no nakie art!

Hum....we are almost done with our middle ages unit and are ready to look at the art of the Renaissance. As I am collecting images to share with the kids I am struck by how few works I can show because I can not show any type of nudity in any form.
can't show Birth of Venus...

or David....

or the most famous part of the Sistine Chapel

or da Vinci's Vitruvian man

That's just a few really important pieces of art that I'm not allowed to show....am I really going to have to photo shop fig leafs onto all of these works of art...and a coconut shell bra on the Venus?

Any ideas on how to deal with the issue of not showing any nudity but still sharing great art?

masi expectations

Respectful bodies/words - to each other, to me. Rude language, teasing, putting down others art, telling people to shut up. These are not acceptable behaviors in the art room. Pounding the table, hitting each other, kicking each other, treating art supplies in a rough way. These are not acceptable in the art room.

Respectful listening to each other when someone asks for material please share with them. if a student asks you to stop doing something that is keeping them from learning you need to listen to them and stop. to me. Stop talking, stop working, look

Classroom level voices so students can focus and hear each other and teacher. This starts when we enter the room. 0 voice is when you are receiving instruction. 1 is wisper. 2 voice is for work time. Just loud enough to talk to the people at your table. 3 voice is to be heard by the whole class when answering a question or giving a presentation. 4. is for emergency only.
3 ways that tell you it is time to be zero voices. Lights off. Tambourine shake or may I have your attention please.

You are responsible for telling one person what to do, disciplining one person, commenting on one person and only one person. Yourself. No one else.

actively working on art

These are the expectations for staying in the art room. If you are not willing to follow these expecatations than you may not be in the art room. You do not have the right to keep others from working and learning. 3 strikes you are out. first warning name goes on board. second warning gets a dot. third time not following classroom expectations and you will need to leave. This will also equall a note sent to Mrs. Barta/Mr. Snyder. Telling me "I did not do anything!" will not erase you warnings. telling me that another person should not be warned or removed will not cause me to remove a warning.

More Illuminated Letters

Here are some more of our Illuminated Letters. These are the ones that took longer and are done by my higher level students so they show a higher quality of work. Enjoy!
amazing detail in the wings:)

good use of gray scale

can you see the soccer field



he goes a little detail crazy but loves his work ;)

"It's like the inside of my head all over the metal"

v is for vines

He felt like the parts of the S looked like crescent moons so he added the two stars

The figure 5 in gold

I stole my husbands nice camera and took it to school to take some photos...he wasn't super happy but I got some new photos to post;)
A while back I had the 2nd and 3rd graders look at the work I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold and read and listen to the poem that goes with the painting The Great Figure.

I put a picture of the original painting, a copy of the poem and a explanation of the project up on the bulletin board. No school staff or admin seemed to notice the display but a few parents read the poem and some kinder, 4th and 5th graders spent time looking at it so that is something.

When looking at the original painting I had students look for shapes, colors and lines. We found the hidden fire truck and talked about how the artist used diagonal lines to make it look like the fire truck was moving fast. Next we brainstormed our favorite number and drew it LARGE on 8"x 14" paper. Students could color in their number with oil pastel or wait to paint it with watercolor.

Next we talked about repetition and unity. We drew our favorite number small three or 5 more times around the paper and then added three circles in various sizes. I had students color their circles in with oil pastel. Then we used DIAGONAL lines to dived our paper into smaller spaces.

The next class we re-read the poem and reviewed the elements of art we found in the painting. Then I had students use watercolor to paint their background spaces. They could choose one area on the paper that I would paint with my forbidden 1970's gold powdered tempera paint that I keep hidden in the back of my cabinet.

The project was perfect for both 2nd and 3rd grade but the paper was too large for the 2nd graders. Next time I will use standard letter size paper for 2nd grade and the larger paper only for 3rd grade.
click to enlarge

I think this lesson is a great way to combine art, math and literacy!

Medieval illuminated letters in foil

Before spring break I was asked to do units on Medieval and Renaissance Art with my 6-8th grade students.Of course the first lesson that came to mind were Illuminated Letters. However, I had students make colored pencil illuminated letters 3 years ago (and remember I have to go 3 FULL years before I can repeat a lesson).

After some pondering I decided to have students make their illuminated letters on tooling foil and use sharpies to add color. Wow they are turning out cool! The reflection of the metal, the raised lines and the pop of the sharpie color and even my lackluster kiddos work is turning out hall worthy.

The photos are not doing them justice.
In an effort to get my unmotivated students to do some work I put very loose guidelines on the content. Each one has to have a letter and either that letter needs to be made "fancy," or needs to have images that correlate to that letter, or needs to be first initial of the student's name and include images of things that illustrate their likes and dislikes.

Granted I have everything from PS3 controllers to a tribute to Halloween. But consistently the kids are liking their work and are happy to have it in the hall.

More importantly random parents are coming into my room to ask what we used...one family actually went to the store and bought some tooling foil and sharpies to make their own at home with their younger students. This kind of parent interest is UNHEARD of at my school. I wish I had the money to do a family art night were the kids and parents from the younger grades could make their own. That's a grant for another year though.

Our next project is pure Medieval fantasy and we are doing watercolor dragons...a creature that is proving very hard for my students to draw even with step by step directions from my favorite book! A good drawing challenge is always good for us though.