We Heart Art!

Students in grades 1 & 2 have been learning colour theory this term. Students have learned the primary and secondary colours, and colour mixing techniques. These artworks were created using oil pastels and watercolour paints as part of a special Valentine’s Day celebration. Students learned about complementary colours on the colour wheel and were encouraged to apply their knowledge of colour theory in their work. Warm and cool colours, as well as complementary colours were all carefully considered in their work. Students looked at artworks by Jim Dine, an artist known for his colourful paintings of hearts as inspiration for these pieces. A fantastic effort by all students!

The Colour Wheel

Students in grades 1 and 2 have been learning colour theory in art this term. Last week we looked at the colour wheel and learned the primary colours (blue, red, yellow) and the secondary colours (orange, purple, green). We talked about colours all around us, colours in nature, as well as warm and cool colours. There's so much to learn about colour! Students were each given their own colour wheel and practised colour mixing using play dough. It was great to see their excitement and wonder when a new colour appeared just like magic in their fingers! This was a fantastic tactile activity that enforced the students' knowledge of colour and how it can be applied in their art.

Christmas 2013

For those of you who may have missed out on seeing our beautiful Christmas displays last term, here are some examples of what the students created. Included here are reindeer pegs, patterned paper wreaths, natural wreaths and yarn stars. What a wonderful way to celebrate the end of the year with students from P-3!

Welcome Back!

I'd like to extend a warm welcome back to parents, students and families for another exciting new year at Kerrimuir Primary School. I am very much looking forward to Term 1 and meeting some new students in the art room. 

This year I will be teaching the whole school Visual Art program from P-6. This will be a wonderful new experience and I hope to inspire creativity and enthusiasm in all of my students, as well as a love and appreciation of art. Please check this blog throughout the year for photos and updates on everything happening in our Visual Art program. 

Have a lovely week,

Emma-Jane

Peggy

As part of our upcoming Book Week celebrations, students in grade 2 read one of the Children's Book Council of Australia's short-listed books for 2013, 'Peggy', by Anna Walker.

This delightful picture book tells the story of a chicken named Peggy, who gets lost one blustery day when the wind picks her up and drops her off in the heart of Melbourne city. In this strange new world, Peggy finds herself embarking on some strange new adventures, eventually finding her way home with the help of a lady carrying sunflowers, and some clever pigeons.

Students enjoyed making their very own 'Peggy' using plasticine. Students explored how to manipulate the plasticine using their hands and fingers. We discovered that plasticine is much easier to use after it has been warmed up in our hands. Students were then shown how to create three-dimensional shapes to form the head, body, wings, beak and eyes of their chicken. Students used a special technique to join the body parts together and added feathers for a tail.

We think they are just adorable!

If you would like to find out more about Peggy, click the link below to watch a short animation based on this book!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6fwlJxNoMM

Monet's Garden

To celebrate the National Gallery of Victoria’s Monet’s Garden exhibition, students in Prep learned about the famous French painter, Claude Monet.

Students learned who Monet was and why his paintings are so famous. We looked at several examples of Monet’s best known work, his water lily series, and discussed the colours in the paintings.

Students began this project by creating a Monet inspired background for their water lily pond. Students were shown how to use paint and water to blend colours together. Students were also shown how the way we use a brush influences how our painting will look. Students were encouraged to use gentle brush strokes from side to side. They then added water lilies to their pond using tissue paper. Students cut shapes for lily pads and were shown a special technique for gluing the flowers on so that they would look three-dimensional.

It was wonderful to see the Preps so enthusiastic about Claude Monet!

Paper Plate Lions

Students in Prep put their paper construction skills to good use and made these adorable paper plate lions.

Students learned how to create paper curls using strips of paper wrapped around a pencil for the lion’s mane. Students then pasted brown craft paper on a plate and were shown how to create ‘three part eyes’. Students enjoyed adding details such as a nose and whiskers. This was a great activity aimed at developing students’ fine motor and paper construction skills. These are on display now so make sure you have a look!