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)

Pop Art Printmaking, Part 2

Last month, 4th grade artists printed their Pop Art inspired plates. On the first day of printing, we learned about the printmaking process and the steps involved. Students pulled their first prints, using yellow ink on purple paper, to get a feel for how much ink is appropriate and how long to roll it out with the brayer.  

We set up our tables with a bench hook and brayer to roll out ink. Everyone folded a piece of manila paper so that there was a clean side and a messy side. We rolled out the ink using the brayer, listening for a sticky sound that told us that the ink was evenly spread out and ready. We placed the plate on top of the messy side of our manila paper and rolled the ink on top of our plate carefully. We moved it to the clean side and pressed a piece of colored paper on top. Using our hands to gently rub, we then flipped the paper and over and pulled it apart from the plate. Ta da!

For their second printmaking class, students were able to choose their own color of ink and paper. Students made multiple copies with their plate, which the printmaking process allows us to do. On the third printing day, students created prints using three colors of ink in an ombre style, with a gradation of colors. Many students enjoyed this effect and their prints from this day. 

After our printing classes, students selected our three best prints and mounted them on a black background. Since we had done printmaking for three classes, students had many prints to choose from! Students thought about which prints came out the most successfully, looking at the amount of ink, and also tried to display different color combinations. Students arranged them in an order before gluing them down.

After gluing down their three prints, students signed and titled their work. Many students asked each other for advice and also helped each other brainstorm creative titles! We did a gallery walk, so we could see everyone's finished work. Students noticed that there were some very popular subjects that came up often, such as Pokemon and Instagram, but everyone's prints looked different. Many students appreciated the thoughtful and clever titles that their friends were able to come up with, as well!

Students also did a turn and talk with a partner, using their fortune tellers, to share and reflect on their work. Students shared with each other what they were most proud of about their work, as well as something that was challenging and what they might have done differently or changed. Many students were proud of their color choices, the pop culture object they selected, and the way their prints came out, especially the ones using multiple colors. The most challenging part for many students was using the stylus to press into the foam to make their plate and rolling out the right amount of ink when printing. 

Below are some examples of our finished Pop Art prints, inspired by Andy Warhol. As you can see, students did an amazing job mounting their own work! Some prints are also on display now in the glass case in the lobby.

Cammy, 4th Grade (Cikacz)

Caroline A., 4th Grade (Graves)

Daniel, 4th Grade (Doherty)

Dimitri, 4th Grade (Dubuque)

Emma, 4th Grade (Cikacz)

Marwa, 4th Grade (Doherty)

Miah, 4th Grade (Graves)

Niko, 4th Grade (Cikacz)

Nola, 4th Grade (Mattson)

Nolan, 4th Grade (Dubuque)

Patrick, 4th Grade (Doherty)

Pirada, 4th Grade (Dubuque)

Rose, 4th Grade (Mattson)

Pop Art Printmaking, Part 2

Artists in 4th grade began their Pop Art inspired printmaking project several weeks ago, looking at examples of American Pop Art and creating their own printing plates inspired by current pop culture. It took us longer with all the snow days in between, but we were finally able to print our plates!

After creating their printing plates, students were ready to make their prints. We discussed how printmaking allows artists to make multiple copies of the same image, or repeat the same image. It is hard for us to imagine now that we are surrounded by newspapers, magazines and screens, but the invention of printmaking in the 1400's was the first process that allowed us to repeat the same image multiple times! 

We learned about the steps involved in the process of printmaking, as well as the necessary materials, before doing it ourselves. We split up the class so half the class printed on one day and the other half printed the following week.

Students selected colored paper and printing ink in complementary colors and set up their printing station with a bench hook to use for printing ink, a brayer to roll out the ink, and newspaper to keep the area clean.

First, we rolled out our printing ink with a brayer, listening for a sticky sound that tells us that it is a good amount in an even layer. We rolled the ink on top of the printing plate, making sure to get the corners! After moving the plate to the clean side of our printing station, we placed the paper on top and smoothed it over with our hands or a clean brayer. Then we pulled the print, lifting the paper to separate it from the plate. Ta da! We repeated this three times to make three prints.

The following class we learned about how print makers sign their prints. To sign a print, print makers use pencil and there are three components. In the left hand corner is the edition number as a fraction (math connection!). The edition is the total number of prints pulled at one time. So if you pulled 3 prints, your first one would be labeled 1/3, the second is 2/3 and the last one is 3/3. In the middle is the title if your print in quotes. In the right hand corner is your signature.

We also did a turn and talk and a gallery walk to share our Pop Art inspired prints. During the turn and talk, many students shared that the most challenging part of the printmaking process was making sure there was enough ink in an even layer on their printing plate before putting their paper on top. Some students found it challenging to press down hard enough on their Styrofoam plates with the stylus.

For many students, the thing they were most proud of was successfully pulling a clean print, and also having all of their lines and details come out. Here are some examples of our Pop Art inspired prints:

Elizabeth, 4th Grade

Jack, 4th Grade

Kailee, 4th Grade

Adrina, 4th Grade

Anita, 4th Grade

Collin, 4th Grade

Kelsey, 4th Grade

Bonsu, 4th Grade