Our early childhood unit took us on an exploration of new media, techniques, and processes!
Beginning with the art of scissor-holding, students, paras, and Ms. Bomba were united in song as we paraded to the beat of our feet holding our scissors “ice-cream cone style,” or blade down, in order to stay safe. We used our crab claws to “pinch,” or open and close the scissor blades making it easier to cut geometric shapes, like the ones seen in many of Mondrian’s paintings.
Piet Mondrian’s, Broadway Boogie Woogie
As our unit advanced, students were introduced to the Elements of Art, or the language of Art, and became experts and identifying the way artists apply the Elements in unique ways in order to get different results and evoke emotions and ideas in their art work.
After mastering the way Mondrian applies line, shape, color, and space in his primary color-inspired paintings, we took a look at the wild, energetic, collage work of Romare Bearden.
Romare Bearden, Serenade
Bearden applies the same Elements of Art in his work, only uses a different medium. In his work, magazines, photographs, and even torn canvas come together to create a world of overlapping paper. Here are some students practicing how to overlap with their hands before beginning their work.
Students later combined aspects of both Mondrian and Bearden’s work to get their own primary colored, geometric shape, cut paper collages! Here are a few pictures of students practicing how to cut geometric shapes from primary colored paper and learning how to properly apply glue to their cut shapes.
To top it all off, students then incorporated yet another artistic process–printmaking! Using everyday objects such as lids, toilet paper rolls, and baby food containers, we were able to create negative space in high-contrasting black and white!
Now that you can see the impressive work these busy young artists have been up to, ask yourself the question, what were you doing at age 3 or 4?
