4th Grade Abstracts Inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe

4th Graders learned about the American painter, Georgia O'Keeffe. Georgia O'Keeffe was born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. O'Keeffe is known for painting up-close abstracts of flowers, and bones. O'Keeffe found inspiration and completed a great deal of her out west, in the desert. For this lesson, students looked at realistic photographs of flowers and bones. Each student created a view finder, which is like a small window, that allowed them to zoom in on part of a flower or a skull. Students drew the zoomed in portion of their flower or skull on large paper, followed by painting with acrylics. Students practiced color mixing, layering, and adding shading and highlights. Learning Targets: 1. I can create an abstract composition, from looking at a realistic photograph. (by zooming in on PART of my photograph). 2. I can mix/ show a variety of different colors and values in my painting. 3. I can blend colors of paint together. (colors that go well together)

3rd Grade Symmetrical Color Wheels

3rd graders created symmetrical color wheels. Students created symmetrical designs in pairs on complementary colors (opposites on the color wheel). Students then worked on using the primary colors, to mix the secondary colors. In each color section, students practiced mixing tints (by adding white to lighten the color), and shades (by adding black to darken a color). Learning Targets: 1. I can create symmetrical designs (in sets of complementary colors). 2. I can mix the primary colors to create secondary colors. 3. I can create a variety of tints & shades of colors.

5th Grade Abstract Eyes

5th Graders used oil pastels to create an abstract drawing of an eye. The lines themselves may be realistic, however the color choice / selection is what makes the pieces abstract. Students worked on overlapping and blending oil pastels as well.