The Elements of Art


On Wednesday we had a lesson, and discussion, on what are the ‘elements’ (foundational parts) of art. These are noted above.  Most are fairly obvious such as: colour (those found in the rainbow – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet 🌈); line (curved, straight, or angular); shape; and form (3-D objects).

Texture is the way something feels, or the way it looks like it feels. Value is the lightness or darkness of a colour by either adding white (to make a tint) or black (to make a shade). A value is also black and white and all the gradients in between. Students learned that black, white, grey, and brown are not true colours.

We used a variety of  ‘shading’ waxed crayons, and rubbing tiles or templates, to create these lovely pictures.  You should be able to see all the elements of Art, in each picture, with the exception of ‘form’.
















Every Artist is Unique …

We looked at a variety of prints of famous painters’ works.

Camille Pissarro

August Renoir

Paul Cezanne

Claude Monet

Vincent Van Gogh

Henri Matisse

Pablo Picasso

We discussed how the paintings are different and how they are the same. It was noticed, by the children, that while they all have at least one tree in their painting, they are all different versions, techniques, and styles of trees. Students then used waxed and pencil crayons to create their own ‘unique’ pictures.  They all needed to include at least one tree … everything else was up to them.  Here are the marvellous results:














Our Powerful Family Memories

We have begun the school year by looking at our families and learning about the many varied types of families.  We enjoyed “Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge” by Mem Fox.  This is a lovely story about a very young boy whose family lives next to a senior’s home.  Wilfrid Gordon knows all the people, and is friendly with them all, but his favourite is Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper because she has four names, too.

One day he hears his parents talking about how Miss Nancy has lost her memory.  This sets him on a quest to learn about memories and to help Miss Nancy find hers.

After reading the book we discussed memories and what makes some of them more powerful than others.  Here are their responses: