Colorful Countryside Landscapes, Inspired by David Hockney

After our Romare Bearden inspired mixed media collage cityscapes, 4th grade artists looked at and discussed the colorful countryside landscapes of British artist, David Hockney. We looked at a few examples of his landscape paintings, including the one below. 

David Hockney, North Yorkshire (1997)

Students noticed that in comparison to the urban cityscape, Hockney's country landscapes had a lot more fields, hills, trees and details like bales of hay. Students also noticed that Hockney used some very bright colors that are not necessarily natural to a landscape. In the painting above, many students thought the purple lines represented a river, while others thought it was a road. Students also noticed that Hockney included different lines, patterns and textures to add interest to the landscape. Even areas that are all green contain different marks to show the texture of the grass.

Students spent one class exploring color mixing, mixing different colors by combining two colors together, then three colors together, and even four. We noticed that when you mixed four colors together, they often got a little muddy. Students thought about colors they might want to use in their landscape painting. The following class, students sketched out their own countryside landscape, focusing on using lines to create different areas for color. 

They painted in the different areas of their landscape, mixing their own colors and including at least one tint, or a color mixed with white. Students referred to their color mixing experiments to help mix new colors. 

After this layer of paint dried, during the following class we added patterns on top of the different areas, such as stripes, polka dots, and various lines and shapes. We talked about complementary colors and how you might use these colors for the patterns to help provide contrast with the background color. 

Using smaller brushes, students also added details such as trees, houses, animals, cars, clouds, etc. We talked about how using the smaller brushes can really help with painting small details and sometimes it is about choosing the right tools for the job to make it easier. When we were done with our paintings, we participated in a gallery walk so we could see everyone's work. We noticed that students used many different colors and patterns and included a lot of fun details, such as animals, barns, hot air balloons and tractors. Below are examples of our colorful David Hockney inspired landscape paintings.

Aliana, 4th Grade (Doherty)

Anna, 4th Grade (Cikacz)

Bianca, 4th Grade (Doherty)

Brady, 4th Grade (Graves)

Breanna, 4th Grade (Dubuque)

Jason, 4th Grade (Mattson)

Jaylyn, 4th Grade (Dubuque)

Kate R., 4th Grade (Mattson)

Kate S., 4th Grade (Mattson)

Lucas, 4th Grade (Cikacz)

Mia, 4th Grade (Dubuque)

Nabila, 4th Grade (Graves)

Sila, 4th Grade (Graves)

Yazmin, 4th Grade (Dubuque)

Abstract Cardboard Sculptures, Inspired by Frank Stella

Last month, 1st grade artists looked at and discussed the work of artist Frank Stella. We learned that he is a contemporary artist, which means he is still alive and making art today.  

Frank Stella, Pachanak (1979)

Stella began his career making abstract art, focusing on geometric shapes, and later on he explored large 3D collage artworks. We looked at and discussed some of his later 3D artworks. Students noticed that Stella used many different kinds of shapes, materials and colors.  

Frank Stella, Shark Massacre (1988)

We also discussed the abstract nature of his work, focusing on what we noticed and observed in the artwork. We spent some time on one artwork in particular, called Shark Massacre. Some students thought the sharp triangles reminded them of shark fins, while others connected the shapes to waves on the ocean and other students felt they were similar to rows of sharp teeth. We talked about how abstract work allows us to have personal interpretations, depending on how we see and connect to the work.

After discussing his work, we learned that we could combine different pieces of cardboard to create our own abstract sculptures in different ways. One method we focused on is slotting, which involves cutting a slot into two different pieces and sliding them together. Students chose several different pieces of cardboard and combined them together, using slotting among other techniques. We added glue to make sure all the pieces were secure and let them dry. 

The following class, students painted their cardboard sculptures, making sure to turn them around to get all the different sides. Students expertly mixed together a variety of different colors, sharing "recipes" with each other for new colors. After allowing them to dry, we added patterns to the sculptures during the next class. Students brainstormed different pattern examples, such as stripes, polka dots, zig zag lines, repeated shapes, etc. Students also got metallic paint to use, which worked well with many different color backgrounds.

The very last step was to coat the sculptures with a layer of Mod Podge, to seal the paint and to make sure all the pieces stayed together. Students also created titles or names for their sculptures, thinking about what inspired their design or what their sculptures reminded them of. Below are some examples of our abstract Frank Stella inspired sculptures on display at the recent Art & Music Extravaganza

 

 

Anna, 1st grade (Massa)

Katie, 1st grade (Salvucci)

NJ, 1st grade (Salvucci)

Sophie, 1st grade (Salvucci)

Romero Britto Inspired Embossed Metal Artworks

Continuing our exploration of Brazil, as part of our Arts Around the World curriculum this year for 2nd grade, we learned about contemporary Brazilian artist, Romero Britto. Britto was born and raised in Brazil and now lives and works in Miami, Florida. He still makes artwork today and is well known for his art, which is on display in many museums around the world and also in public spaces, such as airports, parks, and shopping areas.

Romero Britto, Children of the World (2006)

We looked at some examples of his artwork and students noticed the bold lines, colorful patterns, shapes, and fun, playful nature. We brainstormed our own ideas for artwork, inspired by Britto's style. 

Romero Britto, A Brand New Day (2006)

Students came up with four different sketches for ideas, focusing on one object -- such as a shape, symbol, food, animal, or alphabet letter -- and adding different lines, shapes and patterns to that design. Students then selected their favorite sketch and drew it on a square piece of paper, using a Sharpie to outline their shapes and lines and make those lines thicker.

The following class, students learned about embossing, which is a technique where you carve, mold or stamp a design on a surface, like paper or metal, so that it stands out in relief. The two materials typically used for embossing are paper and metal. Metal embossing is used to put a design on metal sheets. The metal is pushed with an embossing tool or stylus to create a raised effect on the opposite side. 

Students taped their design on top of an aluminum sheet, so it would not move around. Then they placed this on top of a piece of felt, which provided a softer surface to work on. Using a wooden stylus, students pressed down on all their drawn lines. Students were amazed to see their lines coming through, creating a bumpy raised design on the opposite side of the metal sheet! 

After they went over all their lines once, they removed the paper on top and went over all their lines again with a blunt pencil. This creates a bumpy texture that you can see on both sides of the metal, but we used the side where the lines were raised. After students were done embossing, they used colored Sharpie markers to color in the areas in between the raised lines of their design. The lines created borders for their shapes, and we discussed color choice and how to use complementary colors to help their designs and patterns stand out.

The final step involved getting the metal hot glued to a background color, creating a frame for their work. Below are some examples of our finished embossed metal artworks, inspired by Romero Britto: 

Priya, 2nd grade (O'Leary)

Gavin, 2nd grade (O'Leary)

Mia, 2nd grade (O'Leary)

Lory, 2nd grade (O'Leary)

Ethan, 2nd grade (O'Leary)

Yulissa, 2nd grade (McIsaac)

Pedro, 2nd grade (McIsaac)

Karolena, 2nd grade (McIsaac)

Maria Clara, 2nd grade (Pearse)

Lily L., 2nd grade (Pearse)

Deakin, 2nd grade (O'Connor)

Destanie, 2nd grade (McCarthy)

Raffi, 2nd grade (O'Connor)

Aliah, 2nd grade (McCarthy)

Brixton, 2nd grade (O'Connor)

Connor H., 2nd grade (O'Connor)

Ella, 2nd grade (McCarthy)