Welcome Evergreen!

Weeks of June 8 - 12 and 15 - 19

Students have discussed Matisse's "Gold Fish Bowl", Sophie Harding's "Hill Town I" and "Hill Town II", and Edvard Munch's "The Scream". 

Many have completed the Greek Vase scratchboard project; the results are spectacular...these should be framed and displayed!  The goals were to tell a story through images and achieve a balanced composition.

Our final activities will be to finish the "What if..." compositions on the portfolios and write a reflection piece about how art has changed the way one sees, talks, thinks and feels.

It has been a pleasure to work with your children and witness their growth as creative thinkers learning to express their thoughts visually.  Their world will depend heavily on visual communication...it makes sense to prepare them.

 Week of June 1 - 5

Last week students stained the sails for the Regatta, continued work on the Greek Vase project and discussed the prints, "The Milkmaid" by Johannes Vermeer, "Ferntree Gully in the Dandenong Range" by vonGuerard and a few classes looked at three Vasarely Op Art examples. 

Students have progressed in leaps and bounds toward a more informed approach to discussing works of art.  Their questions and comments reflect an increasing understanding of why man is moved to make art.  This knowledge, turned toward themselves, opens the door to greater self awareness and sense of identity.  You would be proud!

Week of May 26 - 29

This is a big week for us, with the combination of Memorial Day celebrated on Monday and the Holcomb Farm ecology field trip on Thursday; we will be working extra hard to stay on schedule with our Greek Vase scratch art project.  Students are currently at the "final copy" stage, checking to be sure the figure(s) is/are in proportion and is/are the most important (read largest) image in the composition.  The next step will involve use of the scratch art tool.  Because this tool is sharp, students will be held to the highest level of behavior!

Last week students looked at and discussed the following prints: "Hercules and Cerberus" by the Eagle Painter,  "Icarus", by Henri Matisse and "I and the Village" by Marc Chagall.

Week of May 18 - 22

Students have been discussing works of art that feature the human figure: Norman Rockwell's "Marbles Champ", Ernst Kirchner's "Hockey Players", Ralph Earle's "Oliver and Abigail Ellsworth" and William Johnson's "Going to Church".  Similarities and differences have been noted and thought about, and artist's intent has been pondered.

We have completed the unit on figure drawing and are applying those skills, plus shading techniques and drawing in 3-d techniques, to plan a composition that illustrates a Greek myth.  Students will be using scratchboard as the medium as they try the red- and black-figure techniques used by the ancient Greeks on their clay vessels.  This is the main project for the term and will determine 60% of the final grade.  All that we have covered so far should come to fruition in this project.

We will, at some point, take one class to stain the sails for the June 8th Regatta and also have an ongoing "What if..." project we will be working on. 

Busy days!

 Week of May 4 - 8

Students have begun Print Pause and have discussed Diego Rivera's "El Vendador de Alcatraces", M.C.Escher's "Drawing Hands" and Andrew Wyeth's "Christina's World."  They are becoming comfortable finding the focal point in the works of art and are gaining familiarity with the less obvious principles like unity and rhythm.

We have also begun the drawing unit, starting with a study of values, value scales and shading techniques.  This week we will learn how to draw and shade cylinders and cubes.  The homework associated with this lesson is to draw two household items, one based on a cube / rectangular prism, the other based on a cylinder.  They should be shaded and detailed.  It would be ideal if the drawing could be done in a room with one light source (not overhead).

Week of April 27 - May 1

Students will learn the Principles of Art, find examples of them in fine art prints and practice using the vocabulary of art as they discuss fine art prints.  They will begin the Print Pause part of each art class, usually the first fifteen or twenty minutes, when the class considers one print and has a technical discussion about the piece.  We will also begin figure drawing lessons.  There may be homework with this part of the curriculum.

Week of April 13 - 17

Students finished their initial investigation into the Elements of Art, then focused on the element of Line, learning the technique of contour drawing.  This technique, which aims to develop eye-hand coordination, is difficult to master as it is opposite from the way one normally draws.  Students were flustered at first, but soon learned the process and produced quite a few pencil miles of work.  A selection of these drawings will be in the 31st Annual South Windsor Schools Art Show at the South Windsor Public Library from April 30th through May 19th.  Please plan to come to Opening Night on the 30th!

Week of April 7 - 9

Students will be constructing portfolios which are kept in class and hold all art related materials; students do not need separate folders or binders for art.

Each student is responsible for keeping two #2 pencils (not mechanical) in his/her portfolio at all times.

We will be spending as much time on the Responding aspect of the creative process as we spend on the Creating part.  It is important for students to be able to analyze and assess their own art and the art of others in an informed way.  Next week students will be learning the specific vocabulary of art, the Elements and Principles of Design.  Once they are comfortable with these words and the concepts behind them, we will begin the Print Pause segments of class.  In Print Pause, students spend fifteen to twenty minutes discussing a fine art print.  They discuss a different print each time they come to class.

Grading in art is weighted: 60% of the grade is based on final projects and 40% of the grade is based on homework, short in-class projects, class participation, effort and use/care of materials.  Students who receive less than 80% on a homework assignment are encouraged to come at flex to work individually with me on the assignment.  I will use the higher grade from their efforts.  Students who receive 80% or higher are also invited to resubmit work, but without my help.  Again, I will enter the higher grade.

I look forward to working with your children this term.  Please contact me with any questions or concerns.

Catherine Gobeille

Visual Arts, Grade 6

cgobeille@swindsor.k12.ct.us