Monochromatic Paintings

Monochromatic means one color.  7th grade students were asked to look at the values in a magazine image, and to recreate the values with shades and tints of only one color. What they learned was that there are a vast amount of colors that can be made with only lights and darks.

Modern Cave Art Paintings: inventing tools and surfaces

6th grade looked at how cave artists invented paint, tools and surfaces to paint on. They invented their own style by painting on plaster with tools they invented as well as modern tools such as round or square brushes.          Every decision in art matters.

Mesopotamian Art

6th grade is looking at Mesopotamian art. Since the culture is settled around rivers, clay is readily available for them to work with. Much of their art is created from clay in the form of reliefs, images that have one flat side and stick out from the surface of the wall or tile. Students are working with utilitarian items ( things that are useful like pots, bowls, cups, etc) and non-utilitarian items (items intended just to be looked at like sculptures, pictures, etc.). They have practiced working with coil, pinch and slab construction methods, and are choosing one of these techniques to make their project. Each project will have relief images on the outside that tell a narrative. Some will use scenes from their story, while others choose symbols to represent characters or segments of their stories. 

In this Mesopotamian image, a lion represents power and strength. Often lions were put on the outside of city walls to warn other cities that they were a treat to be reckoned with.