As we fall into Fall...

This week the Kindergartners began a new project focusing on Fall. Influenced by Scottish environmental artist Andy Warhol, the students collected a variety of leaves and organized them into a color scale. After analyzing the structures and colors of different leaves, they drew their own on what will soon become beautiful, wax resist paintings.

Andy Goldsworthy's Leaves

The first graders have begun coloring in their Laurel Birch-inspired cat drawings using oil pastels. In doing this, we reviewed drawing techniques, color mixing strategies as well as continuing to expand knowledge about lines and shapes.

The second graders are finishing up painting their Matisse inspired Fauvist self-portraits. Today, we looked at our own faces to discover where highlights and shadows are located, and began to project these in the paintings.

The third graders are beginning to draw and create their own Tree of Life drawings based off of Gustav Klimt's. Using chalk pastels, the students are doing a great job mixing analogous colors to make interesting scales of color.

The fourth grade students are winding down with their self-portrait paintings and excited to begin a new project within the next few weeks!

The fifth graders had a blast beginning to pull plaster casts of their faces to create their own Carnival Masks. The students are using great teamwork skills in which they trust and respect one another to work together to build the casts.

Here are some examples of the Radial Name Design project the fifth graders just finished:

Hard at work...

The kindergartners learned how to draw proportionally accurate faces by studying their own reflections, upon which they discovered the shapes and sizes of their features. Next, they learned about flesh tones and matched their own complexion with pastels. They finished their work by including drawing a horizon line in the background and making a frame with pattern. All in all, I am extremely excited about the wonderful efforts made by the Kindergartners!

The first graders just finished their lovely color wheels which you can view outside of the art room, and are moving onto the Fabulous Felines drawing project. Inspired by contemporary artist Laurel Birch, the students are rendering a series of cat drawings in bright oil pastels.

First graders were visited by a lovely family of deer- This photo was taken just outside of the art room!

This week, the second graders learned about Henri Matisse and Fauvism. They analyzed parallels between Matisse's work and Van Gogh's, realizing how Fauvism was greatly influenced by Impressionism. They are now using tempera paint to create their very own Fauvist self-portraits.

Green Stripe- Henri Matisse

The third graders are just now finishing up their Cubist self-portraits and are moving onto a drawing project based off of Gustav Klimt's painting "Tree of Life." They will be using chalk pastels to render their own interpretations of the Nouveau tree.

The fourth graders are still hard at work painting their Value to Volume self portraits.

The fifth graders are just now completing their radial name designs and are getting excited about the upcoming mask-making project, in which we will be pulling plaster casts from one another's faces... A fifth grade favorite!

Architectual Invention

When a small group of first graders had completed their class project early, instead of simply free drawing, I introduced them to the world of architectural design through block building. Very quickly the students became immersed in stacking and balancing blocks, just as Frank Lloyd Wright had cantilevered steel beams and concrete slabs. Upon completing their complex structures, the student's created beautiful observational drawings, unconsciously discovering the world of perspective. This project was a wonderful way for the students to discover a connection between sculpture and 2D art, as well as to find ownership of their drawings by constructing their own still life.

Specialist Night

I greatly anticipate welcoming our parents to Specialist Night which takes place on October 14th. I will be opening up the doors to the art room to provide 25-minute sessions for Open Window School parents to come and participate in a mini-art lesson. We will be learning about art history, talking about different mediums, learning techniques and making our own art! The night will also enable parents to experience Music, Movement, Spanish and Technology at OWS. We'll begin in the gym at 6:15, where you may enjoy refreshments, socialize and pick up a schedule for the night's activities. See you soon!

A Night of Art

We are coming up on one of my favorite days of the month: First Thursday Art Walk!

http://www.firstthursdayseattle.com/index.php

From around noon to 8:30 pm on the first Thursday of each month, Seattle's downtown galleries and museums including the SAM, the Frye, Asian Art Museum and EMP open their doors for an evening of visual and theatrical art.

When you head down there, I strongly recommend browsing the 619 Western Ave Arts Building to view an eclectic collection of contemporary artwork, as well as getting a first-hand view into the artists' studios.

Also, the Toshiro Kaplan Building in Pioneer Square houses quite a few galleries which range from Folk Art to modern sculpture. If the weather is good, you might catch performance art taking place on the streets just outside.

If you live on the East Side and are unable to make it to First Thursday, the Bellevue Art Museum participates in First Fridays, in which admission is free from 11am to 8pm.

http://www.bellevuearts.org/index.htm

The art room has burst with energy as the students are now deeply involved with exciting art projects. Here's a little taste of what we've been up to...

-Kindergartners are learning great drawing skills as they embark on the challenging process of learning how to draw anatomically correct self-portraits. Wave goodbye to stick-figures!

In doing this, we looked at the realistic self-portraits created by da Vinci, Frida Kahlo and Chuck Close, in addition to more abstract self-representations created by Salvador Dali and Vincent Van Gogh.

Self-Portrait-Chuck Close Soft Self-Portrait with Fried Bacon-Salvador Dali

-The first graders started off the year studying and drawing their own Mandalas. When creating these they incorporated radial symmetry to create a harmonious combination of shapes and designs. We later studied Color and turned our mandalas into color wheels which include all of the Primary colors, hand-mixed Secondary colors, as well as their Tints.

-After reading and analyzing the pictures in Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, the second graders are applying phenomenal drawing skills to create their own 3D Wild Things. I am extremely excited for the inking phase which will begin next week!

-The third grade students began the year learning about Pablo Picasso, discovering why his painting style changed so drastically over the period of his life. Inspired by Picasso's painting Three Musicians, which takes on a collage appearance, the students are assembling their own portraits using only paper cut-out and glue. The work in progress:

Three Musicians by Pablo Picasso

-Fourth graders are using the Facial Mapping technique developed by Leonardo da Vinci to draw proportionally sound rendering of themselves based off of dramatic photographs that we took.

Finally, the fifth graders have learned how to draw a variety of fonts and font renderings which they applied to designs that they drew of their names. They made their own transfer paper and are in the process of tracing their names 4 times to create lovely radial designs.

Here are a few students tracing their name designs:

And we are back in action....

Good day to all,
I can't begin to describe how fabulous it is to be back for my third year teaching at OWS!
I am discovery that every year here gets better and better. I not only feel great about finally having all 300+ of our students' names memorized, but I am now able to have the wonderful experience of observing years of development. Every time I return to school in the late summer, I am astounded to see how much our students grow over the short span of 2 months...There is nothing more gratifying for a teacher then to watch your students' talents and skills flourish with age!

In the first week of school, I have had a great time meeting all of the wonderful new faces at OWS and warmly reminiscing with the old. Week two will be when we fire up our creativity and blast into the world of art.

Take care,
Gretchen Leggitt


Here I am at the finish of a 1,000 mile bike ride I took to San Francisco this summer!