

What we learned:

• Alma Woodsey Thomas was an African-American Abstract painter and art teacher.

• She painted in dashes of color, not connecting her lines

• She used bright colors and sometimes painted in circles (we did this, too!)

• How to draw a tree using Ys & Vs

Mondrian Dots

1st grade

What we learned:

• Red, Yellow, and Blue are called Primary Colors

• Consecutive circles means a circle inside of a circle inside of a circle

• Perseverance! Creating consecutive circles that fill up a whole paper takes focus and perseverance.

• We can be “inspired” by a piece of artwork and yet make our artwork look different, like squares turn into dots!

• Piet Mondrian was an artist who loved squares and rectangles, primary colors and black lines. His paintings were inspired by looking down on the streets of New York City and drawing a simple version of buildings, streets and cars. 

2nd grade

Henri Rousseau Tigers

What we learned:

• About the French artist Henri Rousseau: that he never left France… but painted jungles!

• That “Magical Realism” means artwork that is based in reality with a touch of magic or unrealistic elements

• How to blend oil pastels

• How to draw a tiger in the style of “magical realism”

• How to draw jungle plants

• That gluing fake leaves onto their drawing makes it a “mixed media” artwork!

2nd graders made

“Scarfies”

(Self-Portraits wearing scarves!)

What we learned:

• Sgraffito- an Italian term that means “to etch into” a surface. We created this effect by layering oil pastels (warm colors underneath cool colors) and used etching tools to create patterns in our scarves, hats, boots and mittens.

• We read the book “Extra Yarn” and talked about what an Illustrator does.

• We reviewed the oil pastel and watercolor resist technique.

Mugs of Hot Cocoa - 1st grade

This winter, the 1st graders learned about folk artist Heather Galler. We looked at the colors, lines and patterns she uses in her artwork, then created a background inspired by her style.  We made 3-dimensional mugs of cocoa with hot steam using construction paper and quilt batting.

Winter Foxes

1st grade

These amazing artists learned how to draw a fox using 3 simple shapes!

2nd grade dogs 

are ready for Sweater Weather!

What we learned:

1. How to make painted paper

2. How to draw a variety of dogs

3. How to weave with paper

4. Warp- the part of the weaving that doesn’t move

5. Weft- the strips that you weave over & under the warp

1st grade Winter Landscapes

Fall Tree Drawing

1st grade

What we learned:

• How to draw a bare tree using ‘Y’s and ‘V’s

• How to color with oil pastels; that they can be layered and mixed!

• How to create a watercolor resist by painting right on top of the oil pastel. Water(color) and oil don’t mix!

Fall Pumpkins

1st grade

What we learned:

• Printing- how to take an object other than a paintbrush to create lines (we used cardboard)

• How to draw and add shading to a pumpkin

• Cutting with scissors

• How to create texture with paper for the grass

Larry the Line Paintings

1st grade

What we learned:

• The names for Vertical, Diagonal and Horizontal lines

• Exploration with how many different lines you can make

• How to make a snake head with a triangle

• How to make a snake with 1 long line using a paintbrush

• How to add patterns with lines and shapes using sharpie markers and crayons

2nd grade

Flower Bouquets

Inspired by Folk artist

Heather Galler

Abstract Expressionist Self-Portraits

2nd grade

What we learned:

• Abstract = Lines! Shapes! Colors! Not meant to look like an object

• Expressionist = Artwork that expresses feelings

• Self-Portrait = A portrait of yourself

2024-2025 Gallery (from here up)

2nd grade created

Sea Otters

What we learned:

• Many facts about sea otters- ask a 2nd grader what they know!- including that mama sea otters carry their babies on their bellies for up to 8 months until they learn how to swim

• How to draw a sea otter mama and baby

• How to add texture using washable markers

• How to turn markers into watercolor paints by adding water

• How to paint lines that look like ripples of water

2nd graders made

“Scarfies”

(Self-Portraits wearing scarves!)

What we learned:

• Sgraffito- an Italian term that means “to etch into” a surface. We created this effect by layering oil pastels (warm colors underneath cool colors) and used etching tools to create patterns in our scarves, hats, boots and mittens.

• We read the book “Extra Yarn” and talked about what an Illustrator does.

• We reviewed the oil pastel and watercolor resist technique.

Spring Bird Collages

1st grade

What we learned:

• A collage  is a piece of artwork created with more than 1 kind of paper

• How to draw a simple bird

• How to draw a birdhouse