2nd Graders Create a Winter Wonderland!

  Students gained some valuable information during this project: tissue paper can be used to add color to a painting!  We started with watercolor paper, and added snowflakes and wind.  A look at photographs of real snowflakes up close helped us to get the structure right.  All that was needed for the beautiful blended colors (cool colors, of course!) was bleeding tissue paper and lots of water, over and under the tissue. Students overlapped the tissue to avoid white areas.  The finishing touch was glitter glue in white, silver and blue!

4th Graders Head to the Ocean!

 This challenging project began with a major painting operation! Students were required to mix 4 tints of blue, from light to darker, to create the ocean. This task is not as easy as it might seem!  We looked at the impressive murals of Robert Wyland first, to grasp the idea of looking up from the ocean depths and being able to see the sun through the water.  After lots of drawing practice, students cut out and glued, or drew, their favorite sea creatures in silhouette.  The results are striking!

3rd Grade Winter Landscapes

 I am not a big fan of winter, but these beautiful landscapes look just magical!  Students experimented with white charcoal pencils and chalk blending, finding inspiration in the swirling wind and night sky of Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night.  I took on the task of adding the speckled snow effect with a toothbrush and watered down acrylic paint.  The last step: white glitter in a few areas, to achieve that sparkling snow effect. LOVE these!!

5th Grade Gesture Drawings

 5th graders have been hard at work on a figure drawing unit, part of which is tackling gesture drawing.  They began by posing for each other, practicing the gesture technique, and focusing on proportion.  Students then developed an idea for a final drawing that involved figures in action, and also included music. There were so many creative ideas! Students put great thought into representing music through line, color, and shape, which is a challenging concept. Bravo, Tesago kids!

Snowflake Secrets

   
     First graders learned the secrets of making an impressive snowflake, which involved beginning with a circle of tissue paper, not a rectangle.  Thinner paper makes a big difference!  Students did some fancy folding, and cut shapes from all 3 sides. They were all very impressed with the results!