GRADE 3
Throughout the course of the year in Ms. Constantine's class, third-grade students have explored a variety of concepts and media, utilizing their imaginations to create and explore. The work presented here began with an examination of the origins of collage in the work of Schwitters, Braque, and Picasso, and the evolution of this technique in the work of Dada and Surrealist artists. Students created their collages using fragmented pieces of portraits, sheet music, text, and images from magazines. After completing their collages, students then overlaid them with monotypes, transferring an abstract painting from a printing plate onto the surface of the collage. In Ms. Capua's class, the Third Grade focused on portrait drawing through the style of Pablo Picasso. Students learned the basics of portrait drawing. Next, students created a self-portrait, then created cubes to represent cubism inside of the portrait. Crayons and watercolors completed the portrait.
GRADE 4
Fourth-grade students in Ms. Constantine's class engaged in a detailed study of abstraction. This exploration began through an examination of non-objective color-stain paintings (large fields of flowing color, seemingly devoid of any content) created by Helen Frankenthaler. Discussion of Frankenthaler’s work resulted in multiple and diverse perceptions. The students then created their own color-stain paintings, using the wet into wet watercolor technique. Following this study, the students viewed and discussed the work of abstract-expressionist artists Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, Lee Krasner, Norman Lewis, and contemporary artist Jose Parla. Through this discussion, students discovered that although the work of these artists is purely abstract/ nonobjective, it is not without meaning. The students were then asked to select a feeling and then convey this same emotion in three works created in three different media. As students created their paintings, collagraph prints, and collages, they were asked to consider the artistic choices they made (use of color, line, application of paint/materials, shape) to express the feeling they chose. In addition to this exploration of abstraction, students created biomorphic creatures inspired by the work of Joan Miro, symbols of protection, work informed by the concept of biomimicry, and artwork from their imaginations!
In Ms. Capua's class, students completed several projects that focused on the artist Henri Matisse, Through the Open Window 1905. Students created their own open window. Using mixed media, students brought a realistic feel to their completed compositions. In addition, several students completed Foil Projects, Scratch Art, and Encore projects for this art presentation.
GRADE 5
Students in fifth grade in Ms. Constantine's class explored the technical and conceptual aspects of art-making. The work presented here focuses on the technical aspects, exploring shape (through the creation of silhouettes) and form (through a careful study of value and shading). Silhouettes typically depict people, objects, and scenes as two-dimensional shapes of a single color devoid of any interior details. Some students took “artistic license” in the creation of these silhouettes, adding some interior details through the use of space. Our focus on two-dimensional shape was followed by an examination of three-dimensional form. After completing value scales and shading exercises, the students gained the tools they needed to translate three-dimensional forms from nature onto a two-dimensional surface. The students observed the form and texture of objects such as seed pods, leaves, branches, and berries. They were encouraged to magnify, crop and overlap this imagery to form these dynamic compositions.
In Ms. Capua's class, the fifth grade completed a unit on Silhouettes These are images of objects and scenes that represent 2D shapes of a single color without any interior details. In addition, students completed a unit on pointillism focusing on Georges Seurat. Lastly, some students created two-point perspective projects from their Encore class.