Photo Club Week 1

The First Photography Club meeting was yesterday.  What an amazing group of students.  I'm so inspired by how excited they were when they entered the art room after school.

In our first meeting we talked about the correct way to hold our cameras while shooting.  Since most digital cameras don't have a view finder to look through, we have a bad habit of holding the camera (our phones included) far away from our bodies.  This causes the camera to be less stable, which is one of the major causes of the dreaded blurry photo.
Some tips to increase camera shake:

• Hold the camera close to your body
• Tuck your elbows in against your sides
• Keep a firm grip on the camera
• Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart

We also discussed ways to improve composition, or the way your photograph is organized.  We talked about The Rule of Thirds.  The Rule of Thirds is a way to divide a composition by drawing 2 vertical lines & 2 horizontal lines.  The goal is to place your main focal point (or subject) of your composition along a vertical or horizontal line and one of the intersecting points.  This website has some great examples and explanations.

Photo by Marrs

Though it is sometimes necessary to place the subject in the center of the image, using the Rule of Thirds helps keep images interesting.

We also talked about how triangles are the most amazing shapes in the history of ever (they're my favorite), and help create interesting compositions.  Here's an example:

SO MANY TRIANGLES!  Having an odd number of people also help keep the image seem balanced.

The assignment for week one is to capture the elements of art through photography.  The 7 elements are: Line, Shape, Form, Color, Space, Value and Texture.  We talked about what those are and that there might be multiple in one image.

Here are some examples I got during our meeting:

The first photo shows 3 elements- Line, texture & value. #2 Shows Space/Perspective. #3 shows line & value.

This is from the State Fair last year.  Sometimes line can be items in a.. line. :)













Now, go out and capture the elements!

Sick Day = Blog Day

Hello friends!  I hope you're all doing super!

I'm here in my pajamas with the sinuses of doom.  I hate not being at school with my kiddos, but I felt a doctor visit was in order.

We've been getting into the swing of things in the art room & I'm starting to get some pieces hung around the school.  We've been talking about & reviewing the Elements of Art, starting with line and shape in every grade level. 

4th & 5th Grade have been making Art Elements books

Each flap has examples & definitions

Kindergarten has made some AMAZING paper line sculptures.  They can name all sorts of lines... though that word "diagonal" gives them some really cute trouble.    Be encouraging them to talk to you about what they're learning, and help them remember the difference between horizontal, vertical, and diagonal.  They have also learned that lines are super important because lines make shapes, and shapes make EVERYTHING! :)

First grade created some beautiful flowers by painting line patterns on top of color patterns on a paper plate!  They used previously made painted paper to make their petals.  They also created repeated lines on colored butcher paper which my 5th grade helper & I made into a giant landscape.  We are still working on this.  I have 2 more classes that need to paint their butcher paper so we can create another collaborative art piece.  I'm so excited about how all of this turned out!!

Second grade is currently working on a Kandinsky inspired overlapping lines & shapes piece with oil pastel and watercolor.  In this lesson they are working on improving several skills, including: tracing, coloring neatly, and painting properly.  We learned that Kandinsky had a condition called synesthesia, where he could hear color and see music.  We channeled our inner Kandinsky by listening to different classical music while drawing to see how it inspired the way we created art.  

Third grade just finished making their Kandinsky inspired foil relief sculptures for National Dot Day.  The Dot is a wonderful story by Peter H. Reynolds about a student who is inspired by her teacher and is then determined to keep improving her art.  We used styro-foam plates and foil to create a relief sculpture by tracing circles, cutting them and gluing them onto a plate then covering it in foil.  They then created color and line patterns on top of the foil.   We then printed circles on black paper to create a background for their foil dots.  They look amazing. 

Fourth grade has been stitching up a storm!!!  After covering cardboard squares in brightly colored paint, we have started creating radial designs with thread.  It was difficult  at first (threading the tapestry needle proved to be more difficult than I had expected!), but once they got the hang of it they have been making the most gorgeous designs!  I can't wait to display them.

Fifth grade has finished painting their looms (the frame that holds the yarn), and is in the beginning stages of warping (stringing the thread onto the loom) them.  They've been really excited about working on this project and are probably very upset with me for being out today.  

5th grader painting his loom

I hope you enjoy your weekend!