Art at Hosmer: Animals with Tails

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Animals with Tails

1st grade artists explored color and color mixing recently, combining colors to create a variety of new colors, and painting warm and cool color concentric circles, inspired by Kandinsky.

After our color mixing explorations, we began our new project, about animals with tails! Unlike humans, many animals have tails, which help them do a variety of different things. We brainstormed different animals that have different shaped tails, inspired by a variety of different colored and shaped tails.

After our brainstorming session, students selected one animal and sketched it, breaking it down into shapes. After sketching, students got a felt tail to glue down on a larger piece of paper, and drew their animal's body around the tail. We considered composition, so there would be space for the animal's body parts and tail, and how different animals are taller or wider.

The following class, students mixed colors to paint their animal's body. We thought about the texture and patterns on our animals, whether they are furry, scaly, or feathered. We tried to paint the body in layers, painting the largest parts and adding smaller details and patterns on top.

During the last class, students painted the background for their animal, which included the animal's habitat or environment. Students mixed new colors and thought about how to show where the animal might live.

Some students painted an outdoor environment, including the sky, water, grass and desert. Some students painted an indoor environment, like a barn or a living room. Here are some examples of our animals with tails!