Printing, Peacocks and Polaroids

We have had a very busy and creative fun few weeks in Art!

We have been exploring how to print with foam board using coloured markers. This is a very simple way to explore printing. It allows the children to see cause and effect in action more dramatically than with simple painting or drawing.  It is a very rewarding activity for children young and old!

The Lower Elementary children explored printing by using lines and shapes to create patterns on their foam boards, while Upper Elementary students drew their own pictures. There was a lot of ‘ahhs’ and ‘oohs’ when their final pictures were printed.

In Lower Elementary, we also had a fun lesson making our own 2D cameras with their very own Polaroid photo. The children traced, cut, glued, coloured and designed their own cameras.

We are now in the process of creating a beautiful peacock and its amazing feathers. We have started drawing and colouring our own pictures with vibrant oil pastels. Oil pastels are a great way to allow children to experiment with layering colours. We have had lots of fun and I am looking forward to seeing their final works of art.

In Upper Elementary Art, the Grade 4s have been exploring the work of Monet, in particular his “Tulip Fields in Holland.” We talked about how things appear to get smaller as they get further away, converging to a single vanishing point on the horizon line. We then had a step-by-step lesson to draw and colour our very own tulip field.

The children took this on seriously and with enthusiasm, asking questions along the way and focusing on the challenge. We used oil pastels to blend and layer colours. I was thrilled with the pictures that they produced and I think they also surprised themselves!

The Grade 5 and 6 students explored the beautiful, intelligent Koi Fish. The children have drawn their own fish and have started painting them with acrylic paint. They are all starting to develop their own technique, which is wonderful and exciting to watch.

I’m thoroughly looking forward to all the amazing work that the children will create in the weeks to come.