1st Grade Kandinsky Paintings

First graders learned about painter Wassily Kandinsky and made their own versions of his famous painting, "Squares With Concentric Circles."  We also talked about synesthesia (Kandinsky was a synesthete), thought about what sounds might have produced these colors, and how other senses might mix.  This lesson was a great opportunity to practice the basic color theory that they have been learning all fall, as well as correct watercolor use, careful brushwork, and color mixing.  They had a great time.  It was a fun lesson, with beautiful results!

6th Grade Distorted Self-Portraits

Sixth graders are working on self portraits in reflective materials that are not flat, and therefore distort their image.  This is a great exercise in careful observation, as there are many unexpected curves that arise.  This is also a great opportunity to continue the color mixing and fine brushwork that they practiced in the last project, tint color wheels.  Look out for these in the hallways soon!

8th Grade visit to Bob Burch's glass-blowing studio

Eighth graders took a field trip to master glassblower Bob Burch's studio, Brandywine Glassworks, in Putney.  They got an up-close view of this subtle art, asked fantastic questions, and got wonderful answers and demonstrations from Bob.  We are so grateful to him for opening his studio to us, and for his great words of wisdom!  Please note that he gives short introductory lessons making a paperweight for the very reasonable price of $35 - what a great gift idea for our young artists!  

5th Grade Snowflakes

Some folks finished early and had some time at the end of class, so a few 5th graders made some very intricate snowflakes for decorations at the Winter Concert.  Check out those details!

7th Grade Jim Dine Clothing Paintings

Seventh graders studied Pop artist Jim Dine's work, and created large clothing paintings inspired by his paintings of colorful, expressively rendered clothes.  Students brought in a meaningful piece of clothing to work from and were encouraged to tweak the colors.  They worked for several weeks on this and are almost finished.  They will be up in the halls for the Winter Concert, please check them out!

2nd Grade Self-Portraits

5th Grade Op-Art Paintings

Fifth graders looked at the work of Victor Vasarely, often called the father of Op-Art, as well as some other well know optical illusions as inspiration for their work.  They chose complementary colors to create high-contrast images, and practiced some fine-tuned detail painting in this project.  Keep an eye out for their finished work in the hallways!

Kindergarten Inca/Aztec Sun Mandalas

Kindergarteners looked at mandalas from several cultures, including Mayan and Incan calendars from Ecuador as well as rotationally symmetrical forms found in nature.  Using oil pastels on paper plates, each student started with a sun face in the center for Incan sun god, Inti.  Moving outward, they created colorful patterns in concentric circles with wonderful results!

4th Grade Paper Marionettes

Fourth graders created paper-sculpture animal marionettes with articulated limbs. They looked at animal photographs as well artist-made puppets for inspiration and came up with some humorous creatures, families, and movements for their characters:

1st Grade Audience Drawings

First graders created audience drawings based on the work of Red Grooms, whose 3-D paintings and large sculptures we saw on our field trip to BMAC.  We talked about depth of space, how heads looked from behind, and who might be part of an audience.  First graders created a scene, then folded the bottom of their drawings like an accordion to include the audience as part of the image:

3rd Grade Exquisite Corpses

We had a few minutes at the end of class, so third graders made these cool "exquisite corpse" drawings, each drawing one section of a body without seeing the sections that came before theirs.  Then, we unrolled them and had a good laugh at all the goofy combinations!

3rd Grade Costumed Portraits

Since the 3rd graders are studying New England farm and family life of 1800s and reading Farmer Boy, we looked at some common outfits that folks would have worn.  Students drew portraits of each other's faces, then drew the rest of their sitters' in 1800s costumes of mutual agreement, and painted them using watercolors.  Some are dressed for a trip to town, others, for working on their farms.  Here they are in progress; look out for these gracing our hallways soon!

2nd Grade Owl Printmaking

Second-graders applied their classroom study of raptors to the art room for this project.   Using books and photographs depicting owls, students made sketches of owls, then transferred their favorite sketch to foam printmaking blocks.  Several students made multiple prints of their owl in different colors, and were able to observe the effects of varying amounts of ink as well as the different colors on the clarity of their images.  

5th grade Endangered Species Oil Pastels

Fifth-graders used images of endangered species to work on transposition.  They each drew a grid on their photograph, then used those divisions to help break down their drawing process and create a more realistic likeness, using oil pastels on black paper.  Students also worked on using the qualities of their materials (oil pastels can create nice distinct lines) to show the texture of each creature’s fur, feathers, or skin.

1st Grade Flag Project

In honor of election day, first graders looked at images of Jasper Johns's painting, Flag, and created their own flags, working together in two groups of three.

8th Grade Book Paper Sculptures

Eighth graders looked at various paper artists like Brian Dettmer, Jacqueline Rush Lee, Guy Laramee, and Nicholas Jones, then planned their own sculptures using X-acto knives and glue.  Students were encouraged to make connections with the text, subject, and form of the books to enhance their compositions.

Kindergarten's Lascaux, TGS

Kindergarteners learned about the earliest known cave drawings in Lascaux, France (which, scientists believe, were made by female artists) and looked at the colors, symbols, and animals represented in these drawings.  Students created their own cave-like drawing surface by crumpling brown craft paper until it was soft and wrinkled, then drew some of the symbols and animals they observed on the walls of the cave in Lascaux using white, black, ochre, and brown pastels.   

7th Grade Colored Pencil Vegetables

Seventh-graders discussed the color wheel, focusing on analogous and complementary colors, and created complementary color scales.  We talked about color mixing, and the use of complementary colors to enrich a shadow or highlight.  After several sketches, they made colored pencil drawings of fruit and vegetable still-lives, focusing on details of light and form.  Students worked hard on their observation skills for this project, with beautiful results.  These are hanging inside the art room, come visit and check them out!

8th grade Charcoal Office Supplies

Eighth graders looked at the work of Pop artist Claes Oldenberg and his various sculptures of oversized mundane objects such as paperclips and safety pins.  Inspired by his work, students chose different office supplies to draw on a large scale using charcoal.  These drawings are the result of much hard work and careful looking.  Come see them in the Upper School hallway!

Sixth Grade Coat of Arms Screen-printing Project

Sixth graders used the Ecuadorian flag as a starting point to discuss coats of arms and flag symbolism.  They then each designed their own personal coat of arms, choosing colors and symbols that to reflect their own identity.  After the designs were complete, students traced these onto their screens using Elmer's glue as a resist.  Now we are working on painting the screen-printing inks onto the screens and thus onto their shirts, which will bear their own personal flags.  Keep an eye out for their colorful designs!

4th Grade One-Point Perspective Ghost Towns

Fourth graders are learning about one-point perspective in art class right now, and since we started our project on Halloween, we made ghost towns.  They worked first in pencil, then outlined their finished drawings in fine-tip markers.  This week, we'll add watercolors.  Stay tuned for their progress!

And... the finished products, hanging in the second grade hallway.  Come check them out!

Quetzelcoatl Sculptures!

Fourth graders have completed their Quetzelcoatl sculptures and they are now hanging with their designs and descriptions.  Come check them out!

Second graders make skeletons for Dios los Muertos

TGS students of all ages have been making papel picado, tissue paper flowers, drawings, guaguas ('bread babies') and other decorative arts to display on our Dios los Muertos altar in celebration of the Ecuadorian and Central/South American holiday of the Day of the Dead.  Second graders created skeleton sculptures using wire and masking tape, then painted on bones with tempera.  Many of them are carrying their decapitated heads!