Wednesday, October 5, 2011

A Collection of Cells

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jette, George Seurat, 1884


During the 1880s, artist George Seurat invented pointillism, a method of painting entirely with dots or points of paint.  Around the same time in history, scientists discovered cells while looking at plant and animal tissue under a microscope.  ¡Their discovery led to the Cell Theory which states that a cell is the smallest unit of a living organism;  cells are the building blocks of life;  and plants and animals are made of cells.  ¡Just as pointillism consists of thousands of dots of paint, plants and animals consist of thousands of cells. 
Based on this knowledge, students:
  • Selected a photograph of a plant or animal and its corresponding cell. 
  • ¡Drew and labeled the cell as if looking at it under a microscope.
  • Used the science of pointillism to recreate the picture of the plant or animal by painting dots of color closely together.
  • Filled the entire page with “cells” of color.
















Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Fauvism Landscapes

Fauve Landscape, Andre Derain

Students learned about the "Wild Beasts," artists such as Andre Derain and Henri Matisse, who used "wild" colors in their paintings.  In this style, students created their own fauvism landscapes, using colors that were clearly unrealistic - but quite beautiful.

















Children Know Peace

Sixth and seventh grade students participated in the Lions Club Peace Poster Contest.  The theme this year was "Children Know Peace."











Tuesday, September 27, 2011

A Bird's Eye View

¡

¡
In Japan, beautiful streamers in the shape of Koi are flown in celebration of the Boy's Day Festival in May.  These colorful fish symbolize the Japanese parents’ hopes that their sons will demonstrate strength and courage.  Koi are also thought to bring good luck.  After viewing different paintings of koi, eighth grade students were asked to draw a balanced, “bird’s eye view” of two koi with  at least two different types of plants.  They outlined their drawing with black permanent marker and colored in the fish and plants with oil pastels.  Finally, they used blue glitter paint for the water.