Pop Art Prints, Part 1

4th grade artists started off the year by learning about the Pop Art movement, which began in the 1950's. Artists focused on objects and scenes from everyday life and popular culture, borrowing techniques from commercial art and popular illustration, like comics and cartoons.

We looked at a few examples of screen prints made by Andy Warhol, who made multiple prints of his artwork. A lot of his art featured commercial products that were mass produced, so he chose to mass produce his artwork, as well.

Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup Cans (1962)

After sharing our observations, we discussed what popular culture means to us today. Each class made a list on the whiteboard, which included things like sports teams, music, video games, social media and fashion. Then students brainstormed at least four ideas for a print, featuring pop culture imagery that is important or meaningful to them. Students were also given reference images for inspiration, with sports teams logos, emojis and cartoon characters, among other things.

Each student selected one of their four ideas to make into a print that would be repeated multiple times. After placing their chosen drawing on top of a piece of styrofoam, students traced over their drawing with a wooden stylus. 

Then they removed the paper and went over their drawing again, to make the lines deeper. Below are some examples of the finished printing plates. 

Next class, we will be printing with our Pop Art plates, so stay tuned!

The Hosmer Learning Garden Sign is Up!

The sign that our 5th graders from Ms. Domermuth's class last year made for the garden is now up on the gate! 

Collaborative Line & Color Paintings

1st grade artists started the year by reviewing our different kinds of lines with the book Lines That Wiggle. 

Working collaboratively as a group at each table, students painted a variety of different lines on a large paper. We thought about how they might overlap and connect. For the second day of art class this school year, students remembered a lot about lines, as well as our painting clean up procedures!

Next class, students received their collaborative line paintings back. We noticed how the lines interacted with each other to create shapes and spaces. We painted these areas with tempera paint, remembering to wash out our brush between colors and make sure to get enough paint in our brush.

Students moved around their table to reach all the areas of their large line painting, and worked together to decide when it was done and ready for the drying rack. 

Some classes did a gallery walk of the finished artworks, while others took a look after some were displayed in the glass case in the lobby area. Check out some of our collaborative line paintings on display!

Etta, Marius, Anastasia and Nico's painting, 1st Grade (Mandile)

Line Challenge Resist Paintings

PK and Kindergarten artists started off the year by exploring line! Lines are a traveling mark, created when a dot goes for a walk. They help define the edges of shapes and space, and we can see them all around us!

We learned about the names of different lines, including straight, wavy, zig zag, curly, dotted and spiral. We also created some of our own, including a "shape line," "column line" and "castle line"! Using oil pastels, students drew a variety of different lines in their "line challenge" drawings, making them go all the way across their paper. They drew lines that we had learned about, and invented new lines from their imagination.

Next class, we explored what happens when we add paint on top of our oil pastel lines. We thought about what might happen and some students predicted that our lines might disappear, be covered by the paint, or change color, while others thought the lines might still show. We watched a demonstration of paint on top of oil pastel and noticed that we could still see the oil pastel lines through the paint! We learned that this is because the oil pastel and paint resist each other, or move away from each other, instead of mixing together. 

Students painted on top of their oil pastel lines, working on washing out their brush between colors and trying to cover the entire paper with paint. It was fun to see resist in action, and watch our lines magically show through the paint! 

Below are examples of our artwork, some of which are on display on the bulletin board in the connector hallway!

Griffin, Kindergarten (Bolton)

Isabella, Kindergarten (Tan)

Logan, Kindergarten (Martignetti)

Willow, Kindergarten (Tan)

We will continue our exploration of line this term, so stay tuned for more!

Traveling Around the World

This year, 2nd grade artists will be traveling around the world in their art and music classes! This summer I met up with our fantastic music teacher, Ms. Patashnick, to plan ideas and work on curricula together. We designed an 'Around the World' theme for 2nd grade this year, complete with passports!

In art class, we will be learning about the culture, art forms, techniques and artists from a variety of different countries, including Australia, Brazil, France, Ghana, India, Japan and Morocco. In music class, students will be learning songs, culture, musical traditions and about musicians from those same countries, as well.

During our first week of art and music, students filled out their passports and got their photos taken so that we are ready for travel this year! We talked about what passports are for and students are excited to have them stamped after each 'trip'! In addition to identification, our passports will help us keep track of our journey and our learning. Students began by writing down what they like about art and music, their favorite musical instruments and art materials, and the country they are most interested in 'visiting' and learning about.

Our first stop is India, so stay tuned. Feel free to ask your students about their artistic and musical travels throughout the year!

Doodle Mural

4th and 5th grade artists started off the year by doodling! After discussing art class expectations and a quick art room scavenger hunt, we got right down to art making on the first day. 

Doodles are usually simple drawings. They can be abstract, with repeated lines, shapes and patterns, or they can be representational, with recognizable objects and characters. Everyone can doodle! Although doodles are often seen as a sign of being bored, many people find that doodling can help them focus.

Students selected a Post-It and a ballpoint pen, skinny marker and/or Sharpie marker to doodle with. Doodling is often done spontaneously, without advance planning, so students were encouraged to just begin and see where it took them. Some students started in the middle of their Post-It paper and worked their way outwards, while others started in the corners. 

Some students thought about a specific theme, such as outer space, animals or cartoon characters. Others experimented with a variety of lines and shapes, or repeating a pattern. Some students included their name or initials within their doodle.

After finishing their doodle, students brought their Post-It over to a larger grid and chose a spot for their doodle. Some students selected a spot based on the doodles around it, to connect with someone else's doodle. After a week of art classes, it was transformed into a collaborative mural! 

The doodle mural is now on display in the connector hallway, on a bulletin board, so look for our doodles!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back Hosmer artists and families! I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing summer! I look forward to seeing returning artists and meeting our new ones this September. 

For those of you new to Hosmer, my name is Ms. Kim and I am the art teacher. I am excited to be going into my second year teaching and making art with Hosmer students. I moved to the Boston area last year, from New York. I had most recently been living and teaching in Brooklyn, and before that, I worked for several years in an arts non-profit organization in Manhattan. 

In art this year, we will be exploring a variety of materials and techniques, learning about artists and art forms from around the world, and creating art works that express who we are as artists and human beings. I strive to create student-centered lessons and emphasize process over product. We will also focus on engaging in direct inquiry and problem solving in creative ways!  

In addition, this summer I met up with our fantastic music teacher, Ms. Patashnick, to plan ideas and work on curricula together. We designed an 'Around the World' theme for 2nd grade this year, complete with passports! We will be learning about art from around the globe, including India, Morocco, France, Japan and Australia.

This year, we have a Word Wall on the back wall of the art room. The Word Wall is to help us remember the art vocabulary words that we learn throughout the year. Words are color coded, so you can tell which vocabulary words connect to art materials, techniques, artist's names, etc. 

Every student has one 40-minute art class each week. Student artwork is displayed throughout the school and in the spring, we have the district-wide art show, as well as our annual Art & Music Extravaganza.

Check back here often to stay updated on what each grade level is learning about and making in art. You can also follow or subscribe to our blog by adding your email in the 'Follow by Email' box on the upper right hand side of the site.  

We also have an 'Amazing Arts' newsletter that comes out every term for more information on what students are learning in music and art, as well as upcoming dates for concerts and exhibitions. We will be sending home a newsletter in the beginning of September. If you would like to contact me directly, please send me an email: haein.kim@watertown.k12.ma.us