POP! Corn, Soda POP!, POP ART!

This year I wanted to expand my Pop Art unit that I usually start after winter break with some fresh material. After searching through contemporary pop artists, I discovered the beautiful, fun work of Burton Morris!

Wanting to play on the word POP!, I decided it would be fun to create work inspired by Burton's popcorn and Coca-cola paintings.

To get started the students created the illusions of the starburst background by layering a bright colored paper onto a black paper, that had triangles of varied sizes cut around the edges.

I wanted the students to create their own take on Morris's paintings so I only walked them through creating the bottle and the popcorn box out of black paper. I created a template for the bottle, due to it being a bit tricky for 3rd graders to draw, a soda can may be easier in the future.

All other details were made using different colors of paper.

I wanted this project to be purely collage, so looking at the pictures of the paintings, the 3rd graders had to figure out how to free-cut shapes, and create the idea of writing for their projects.

Students concluded by attaching all the details, and creating kernels or bubbles that appeared to be exploding off the paper.

The final results were so colorful and fun!

Enjoy!

Evolving Plans: Roboto!

So I was walking down the hall this week and thinking about how that Robot Party began as a sub plan and has evolved into much more.

This year it became a full on paper party!!!

The students first cut out the shapes to form the robots, then uses multiple colors to create the whole scheme. I was quiet pleased, and the school is filled with fun energy! And we listened to Mr. Roboto by the Styx while we were working!

The Rhythm of Our City

Every year my districts hosts a contest to design a shirt for YAM (Youth Art Month). This year our theme was "the Rhythm of our City". Here's some quick car pics of what my 1st graders came up with.

Happy Columbus Day!

Moving Lines

I wanted my students to have a better understanding of how to use rhythm and movement to enhance their artwork. To start I had them wash a paper with water and layer water colors one at a time. After applying each color, the students would lift their papers and let the colors drip and blend. The 2nd graders LOVED this.

The next class, to continue the theme, we talked about the use of Lines in our artwork and how different types of lines give the feel of movement. The student then used black paper to cut of a variety of straight, dotted, wavy and zig-zag lines to create a composition. The results were gorgeous, and very striking when displayed with their classmates.