Kandinsky Landscapes

 

This year, sixth grade artists studied Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian-born Abstract Expressionist. We talked a lot about what the words "Abstract" and "Expressionism" mean. I have to say I was extremely impressed with their ability to define and give examples of these complex art terms.

For this project, we also learned a lot about color. We talked about warm and cool colors, and also learned about color idioms ("I'm seeing red," "I'm feeling blue," etc.), why we use them, and why they make sense. Students then chose a mood to express with color. An eerie mood, for example, might require different color choices than a happy or excited mood.

Here are some of my students' beautiful, abstract landscapes.

 

 

 

 

 

 PS: This project idea came from the wonderful art blog, Arte a Scoula.

8th Grade: Positive and Negative Space Designs

I was so impressed with the 8th graders ability to create dynamic, beautiful artwork out of a small square of paper. All of these projects started with a 6 x 6 inch piece of construction paper. The students then cut shapes out of the paper and glued them down outside the square, creating a wonderful interplay of positive and negative space.