Non-Objective art and a simple foray into printmaking...

We've been talking about non-objective art for the past couple of lessons here in mizzsmiff's art room.  Normally, I don't usually camp out on one kind of art for very long as I like to mix things up but it just seems that my brain has been drawn to abstract colors and shapes lately.  I shared the oil pastel drawings that we did in my last post and I have to tell you that I have them on display in the hallway near where I have afternoon dismissal duty and they make me smile whenever I see them.  I love the bright cheerfulness that they bring to the gray walls in the hallway. 

I am so fortunate to have colleagues in my district that I can count on for inspiration, support and the sharing of ideas.  Being the only person in your school that teaches a subject can be rough.  No one understands you like a fellow art teacher.  There are only 4 middles schools in my county so it's not like there are that many of us to start with.  I know that I can always shoot Tammy an email over at North with a cry of desperation for inspiration. So, at the end of the last quarter, I was looking for a quick project that we could do in the few days that were left before fourth quarter started.  (Can I get a hallelujah for fourth quarter, teacher friends?) Tammy mentioned that she had recently done this project and it took all of 2-3 days.  I was pleasantly surprised by the results.  

As with many most of my projects these days, this was found on Pinterest from this link over at Artsonia. The original called for crayons but I let my students use watercolor since they had been begging me to paint.  

We talked about Wassily Kandinsky and I showed my kiddos lots and lots of his artwork.  I am generally amazed by their reactions to art and artists and I love nothing more than showing them something new that they may never have seen before.  We also discussed the many types of printmaking and how found object printmaking is the most simple of them all.  I have another printmaking project that is a little bit more difficult planned for later in the quarter. 

Here's a link to my little iMovie Gallery Crawl for this project:  Kandinsky Printmaking. 

Once again, I love the results. I love how they are all so different even though we followed the same parameters. 

We are currently working on another non-objective drawing that is being done with colored pencils.  We are just 2 days into the project and I am starting to get really excited about this one.  I think they are going to turn out beautifully.  The kids are excited about it too, and I can tell they want to do their best.

I can't wait to share the results with you!