Aesthetics Elective Bracket results

In the Aesthetics elective, students voted each week on two pieces of art (Renaissance and earlier, and post Renaissance).

 They started with eight on each side and voted it down to one.

The final winner was decided by a flip of a coin because the students just couldn't choose between The Starry Night and The Great Wave Off Kanagawa.

Piet Mondrian and Lines

One of the first projects I do with 2nd/3rd grade is studying line directions, primary colors and Piet Mondrian. The kids love it when I dress in primary colors and don my Piet Mondrian belt. We throw in a little math and proper ruler usage to create straight lines. The verbal directions are simple, but no two project ever turn out the same: three horizontal lines, three vertical lines, three lines bold sharpie, four lines thin sharpie, two rectangles of each primary color and sign in the bottom right corner.
I have updated our Artsonia with the kids' work.

Additionally, I read the kids The Dot by Peter Reynolds and had them create Piet Mondrian dots for International Dot Day.

Zen Pencils and Frida Kahlo

All last week, we have studied the life and artwork of Frida Kahlo, specifically her self portraits. Zen Pencils has a fantastic comic about Frida and self acceptance:
http://zenpencils.com/comic/frida/

Image Credit: Zen Pencils

Matisse, Calder and Shapes

Both Henri Matisse and Alexander Calder use SHAPE in their artwork.
Compare and contrast their work in a paragraph (5-7 sentences).
Sketch both of their works with titles/dates.
Choose one artist that you prefer and write why you prefer their work (3 sentences).
Create an original piece in color, inspired by one of the artists (ideas: mobile, collage, painting, etc).

The Gallery of Good is also a fundraiser for schools and students.
 

Poster from Gallery of Good

Poster from Gallery of Good

Emphasis writing assignment for Independent Study

Emphasis as independent study homework.
1. Define emphasis as it applies to art.
2. Choose one of the artworks listed below to look up online. Then write a paragraph (5-7 sentences) on how this artwork shows or uses emphasis.
3. If you need help, email me, or choose more than one if you can't write a paragraph on one.

Artworks that show emphasis (complied by Cindy at the Art Curator for Kids ):

• Grant Wood, Parson Weems’ Fable, 1939 (Line, Shape)
• Jonathan Borofsky, Walking to the Sky, 2004 (Line, Movement)
• Francisco Goya, The Shootings of May Third 1808, 1814 (Value, Color, Line)
• Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Swing, 1767 (Complementary Color, Movement)
• Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper, 1494-99 (Balance, Line, Space)
• Richard Anuszkiewicz, Deep Magenta Square, 1978 (Color, Line, Shape, Light)
  
• Albert Bierstadt, Sunrise on the Matterhorn, after 1875 (Size, Space, Light, Contrast)
• Georges de La Tour, St. Joseph the Carpenter, c. 1645 (Contrast, Value, Light)
• Andrew Wyeth, Christina’s World, 1948 (Space)
• Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Apollo and Daphne, 1622-25 (Movement, Line)
• George C. Ault, Sullivan Street, Abstraction, 1924 (Contrast, Shape, Line, Color, Light)
• Rembrandt van Rijn, Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq, known as the ‘Night Watch’, 1642 (Line, Value, Movement)
• Edgar Degas, The Star, ca. 1878 (Shape, Balance, Line, Movement)
• Andy Goldsworthy, Circles, Varied (Shape, Color, Value)
• Ancient Egypt, Nebamun Hunting in the Marshes, ca. 1350 B.C.E. (Scale/Size, Line)
• Fra Bartolommeo, Savonarola, 16th century (Light, Contrast)
• Jean Arp, Enak’s Tears (Terrestrial Forms), 1917 (Color, Shape)
• Caravaggio, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, 1601-02 (Composition, Line, Contrast, Light, Color)
• Alexander Calder, Saucers Skirting a Planet, 1968 (Shape, Color)
• Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes, c.1620 (Line, Movement, Contrast, Value)
• Michelangelo Buonarroti, The Creation of Man, 1508-12 (Negative Space, Line)
• Gertrude Käsebier, Portrait of Alfred Steiglitz, 1902 (Texture, Value)
• René Magritte, The Art of Living, 1967 (Shape, Space)