fifth Grade Art

Coil Pot (Ceramics)

Fifth grade students learned about the art of hand building coil pots. They looked at images of Native American pottery as well as ancient Greek vases and saw many different ways coil pots could be built. They then sketched their own designs before they began rolling out their many, many coils. We covered the stages of clay (wet, leatherhard, bone dry, bisque, and glazeware) and discussed the firing processes. They finally painted their fired pieces with glazes and we fired them all a second time. They worked very hard on these and are so proud of themselves!

Remind your student that the *optional* holiday card contest entries are due Thursday, October 12.

Collaborative Mural

5th graders are learning about the environmental changes happening in the ocean, specifically the coral reefs. In art class, I introduced students to the artist and ocean conservationist, Wyland. As a grade level, we designed and created a mural to spread the message to make a change. We are entering this mural in Wyland's annual student mural contest. Wish them luck! This mural will be on display at Anna McDonald for a couple more weeks and will then be on display at the Manhattan Public Library.

Contour Line Portraits

Fifth graders used technology as well as acrylic paint to create these self portrait masterpieces! They were first introduced to two very inspirational portrait artists: Chuck Close and Bisa Butler. We looked at their art and watched some of their interviews about their work. Students then took selfies, focusing on interesting and BALANCED compositions. They used the Sketches School app on their ipads to trace contour lines over their photo. They used a variety of line weight to achieve visual BALANCE. After they were done tracing, they removed the photo from their drawing and these images were printed on overhead transparencies. Students then used acrylic paint to paint the backside of their transparencies. This is a challenging process because when they painted from the backside, they needed to unlearn the process of typical painting. It is similar to the viral “pancake art”. They started with their smallest details and then layered their larger shapes of paint on top of those. If they did not have a BALANCED composition, they added designs or backgrounds at this time. Finally, they chose a colored paper for their background and stapled that behind their painting.

Winter Tree Painting

Students used cool colored tempera paints to create a stricking winter's night scene. Students experimented with blending and mixing colors, and creating a radial design around a full moon. The next week, students layered stars, snow flakes, and tall evergreen trees. This was a nice, relaxing project where students just had fun putting paint to paper!

Food Zentangle Drawing

Fifth grade looked at work throughout art history that used food as the subject and/or the medium. We discussed how food has always been a common cultural element that everyone can relate to. Students then drew delicious foods and created emphasis with lines, patterns, and contrast. Yum!

Endangered Animal Drawing

Students began this drawing project by researching endangered animals using the WWF website. Students chose an endangered animal, learned about it's habitat, threats, endangered status, and more. They even got to see the Andy Warhol portfolio of prints he created of endangered animals from the 1980's. Students were encouraged to look up images and drawing tutorials related to their enimal. They finally used their choice of media to add color to their pictures.

In Progress: Mini Tapestry Weavings

Students are wrapping up their mini tapestries. Fifth graders have mastered the skills of threading a needle, tying knots, and weaving. Students also learned how to create a loom, make yarn fringe with rya knots, and remove a weaving from a loom. Some students took the fiber art exploration further and incorporated beads, braids, and more complex designs into their weavings. These should be finished by the end of April/begining of May.

Coming Soon: 1-Point Perspective Drawings!

Students will create a realistic street scene drawing using 1-pt. perspective. The key terms and ideas covered are "vanishing point", horizon line", "overlapping", "parallel lines", "space", "depth", and "guideline".

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