Artist Posters

Fourth graders ended the year studying artists. Each student chose a random artist out of a hat, and read biographies on the artist with a partner. They explored the artist’s life, childhood, and the style of their work. Then, we learned about posters, and how they excite, inform, and capture our attention. Specifically, we looked at artistic qualities of the poster, and their use of composition, text, and complementary colors. Fourth graders picked from three simple compositions, and created eye-catching posters to feature the artist that they studied. I was amazed at the results of these posters, and I hope you are, too! Below are a few of the many outstanding artist posters.

Observational Band Instruments

Fifth grade art students found inspiration from something very familiar… their band instruments. At our school, all students are required to take band in the fifth grade, so they have all been getting to know their new instruments. In art class, students created observational drawings of their instruments looking closely at small details, highlights, and shadows. As a group, we talked about composition in relation to art, which is very similar to composition in music. Students chose an open or a closed composition to feature their instrument. They also made important decisions regarding the arrangement of their subject to create a visually interesting composition. They drew their final piece in sharpie, and then brought in some color using colored pencils. Well done, fifth grade!

Composition Activity

In third grade, as an introductory activity to our big still life project, I had students practice getting comfortable using a viewfinder. We first reviewed observational drawing, and some ways to get better at it. Then, we looked at the difference between open composition and closed composition. Students chose a few everyday art room objects from a box, and arranged them how they liked. Third graders were challenged to create two observational drawings using open composition for one, and closed composition for another. Enjoy a few samples below.