Rocket Ships
Ashleigh’s Year Three and Four class came to the art room today and made fiery rockets on swirly galaxy backgrounds. They had a great time experimenting with paint and collage techniques.
This year I have decided to get a head start on the artworks for this year’s Calendar Art fundraiser. Normally we would do Calendar Art in term three but getting them finished earlier will free up the end of the year for other art projects. Later in the year families will have the opportunity to buy calendars, diaries, notebooks and cards with their child’s lovey artwork printed on them.
For the first part of today’s lesson the students made fiery tails for their rockets. They learnt how to blend paint on paper to make a new colour. For the rocket tails they blended yellow and red paint in a triangular shape. I love teaching children new painting techniques, they are always very eager to take risks and try out the new skills.
The next part of today’s lesson was probably the most fun part of the day - making the swirly galaxy backgrounds. First the students mixed light blue and purple on their palettes. Then they used sponges to add layers of paint to black paper to create a textured background. Following that the students splattered yellow paint on top to make stars. Splattering the paint was very popular with the students!
I loved observing the different approaches the students took when using the sponges and splattering the paint. I am pleased that the art room is a comfortable space where the students feel confident trialing new ideas and taking creative risks.
While the painted pieces of the artworks were drying we got stuck into making the collaged rockets. I showed the students how to fold their paper in half to make symmetrical rocket ships and wings. Once again, I loved seeing the creativity and variation in design.
Putting the rockets and fiery tails together proved a little tricky but I reassured the students that the art room is a place where a lot of problem solving takes place. The students showed wonderful resilience while measuring, cutting and glueing their pieces together.
I had a great time with Ashleigh’s class, it was wonderful seeing them so eager to try new techniques and get creative. The finished artworks are lovely too, check them out below. The students can be very proud of their wonderful efforts today.
