Fall News From The Art Studio

Autumn is the time of year that nature becomes an artist! Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year. The colors outside seem to come alive! Be sure to find some time to enjoy the change in the seasons with your child. Take a walk and look for colors, shapes, and shadows. Our Hanawalt artists are looking for interesting things to add to our nature center, so feel free to send items to the art studio. Enjoy!

Kindergarten Artists are learning how to create many colors from the three primary colors of red, yellow, and blue—add a little white and you can make a tint!

Color mixing is always magical, with a lot of “oohs” and “ahhs” that can be heard! Expanding on their knowledge of painting, the young artists learn about the North Wind and the Sun as they retell the story through images in paint. This story is a favorite Aesop’s fable. Look for fabulous paintings and a copy of the fable for you to take home at conference time.

First Grade Artists have been learning about various painting techniques. Starting with different kinds of lines they applied black lines across their paper. Taking a closer look at the space between the lines helps in understanding negative and positive spaces. Variations of primary colors and white are used to create warm and cool colors. The colors seem to pop off of the paper—absolutely stunning designs that will soon be coming your way!

Second and Third Grade Artists are learning about the art of Faith Ringgold. She uses fabric, paint, and the written word to tell stories. Students are working on personal stories of people and pets they love. Using shapes they know to create images, they add texture with crayon rubbings, and follow up with watercolor paint. Paper shapes are added to represent quilted fabric, and words are included to clearly convey their thoughts. These personal art pieces will be treasures you will want to save.

Fourth and Fifth Grade Artists are learning about letterforms. Once students master the use of guidelines, they learn about techniques to change the shape of the lettering. Each artist chooses a word, and then designs their art piece in such a way that the word reflects the meaning. Look for these on the bulletin boards by the art studio during conferences, each art piece is very cleverly designed. -

Artfully Yours! Sally McKenzie, Art Educator