1st Grade Art
First Grade art emphasizes the Elements of Art, Portraits, Still Lifes, Ancient Art from the Stone Age, Mesopotamia and Egypt, India and Mexico. Students develop more skills in Visual/Artful Thinking, composition, safe use of materials and different techniques. The are introduced to self-reflections using a rubric. Project duration may 2-6 weeks, depending upon the number of steps and the complexity. Below are a list of projects for first grade at G.W.A. Each year, the teacher chooses about 9 of these projects.
1. Line Pattens or Mixed Media Ananzi Adventure Stories
2. George Washington Portrait a la Picasso and/or VanGogh in Oil Pastel
3. Self-Portrait Drawing
3. Tempera Seasons Cycle & Tree Drawing and Printmaking
4. Colorwheel, Color Mixing, Correct Brush & Palette Use
5. Early Man Pictograph Chalk Pastel Paintings
6. Ocean Pen and Watercolor Compositions - Line & Pattern Designs
7. Ancient Egyptian Funereal Masks - Relief Sculpture
8. Decorative Indian Elephants
9. Indian Tile Printmaking with Rotational Symmetry
10. Chalk Pastel Flower Child Paintings a la Diego Rivera
11. Tempera or Chalk Pastel Floral Sill Lifes
12. Tempera Bouquets of Peace
13. Faux Stained Glass Character Trait Windows in Watercolor
14. Faux Glass Art Sculptures with Glass Paint and Plastic
15. Collage Value Still Lifes
Mixed Media Ananzi the Spider Adventure Stories — Students study literature in homerooms that include Ananzi the Spider. Using chalk pastel, they create a hazy backdrop for their black oil pastel Ananzi spider and his sons. Then they add white oil pastel webs in the negative space. After a watercolor wash, students then dictate their adventure story of Ananzi and his sons, which is affixed below the artwork.
Line and Pattern Designs — Students studied artwork that emphasized line by Hokusai, Klee and other contemporary artists, and then they created their own line designs using thick and thin lines as well as a defined palette and use of pattern.
Seasons Tree Drawing and Printmaking — Students study the seasons in Gr. K & 1, and bring that knowledge into their art for this project. They learn how to draw the structure of a tree, which they use for printmaking, then they use tempera paint to show what the tree would look like in each of the seasons.
Portraits a la Picasso and/or Van Gogh — The students are introduced to the concept of self-portrait vs. portrait, and they discuss various famous self-portraits and portraits, similarities and differences, and their importance in different cultures in history. The students then created their own self-portraits or portrait of a historical figure in oil pastel using one or more of the styles observed.
2017-18 Self-Portraits in Oil Pastel a la Picasso and Van Gogh. In 2019-20, we will do portraits of George Washington in this style and self-portraits in a more realistic style.
Ocean Compositions Using Line Designs -- Students study ocean life in their homerooms, and in art class, they create compositions of ocean life while practicing all of the lines they have learned and incorporating them into patterns and designs. This project lasts all year, and we come back to it if we have a single week before break or a substitute, etc. Students learn to blend colored pencils for a more painterly effect as well as a light watercolor wash when the drawing is complete.
Early Man Cave Art in Chalk Pastel -- When students learn about Early Man in their homerooms, in art class we talk about a famous cave art by early man, in particular, the Caves of Lascaux in France, Caves of Almeria in Spain, and even the early man and ancient Native American art of the Colorado Plateau Region (CO, UT, AZ, WY) . Students learn to create implied texture of rock surfaces with chalk pastel, and how to distinguish and create the difference in geometric and organic shapes.
Relief Sculpture Egyptian Funereal Maks -- When students learn about Ancient Egypt in their homerooms, in art class we talk about the art that Ancient Egyptians left behind that give us a glimpse and understanding into their culture, in particular, those related to their burial practices. Students create plaster cast masks on cardboard, paint them gold, then detail them with Ancient Egyptian symbols.
Bouquet of Peace- the students were introduced to Pablo Picasso's version of the Bouquet of Peace and did their own interpretation using markers and paint.
Chalk Pastel Flower Boys and Girls Paintings -- When students learn about Mexico and in their homerooms, in art class we talk about a famous Mexican artist named Diego Rivera, who is known for his murals depicting the history and culture of Mexico. Patterned after his paintings of children in the flower market, students paint flower girls and boys in chalk pastel.
East Indian Tiles using radial symmetry -- When students learn about Mesopotamia and later India their homerooms, in art class we talk about the ways culture and religion affect and inform artwork of that country. Students compare tiling of the different countries they have discussed so fay...Mexico, India and the Middle East and then they create their own tiles using a printmaking tecnhique and radial symmetry.
Faux Stained Glass Windows Featuring Character Traits -- In the classroom the students were learning about world religions so in art class we focused on the beautiful stained glass windows in many Christian churches, cathedrals and other places of worship and commerce. Students also learned about iconography/symbols in art and discussed the character traits used in G.W.A. Character Education program. Using watercolor and black china marker on watercolor paper, the students made their own "stained glass" using iconography associated with character traits.
Faux Glass Art Sculptures a la Dale Chihuly -- Furthering the study of types of glass arts, students look at more modern works and distinguish between functional and decorative art, as well as the unique elements of glass art in terms of Art Elements of line, 2D shape (windows), 3D form (sculpture). Additionally we consider color and how translucence and reflected light through colored glass can take a 2D piece of art and make it 3D by its reflection, cast light and shadows. Students used the concept of radial symmetry while using glass paint on laminated wire circles for this project.
Tempera Floral Still Life Paintings -- Students continue learning about the difference between portraits and still lifes as opposed to landscape paintings. After learning color mixing and the correct use of a palette and brushes, perspective and balance in composition, students create floral still lifes while observing large bouquets in the classroom.
Still Life Value Collages -- Students further their knowledge of still life and learn about the art element of Value. They create their own value still life collages using portions of the still life in the center of the room and adding items important to each child personally.