Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year!  Art class has gotten off to a strong start, despite me being out with COVID last week.  All students have heard the book "Only One You" by Linda Kranz.  We looked at the illustrations, which have been made up of photographs with painted stone "fish" arranged on top.  The students all created their own "fish" and are currently on display in our school front hallway.  There are some really creative students here at Hilltop School!

Third grade is currently using contour line to draw various objects.  Second grade is beginning a repetition project after observing whirlygig bugs and reading a story called "In The Small, Small Pond" by Denise Fleming.  First grade is beginning a drawing & painting project using sunflowers as the subject.  Kindergarten will continue to explore the different ways of making marks on paper by next working with shapes.  

​Everyone has been participating in our clay unit over these past two weeks. In Kindergarten, the students heard the story The Pot That Juan Built which goes through the steps that potter Juan Quezada goes through to create his pottery. Mrs. McKay demonstrated how to make a pinch pot, and then we practiced making pinch pots with play dough. The next week we created our pinch pots out of clay. Boy was that clay cold and wet! In Ms. Natoli's class we created clay donuts after looking at American artist Wayne Thiebaud's work. We also illustrated the concept of size by making snowmen out of clay with small, medium and large balls of clay. In First Grade, we learned how to create a clay owl using a slab of clay rolled out with a rolling pin. We learned how to attach two pieces of clay together by using the score and slip method. Everyone had to think about the details that they had drawn in their sketchbooks while creating the owls. Ms. Wolf's class used the thumb method to create 3-D clay owls. The students squeezed the clay around their thumbs to create the owl's head and body. Second graders created clay sea turtles. The students practiced creating coils of clay and drawing symmetrical shell ideas in their sketchbooks. We looked at pictures to see what a sea turtle's legs and body look like. Third graders brought all of the skills learned from kindergarten, first grade, and second grade together to create clay fish using two pinch pots, slabs, coils, score & slip, and other methods. It is amazing to see what the students can accomplish with clay over their 4 years at Hilltop. The students make me proud!!

​The Kindergartners and Ms. Natoli’s students finished up their Rainbow Row houses in a fun way and it is something they can do at home.  First they colored the reflection of the buildings, the water, and the sky with markers.  It didn’t matter if the markers were a bit dry – in fact the drier the better!  The next week the students used water and a brush.  They brushed water over the marker areas and it now looks like we painted our pictures.    The Kindergartners have now created a green collage’.  The students cut up pieces of different shades of green paper and then glued the pieces all over a larger piece of green paper.  We will be using this green collage’ as part of a landscape this week.  First graders looked at sunflower artwork by American Frances Foy and Vincent van Gogh.  We carefully observed the details and drew sunflowers in our sketchbooks.  We then created vase designs using primary colors.  Sunflowers were painted and then a tablecloth was made by weaving paper.  This week we will be putting all the parts together to create a sunflower still-life.  Boy did we combine a lot of art concepts into one project!  Ms. Wolf’s students finished their organic shape collage’ and will be moving onto a Native American project.  Second grade created weavings to align with the study of Native Americans in their classrooms.  The concepts of over and under were hard for some of us to grasp but we didn’t give up!  The weavings will be finished this week with fringes and Native American picture writing symbols.  We will be starting another Native American project after Thanksgiving.  Third grade is finishing up a project focusing on the element of value.  Value means the lightness or darkness of a color.  The students painted light values to create a sky and they are finishing it up this week by painting dark values of black to create a silhouette look for the ground.   

We are very busy in the art room!  Kindergartners and Ms. Natoli's class have been practicing lots of things.  We have drawn shapes and lines.  I hope the students came home and taught you about what they learned.  We are now cutting shapes by making small cuts and doing our best to stay on the line.  The students will use cut shapes to create a view of "Rainbow Row" in Charleston, SC.  This area has many colorful houses and perfect for us to practice our shape cutting and line & shape drawing.  First grade is finishing up a texture landscape with the Painted Desert of Arizona as its theme.  The students learned about making textures by feeling them with our fingers, making crayon rubbings, and then drawing them.  After viewing pictures of the Painted Desert, we created mountains with oil pastels and sandpaper.  We then added sand and cacti in the foreground.  Second graders and Ms. W​olf's class are learning about gesture drawing and organic shapes.  First we drew some poses of people doing different actions like the American artist Keith Haring.  Gesture drawing only shows the position the person is moving in.  We are combining the people we are making with organic shapes.  Third grade is doing some observational drawing of the prairie plants in our Hilltop garden.  We then will be creating some gel monoprints of the plants, learning about positive and negative space.

In Kindergarten, we finally finished our pinch pots by adding glaze to the outside.  There was a problem with the kiln, so it took a awhile for it to get fixed.  We finished our ME book covers and also had our photos taken to go into the ME books.  Now we are beginning our self-portrait collages and exploring the art of Vincent van Gogh.  First graders have finished self-portraits with rainforest backgrounds.  We reviewed the parts of the face and learned how to draw the nose more realistically.  After finishing the face and adding shoulders, we drew things we would find in the rainforest of South America for the background with oil pastels.  Ms. Natoli’s class finally were able to paint the glaze on their clay hearts and use acrylic paint to paint their clay penguins. They also have created a butterfly with matching (symmetrical) wings. Second graders and Ms. Dressel’s class learned about printmaking by making a tiger print with paint and a folded piece of paper.  The students had to paint on one side of the paper and then fold it to create the other side of the tiger’s face.  After discussing the symmetry in our tiger faces, we are moving on to radial symmetry by creating mandalas. Third graders are creating watercolor landscapes in the traditional Chinese style based on areas that make them feel peaceful and connected to nature.
 

Kindergarten students are currently learning how to draw the parts of the face.  We have started making our self-portraits for the ME books we will bring home near the end of the school year.  First graders, Ms. Natoli’s students and Ms. Dressel’s students have created some adorable penguins. We followed step-by-step to “draw” the penguins with paint daubers (think bingo markers).  After they were dry, we cut them out and added some color to the hat and scarf. We then glued them to a background made of warm colored swirls. Second graders have created winter landscapes using colored pencils.  The students had to draw some things up close and some things far away. We also painted different shades of green for the evergreen trees. Third graders are finishing their self-portraits with kente cloth-inspired backgrounds.  Kente cloth is from Ghana in Africa.
 

 

​After building our clay projects, the students worked on a variety of things.  Kindergarten students used different kinds of lines to create a tree drawing.  They also practiced making different kinds of patterns, and then created 4 different patterns on the cover of their ME books.  These books will come home later this year.  First, Second, and Third graders drew some Zentangles®, which are designs that have been created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas.  There are hundreds of these designs.  We learned six of them in each grade level with the intent of sparking some creativity for the students to think of other designs on their own.  The students in these grade levels also did some color theory lessons and used what they learned to glaze their clay projects.  Each level increased in knowledge and choice.  Ms. Natoli’s students created some trees and then also created a second clay project with coils of clay, making a heart shape.  Ms. Dressel’s students drew six Zentangles and then glazed their turtles with warm or cool colors. 
 

​Kindergarten students have been practicing different lines and shapes.   We will be starting a cat project where we combine the lines and shapes we have been practicing.  The LOP students used lines and shapes to create a landscape of a road and houses.  We practiced cutting out shapes on the line and coloring in shapes neatly.  We will also be making a cat and have started the project by making a mat.  First grade has moved on to Asia where we will be creating Indian elephants using patterns.  We looked at a picture of an elephant sculpture that is 3,000 years old.  Ask your child about the photos of Indian elephants wearing costumes that we looked at.  Second grade is finishing up their babushka pattern project by filling out a self-evaluation.  They will be beginning a Native American weaving project next.  Third grade is beginning a project based on the people sculptures of Alberto Giacometti.  We are talking about sculptures and the proportions of the human body.   
 

We are already very busy in the art room!  Kindergarten students have gotten an introduction to what we do in the art room through a couple of stories.  We have done a drawing of ourselves for a special book we will be putting together at the end of the year.  The students also showed what they could do on a line and shape survey.  These surveys will help plan out future lessons.  LOP students have been busy drawing different shapes.  We are practicing staying in the lines while coloring in the shapes.  1st, 2nd, 3rd, SES, and LOP students all helped create a Post-It note mural.  We all drew something about our summer break - places we visited, activities we did, foods we enjoyed - anything we wanted to share. Hope you spotted it during our Parent Night last week.  All of our projects this year will come from different continents around the world.  First grade is starting in Australia with a koala drawing focusing on texture.  Second grade is focusing on complex patterns on a project from Russia.  Ask your 2nd grade student what a "babushka" is!  Third grade is learning more about Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday, while learning the difference between symmetrical and asymmetrical balance.  
 


 

We have been very busy trying to wrap up various projects before school gets out.  In Kindergarten, the students created their last self portraits using collage materials.  We will be putting our ME books together with all of our self portraits next week.  We also practiced using paintbrushes including cleaning the brush between colors to make a flower painting. First graders learned about creating texture after reading Hedgie Blasts Off! by Jan Brett.  We drew hedgehogs along with Jan Brett and then created the furry and prickly textures with a pencil.  We have also been learning about the art of sculpture by creating papier-mache' cupcakes and paper sculptures of playground climbing structures.  Second graders have been working on the concept of space by creating seascapes.  We used markers like watercolor paints in order to make the water.  The students also created tiger face symmetrical prints after reading the book Once a Mouse by Marcia Brown.  In third grade the students finished their self-portraits with Picasso-like angles. They also have done research on various wildflowers in order to make identification cards for the PTO sponsored wildflower garden being created on Discovery Day.  Have a wonderful summer and BE CREATIVE!!
 

Kindergarten created pencil-drawn self portraits.  The students looked very carefully at themselves in a mirror and tried to draw what they could see.  They have also started learning about texture and will add "furry lines" to a wolf          drawing.  First graders and Ms. Dressel’s class learned how to draw Snoopy after hearing a biography about Charles Schulz.  They are wrapping up a hedgehog drawing this week where they are adding texture for the hedgehog's      prickles.  Second grade classes are learning about space and the different ways of showing distance by completing a mystery drawing of a boat.  They had to make careful observations of different lines and shapes and copy them to their papers.  As the lines and shapes were put together, the boat was revealed.  The drawings are being finished by applying what was learned about showing distance.  Third graders are drawing self-portraits after learning about 2 different artists, Leonardo da Vinci and Pablo Picasso.  We are following da Vinci's ideas about proportion and then we are putting a Picasso twist on them with color.
 

​Kindergarten has been working on patterns for their “Me” book covers.  We laid different colored caps on the rug in patterns and then moved on to drawing patterns and using cut out shapes to make patterns.  We also learned how to glaze our pinch pots and boy, are they beautiful!  First graders and Ms. Dressel’s class are finishing up their self-portraits with yarn hair and a little “added paint” after reading I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont.  They have been studying themselves carefully in mirrors.  We also glazed our clay owls with warm or cool colors.  Ms. Dressel’s students glazed clay cupcakes with a 3-color color scheme.  Second grade classes are learning the difference between geometric and organic shapes and using them in their Olympic project.  They also glazed their clay butterflies to show symmetry.  Third graders used a chosen color scheme to glaze their clay fish.  They also wrapped up the last few details on their symmetrical/asymmetrical alien project.
 

​Kindergarteners have worked on their illustrating and imagination skills by drawing a line story. Their projects were inspired by the book collection Harold and the Purple Crayon.  First Graders & Ms. Dressel’s class worked on drawing heart this week in honor of Valentine’s Day. Inspired by the book The Day It Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond they learned the difference between warm and cool colors and created a heart collage with the color family of their choice.  Second Graders are learning the Rule of 3’s when drawing human forms. They practiced drawing Olympic athletes in action in their sketch books.  Third Graders have continued to work on their Alien project. They have learned the difference between symmetrical and asymmetrical to create a space themed back ground and a space alien. They are using various materials to create their aliens body and are creating the aliens face out of repurposed CD’s.
 

​All of our students are currently working on their two-week clay unit, one of the most favorite things we do in art class!  Kindergartners are experiencing clay for the first time by creating pinch pots.  Our first graders are learning how to make slabs and attach two pieces of clay together with the score and slip method.  They are making owls.  Ms. Dressel's students are creating cupcakes with two pinch pots and also learning how to attach two pieces of clay.  Second graders are continuing to learn methods of building with clay with slabs, incised and relief designs, and attaching clay pieces together.  Third graders do a culminating project that brings together everything they have learned about clay at Hilltop by creating 3D fish using two pinch pots,  It is amazing to see what they can do with the clay after the other projects they have done over the years.
 

​Kindergartners have continued to work on their cutting skills in art.  We finished our landscapes and are now making robots inspired by the book Robot Zot! by Jon Scieszka.  First graders & Ms. Dressel’s class are working on the parts of the face.  We are drawing each part in our sketchbooks and then will put the parts together to create our self-portraits.  Second graders are learning about the parts of a landscape, which are foreground, middle ground and background.  We are creating a "cityscape" based on the book If the Dinosaurs Came Back by Bernard Most.  
Third graders are using their monoprints to create two projects.  They have created collages with a print and a contrasting color.  We then attached a leaf texture project where we glued leaves to cardboard and wrapped it in      aluminium foil.  The foil was rubbed with our fingers to bring out the textures and Mrs. McKay applied spray paint.  We used steel wool to rub off some of the paint.  Other prints were used to created weavings.  
 

​Kindergartners have been working hard on their cutting skills in art.  They created a giraffe and included lots of details to make them look like giraffes!  Now we are continuing to work on our scissor skills by working on landscapes, which are pictures of the outdoors.  First graders & Ms. Dressel’s class are working on a color theory project by making a picture of Chicken Little.  We read the book and painted paper in different colors.  We mixed secondary colors from primary colors.  Now we are cutting out the various parts of the chicken.  Second graders are working on a weaving project to use as a placemat at their feast later this month.  The important words for weaving are over and under.  Third graders are currently working on a texture monoprinting project.  They are using various objects to create prints using paint and Gelli-Plates.  These prints will be used with another project later this month.  We have been having a lot of fun creating these prints and seeing our results!
 

Our stick mural will be installed in the front hallway very soon.  Be sure to check it out when you next visit Hilltop.  Our Kindergartners have been practicing how to draw different kinds of lines and shapes.  Next, we will be working on scissor skills with a variety of projects.  First graders & Ms. Dressel’s class are finishing up a patriotic self-portrait where they used shapes to make their bodies.  No more stick bodies for us!  We will be holding flags made from our handprints!  Second graders are now working on a fall still-life painting.  Ask your 2nd graders what a still-life is.  They have practiced their observation skills by drawing objects as they really look.  Third graders have been observing and drawing pumpkins.  They are in the process of tracing their drawings with black glue, and will then learn about the art element of value in order to add color to the pumpkins that makes them look three-dimensional.