paw prints

Dripping with Delight

2012-01-23T09:02:00.000-08:00

By Zachary H.

In class, the 5th grade was inspired by Jackson Pollock so we splattered paint to do it just like him. It took a long time, creativity and thought, but we knew the results at the end would be excellent and good! When it came to seeing the final result, everybody wanted to see what theirs turned out to be. Some people weren't exactly happy with the result of their project, but the good part about is that they didn't give up at all! They just re-did it again kept on working! On the other hand, the other people were happy with their results and started to frame it and decorate it a lot, as you can seen. You might be surprised and scared, and say, "Woah, that is a really excellent project, but I cannot do it." If that's what you think then tell yourself to take a deep breath. This project is very simple to succeed in! If you have no way or idea of how to do it, don't hesitate! Just ask your current art teacher Ms. Palefsky! She'll tell you how to do it. If you love it, you can comment on it too!
I think that our pictures look quite astonishing. We used quite simple materials in our project. All it took was some paint, the creative side of your brain and more. In conclusion, this project overall was pretty successful! We all loved it and you can too, so don't be afraid to do some, simple fun art!

" I have no fear of making changes, ... because the painting has a life of its own. "

- Pollock

Jackson Pollock was an American painter, born in 1912,
who became famous for his enormous drip paintings. Rather than paint a landscape or a portrait, Pollock wanted to paint action. When you look at one of his drip paintings, your eye wanders across the entire canvas in constant motion...

Morning Art

2012-01-09T10:16:00.000-08:00

Students arrive to school extra early for studio time in the art room.

“Morning Art gives me more time to do art. I get to look at older kids’ work, and I get to ask other people what their pictures are of. I get to spend time with my neighbor and make art and it makes me feel artistic.”
- Julia O., 2D

“When I was signing up, my parents weren’t home, so I called them and they said, “Okay.” So I wrote a comment saying that I wanted to draw the Mona Lisa. When I finally finished it on the third week, I was very happy. Now it is the last week, and I’m making an origami paper chain.”
- Charlie C., 3R

“When I heard about morning art I wanted to be the first one to sign up I was so excited. That night when I got home I rushed on the computer to sign up. I wanted to do morning art because we only have art once a week for specials and I wanted to do more. There are a lot of materials in the art room that I don’t have at home, like oil pastels, and big papers. Morning art is really fun you might want to sign up next time.

- Alex R., 3R

Making Resolutions

2012-01-03T14:12:00.000-08:00

Excited for the new year, students worked with composition, design,

and overlapping shapes to create symbolic new year's resolution art.

STUDENTS SHARE SOME OF THEIR RESOLUTIONS:

"I will stick to getting dressed faster."

"I will try to erase my fights with my friends."

"I will try my hand at ice skating."

"I will cut out teasing my sister."

"I will cross out bad thoughts." (symbol: pencil)

"We traced things in the art room like glue to tell us to stick to doing our chores."

"I will erase fighting with my brother."

"I will cut out turning the light on when my teenage brother is trying to sleep."

"I will cut out saying bad words."

"I will stick to singing."

Holiday Hits

2011-12-20T09:11:00.000-08:00

Tape Art

Oil pastel & crayon resist

Origami paper chain

Paper bag gingerbread house

Oil pastel, stained glass style

Enjoy a creative holiday!

Chagall Stained Glass

2011-12-06T09:49:00.000-08:00

Today in art we did a project inspired by stained glass and used oil pastels. We made Christmas trees, candles, and menorahs. We smooched [smudged] the oil pastels so it looks like paint. We made cracks for the glass and we took tooth picks to scratch designs in the oil pastels. We used dark colors to outline and light colors for the inside. Then we put frames on the back of the stained glass, we got to pick red or light blue.

By Troy and Chris, 3W

(Click image to view slideshow)

Life-Size People

2011-11-28T10:06:00.000-08:00

By Spencer G. and Eric M. from 4-N

This project for the 4th Grade of Purchase School is a very cool and fun project for all of us. First we planned our person and traced one of our bodies. Then we got to work on painting our person which was really fun! We even got to scratch into wet paint with the end of our paint brush, called sgraffito. Once the paint dried we cut it out. Then we stuffed it and stapled it and then did our final touches to the people. We used a lot of materials such as paint, oil pastels, markers, paper, stuffing, fabric, yarn, staplers and duck tape. Don’t you wish you could do this project at home?

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T07:38:00.000-08:00

By Vincent C., 4C

Tipi Village

2011-11-21T05:37:00.000-08:00

By:Molly and Ava

Tipi’s are all over Purchase school!!! In art we are making a Native American village. First we had to paint and design our tipi. Everyone painted them brown but the cool part was the designs, there were Native American symbols and awesome stripes and lines. We waited for them to dry and the next class we folded them into tipi shapes. We went outside and collected sticks, leaves and flowers, we thought it was cool to get all types of nature. We put the sticks and feathers in the top of the tipi where there was a little hole.

Next it was time to glue the tipi’s on to a big piece of foam core. We also painted and added a lot of detail to the canvas, but the next class when the paint dried the end was curling up. We had to change it and move all the tipis on to a different piece of paper because painting the board made it warp. So after everything was on a giant piece of paper, we added details with model magic.

We made fires out of model magic, we made people in cones and made animals such as a buffalo. We had to use very light materials so they wouldn’t fall over, I made a tree out of model magic but it fell over because it was too heavy. When we are finished we will hang it vertically in the hall way so that everyone can acknowledge all our hard work.

We had such a great experience and learned how to work together really well. We can’t wait to see the kids' reactions when they see it in the hallway!

The model village hangs vertically in the hallway, appearing -- at first glance -- as abstract art.

Photos from Tipi Day 2011

The Art of Paris

2011-11-15T22:26:00.000-08:00

By Alexander H., 4A

My 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Arenella, asked me to log a travel and photo journal for my trip to France in October of 2011 with my family.

Here's the starter piece of the journal:

FLIGHT TO FRANCE:

My mother, father, sister, brother and I flew from New York’s JFK airport on an 757 jet. We flew on an overnight flight called a “red-eye”. We landed at an airport named Charles De Gaulle, which is named after a French President. JFK airport was also named after a President, but of the United States.

* * *

When we landed, went through security and got our luggage. What was lucky for us was that we found a taxi large enough to fit all five of us, our luggage and my walker. Usually the taxis and cars are very small, like a Smart Car or a Mini Cooper.

* * *

DAY 3 Monday: Le Louvre Day

I was happy to have some good old Frosted Flakes for breakfast. We drove to the Musee Le Louvre and parked in an amazing underground garage. We walked out underneath the glass pyramid. Our plan was to see the Italian masters’ paintings and then some sculptures from BC (before Christ). My father took a picture of me standing in front of the most famous picture, the Mona Lisa (by Leonardo da Vinci). We also saw the huge painting of the Wedding at Cana, the Coronation of Napoléon (by David).

* * *

All in all, Paris was a big success. What you may not realize is, there's a big difference in seeing the artwork in person, and seeing it in a book. For me to be there, I am very lucky because it is a once in a lifetime experience.

Kinders Collage

2011-11-07T12:55:00.000-08:00

Kindergarteners notice the autumn trees around our school building and work with paper to capture the scene in a collage. (Google Maps satellite photo above)

Salted Silhouettes

2011-11-02T00:02:00.000-07:00

By 3rd grader, Ethan W.
Our silhouette project is very cool because you get white paper and you do something called the wet on wet technique. To do the wet on wet technique you wet a paintbrush and paint the paper with no color just water. And then you watercolor paint the paper like the sunset. When it dries you either color it with special black marker or you cut out black paper into the shape you want and glue it. That’s how you make a silhouette.

By 3rd grader, T.J.
In art we did a project called silhouettes. It will take two days to finish the project. You will have to use watercolor paint, salt and black paper. When you put the salt on the paper it looks so cool because it absorbs the paint! My favorite part was when I put the salt on the paper because it was really cool! I did a snowboard because my dad owns a ski and snowboard shop. My favorite subject in school is art because you can learn a lot of artistic things in art, I learned how to make a cool silhouette!

Halloweenish

2011-10-31T11:04:00.000-07:00

By Cristian G. and Jack K., 2M

Dear Reader, Purchase School has come up with some really good ideas for Halloween. For instance, a First grader came up with a costume for our Elephant. He used recycled paper to make him a mummy. For another idea, a student made a mobile with paper bats and Halloween stuff. You can make a haunted house by stacking up shoe boxes, and putting in ghosts, eyeballs, and spiders. We also made owls using overlapping lines, patterns and a horizon line. Finally, we made a monster by folding paper and cutting a zig-zag mouth, and cutting a fringe to make it look hairy. We hope you like our Purchase School blog, Happy Halloween!

The Elephant Not in the Room

2011-10-19T18:57:00.000-07:00

5th grade Photoshop Project in the Computer Lab

By: Frankie N. 5-H, Brett R. 5-H, Ethan Z. 5-E

Photoshop is a program which allows you to edit your picture to make it funnier or cooler. The 5th grade did a project on Photoshop where you take the elephant from the art room and place it in any type of background or picture and insert it there. There are many features in Photoshop, such as: erasing, blur, dragging your picture, and making a
transparent background. You can drag parts of the elephant’s body onto other parts of the picture. You can get any picture that you want from Google images or Bing images. When you start Photoshop it can be a little confusing, but once you learn, it is a lot easier and a lot more fun. Photoshop was a big success for the 5th grade and everybody had a blast!!!!!!!!

Root Vegetables

2011-10-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

First graders dug up

lots of enthusiasm
painting foods that

grow underground.

Hear from 1st graders Rachel & Luke:

Better Bodies

2011-09-23T12:34:00.000-07:00

By Ava G., 3D

One day, I went to the art room and we were creating people, and I thought it was very cool. Before I did this, I only knew how to make stick figures. I was really excited. Ms. Palefsky taught us how to start at the waist and notice where your hands line up on your body. I used to draw hands to the middle of the body, but now know it looks more realistic to put them below your waist. I got really in to it. It was really fun. I wondered how it would turn out. I started to make the legs and then I drew the body and the head. I used the base of a mannequin to make the head. It was turning out great, then time was up so I brought it home and finished it. I created a shirt and a skirt, and a belt. On the shirt there are twirls, the belt is purple with a heart in the middle, and the skirt is off-white. Her hair is brown, and her nails are pink. I put skin color on her, and purple boots. I thought it was really nice, and now I know how to make a better body.

The Elephant in the Room

2011-09-13T16:17:00.000-07:00

So, what's in the art room THIS year?

2011-09-02T15:45:00.000-07:00

Once again, a towering sculpture made
of boxes, chicken wire, a 10' carpet tube,
and recycled packaging materials awaits!

But what is it?

Post your guess in a comment ... tell us your suggestions
for how we can decorate this new ________________.

(HINT: it's not a tree, dragon, bird or lion)

Photography

2011-06-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

Third graders finished their year with a special photography study

in collaboration with Lincoln Center.

By Erin, Matthew, Evan

Ms. Smith, from Lincoln Center, arrived to our Art Class in the first week of June to share a bit of her knowledge of photography. On the first day, we took photos and went over the meanings of framing, contrast, foreground and background. The next day, we looked closely at photographs from the Lincoln Center collection and noticed things we had never noticed before. We realized all the photos had contrast, dark and light together. All of the pictures were taken in black and white. On the third day, we took photos again and discussed our progress. Plus, Mr. Kalman, our principal, came in and shared his photographs with us. He had traveled to Rome and taken different pictures of different people.

Some things we learned:
Erin: "Now I will think about my angle as I take pictures."
Matthew: "I am going to think about the background in my photos."
Evan: "Now I am interested in taking pictures of buildings and statues in the city."

Students explored how to think like a photographer... taking notice of

Foreground, Background, Contrast, Framing / Cropping

"You don't take a photograph, you make it."

Right After Breakfast...

2011-06-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

By Halina D.

Morning Art is a program early in the morning, where students can work on any kind of art projects they want. I work on art day and night but this gave me an opportunity to do it in the morning. In Morning Art you also have a wider variety of materials so you can create a more exciting project.

What I liked about Morning Art the most was that I could come and finish projects I didn’t have time to finish at home. Grades 2-5 could come to Morning Art and make spectacular paintings, models, and drawings. Morning Art is a great way to take your time on a project and not rush. I had a lot of things I liked about this program. I also made some new friends at Morning Art and spent some time with old friends. This program also brings out the creativity in you.

Plaster Masks

2011-06-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

By Alex M

The third graders made plaster masks in Art, and these are the steps. First, we put plaster in face molds and everyone got messy. It felt gooey when we put the plaster strips in water and put them inside the mask molds.
Next, we painted on a base color like red, blue, green, black, orange or light green. We focused on symmetry, which means keeping the same designs on both sides.
Last but not least, we painted other colors and drew on the masks with gold and silver markers and glued fabric on to the masks. It was cool to work with plaster!

The Red Carpet

2011-06-08T14:30:00.000-07:00

By Lilah S.

Paparazzi, paparazzi everywhere! Have you ever been to the red carpet? Have you ever met your favorite actor/actress? Well now you have, because you’re at the red carpet! Get all the autographs you need, all the latest information!
I have been working on this project the whole year! I got this idea when my mom was watching a show about the red carpet, and I interpreted that to my art work. I remembered seeing another student make a stop animation movie during Morning Art, and I was inspired to make one. I kept on having more & more ideas every month doing this project. It kept on getting better & better as I added more.

Materials: I used felt for the red carpet, I used model magic clay for the people, and a paper clip to make the people stand up. It was fun being the set designer, director, producer and editor for this project. I am so proud of what I accomplished!

* Featuring music from Purchase School CD, "Purchase Goes to Hollywood," 2010.

♬ ✌

2011-05-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

Photograph by Robert Kalman

Our Environment

2011-05-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

2nd graders painted portraits of some favorite animals to

promote wildlife conservation for Earth Day.

5th graders created a digital environmental awareness campaign

using Animoto and songs from our school-produced CD...

... view them all on our Library Blog!

"The earth is what we all have in common."

-- Wendell Berry (American author)

Smile Train

2011-05-19T09:55:00.000-07:00

By Sarah B.

Chugga, chugga, choo, choo! Purchase School is getting on the Smile Train to help save kids’ smiles. Some people are born with deformed clefts, making it difficult to eat and speak. The Smile Train is an organization that collects donations and repairs children’s mouths.
Caring Kids is a group of 4th and 5th graders from Purchase School who do good deeds throughout Harrison. The Caring kids have also done things for Africa and soldiers going to Afghanistan. We collected donations from the families of Purchase School and sent them to the Smile Train organization. We also collected pictures of the smiling faces of people who donated money, and put them on the Purchase School Smile Train. I thought that it would be an interesting idea to combine pictures of smiles and a train to create a piece of artwork giving credit to the people who donated. Purchase School raised over $1,000!!!

By Jonathan K., age 10.

When I found out that Caring Kids was doing a donation for people with clefts, I felt really bad and wanted to help. Our club was asking for donations of $1 but I wanted to give more. So I asked my mom if I could bring in some of my birthday money. She said, "Yes, you can bring as much as you want since you're doing something good for other people." This experience has taught me that you feel really proud of yourself when you do something for people who are in need.

Art is a Process

2011-05-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten wowed their mothers with still life floral paintings that involved many steps. Like most painters, they began with a pencil sketch, then traced over their lines with a black marker, and added color with pastels & paint.

RECYCLED Mixed Media

2011-05-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

By Julia L. and Savvy H.

In art class we made mother’s day cards. We used recycled fabric and other materials. We also reused old book pockets left over from the library. We wanted to give our mothers something special but what’s more special than an earth friendly card. Here are some of the materials we used: we used fabric, paper, tissue paper, aluminum foil, ribbon, and a book pocket. We were surprised that everyone in our class was really into it and that we can make such creative things out of reusable things and still show our mothers how much we love them in a brilliant, loving, caring, mixed media way.

Several boxes of unused book pockets were donated to the Art Room.

Windows for the Mother's day card:

Other book pocket innovations:

For Mom

2011-05-02T08:32:00.000-07:00

Many artists have made "Mom" the subject of their work.

2nd graders analyzed some well-know Portraits of Mother, then created their own.

By Matthew N.

I drew a picture of my mom for mother’s day. I put a lot of effort into my drawing. I added: curly hair, regular hair, and more curly hair. All of the materials I used were: pencil, sharpie, chalk, paint marker, and regular marker. When I thought I was done, I knew something was missing, so I stopped to think about what was missing. Then I added colors to it. Now it is finished!!

Listen to our analysts responding to art:

click for larger screen

The Sandwich Movie

2011-04-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

The term Mixed media refers to a work of art made with more than one material. Notice all the different media used to make this video... the photos, illustrations, text and sound transform a simple, nonfiction narrative into an exciting, visually-entertaining tale.

The Sandwich Movie from Sean Christensen on Vimeo.

What funny family story could you turn into a movie? What types of mixed media would you include to support your story?

Bottle caps

2011-04-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

By Spencer G., Nellie F.

On our own, outside of school we thought of doing a project with bottle caps. We thought about doing something for the school. Since we are the Harrison Huskies, we came up with a paw print. Here is how we got all the bottle caps. Some kids in our class (3W) were generous enough to give us bottle caps at snack. Our families gave us a lot and other friends also pitched in.

Here’s how we made it. First we made a sketch of a paw print. Next we painted inside the paw print in a white paint. We then placed the bottle caps where they needed to go. Finally we glue gunned the bottle caps to the paper. We hope you like our project. GO PURCHASE!!!!

This recycled art project came just in time for Earth Day.
Here's another creative use of bottle caps: Stop Motion Animation

Color Theory

2011-04-05T14:34:00.000-07:00

By Joe M.

Have you ever thought about how a color can make you feel? When artists use cool colors it may make you feel a little sad, and warm colors can make you feel excited. Red, orange and yellow energize you to get out there and do something that makes you feel good. We learned about warm, cool and complementary colors and how, when we put them together, they make each other stand out. I liked how I traced my hand and filled it with warm colors, then filled the background with cool colors. This made my warm hand stand out against the cool background. I think this project is a good way to learn about complementary colors and use your hands.

Color theory looks at the visual impacts of specific color combinations.

Complementary colors are directly opposite each other on the color wheel
(red & green, blue & orange, violet & yellow), when placed next to each other, both appear brighter.

April Fool’s

2011-04-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

This April 1943 magazine cover, titled The Game,

contained at least 45 errors. Can you find them?

click here for the answers!

Writer Aaron Rimstidt explains:

Someone who greatly enjoyed playing tricks was Norman Rockwell. In the 1940s,

he created three unforgettable covers for the Post celebrating the holiday, each with

“errors” left by the playful illustrator.

Portraiture

2011-03-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

March is Youth Art Month. It's also Women's History Month. Two 5th graders celebrated them both with a portrait of our New York State Senator, Suzi Oppenheimer.

portraiture -- the art of representing the physical likeness of an individual.

Artwork by Emily W.

" My portrait is a three-quarter turn and drawing the face was challenging. I also thought at first, it would be hard to draw, but as I went along it became easier. I learned that you should just try your best and let your mind be free. My favorite part was doing the jacket because I mixed lots of blues and purples, and the background where I used a sponge and tempera paint."

Artwork by Lauren C.

" In my portrait, I used a lot of different materials. I used color pencils, pastels, crayons, a black sharpie marker, and pencil. To me, good artwork has lots of different materials in it. I like the way I added the American flag in the background. "

The Senator was honored and impressed by the artwork!

Senator Suzi Oppenheimer represents our area, the 37th district.

The Harrison Report, June 10, 2011, Back cover (pg. 8)

March Weather

2011-03-16T11:37:00.000-07:00

Kindergarteners have been observing the changing weather, noticing how "March comes in like a lion, and out like a lamb." They explored some new art techniques to help portray these very different animals.

_______ In _______

_______ Out _______

3rd Grade Mural

2011-03-08T12:34:00.000-08:00

By Josh C.

Every student in the third grade participated in creating a mural that said "Care About Others and Care About Yourself." Each student painted a picture on a section of the cardboard which was hung up on a wall in the school. Some of the kids painted pictures of Earth and some made pictures of them with their friends. My friend Chip and I painted a picture of us passing a basketball to each other. I chose that because I like to play basketball with friends and our art teacher, Ms. Palefsky, suggested to our class that we paint something that shows us being nice to someone or caring about others.

I think the mural turned out really well. It is really colorful and big. I think visitors would enjoy looking at the mural. I hope it inspires visitors and other students to make their own mural.

We recycled cardboard from a tall cabinet box to construct our hallway mural. We spent weeks planning, preparing and painting.

Planning.

Every 3rd grader designed their own 7" x 9" section of the mural. Students' artwork responded to the mural's theme, "How do we care about others?"

Preparing.

After gridding the 3' x 14.5' cardboard base, we painted our message in white, preparing for a darker, multicolor background.

Painting.
Each student filled their section with acrylic paints, mixing new colors and making sure all the cardboard was covered. We avoided using the color white so the background would be darker than the letters (creating contrast and good readability).

Special thanks to Mrs. Fowler for volunteering her expertise.

Some Art History.

A mural is any piece of artwork painted directly on a wall, ceiling or large permanent surface.

Murals bring art to the public view.

The Mexican mural movement in the 1930s used murals as a tool for social & political change.

Haring's artwork responded to the New York City street culture in the 1980's.

Ava Wins Art Contest!

2011-03-02T19:12:00.000-08:00

To raise awareness of Dental Health Month in February, a local dentist hosted a contest asking kids to create artwork for the theme
“What keeps my teeth healthy?"

Entries were judged on originality, artistic design, and best representation of the theme. Our 2nd grader Ava G. took the challenge and won first prize! Her winning illustration was displayed in the Gallery of The Rye Arts Center. Congratulations, Ava!

Photoshop

2011-02-16T11:59:00.000-08:00

5th graders let the Lion out of the Art Room

... and boy, did he roam.

"Lion Love" by Jacklyn & Lauren

"Waiting for My Date" by Mohammed & Jack

"South Park Crew" by Alex, Noah & Sammy

"Narnia and Friends" by Sammy & Peter

By Austin P., Spencer D.

In class we were introduced to a new program called Photoshop and thought it was very creative. We put a picture of our Art Room's giant paper lion in another photo by adding layers. First, we went on Google images and found a picture that we wanted the lion to be in. Then, we copied and pasted the image to Photoshop and added the lion's image as a new layer. We changed the image size of the lion by making the percentage smaller so it fit with the background. Afterwards, we used the eraser tool to erase any parts of the lion that we didn't need, and flattened the two layers together to make one picture. This project allowed us to explore the creativity of photoshop and how technology has changed photography. We hope to do this project again.

HOW DO THEY DO IT? Using Photoshop, students adjust image sizes, create new layers, and apply the eraser tool.

"Lion Williams" by Brandon

See how Photoshop is used in Advertising! http://youtu.be/iYhCn0jf46U

-- Rose P. (Senior Retoucher at Impact Digital, NYC) writes:

"I love that film!! It's why I do what i do - and proof that anyone can be a model!"

Wintry Paintings

2011-02-03T09:38:00.000-08:00

First graders read “The Biggest, Best Snowman” by Margery Cuyler, and used a fantastic painting technique to create one of their own.

After drawing with a white crayon on white paper, students applied a dark paint color to make a wintry watercolor resist!

Danny and Sammy explain the painting process below:

The crayon will resist the paint, leaving white lines on the paper.

printmaking

2011-01-27T10:43:00.000-08:00

By: Molly S., Rachel S., Ava J., Gabby D.

Lately in the art room, the 4^th graders have been working with ink and paper. We have been working on Printmaking! Printmaking is similar to a stamp.

The steps for printmaking are…

1. Draw your design on Oak Tag paper. Make sure in some way the paper is overlapping.

2. Once you have your design, glue all your pieces of Oak Tag together.

3. Wait 24 hours for your design to dry.

4. Pick out a background color (paper) and an ink color.

5. Once you have your background paper and an ink color, you must get a brayer and roll the ink on the design 15 times.

6. Now flip your design over onto the background paper.

7. Take a clean brayer and rub over the back of your design.

8. Now peel your design off of the background paper and you should have a cool print! If you’re drawing letters remember to make them backwards.

We thought print making was….vivacious, cool, creative and ornate!!! Our favorite part about printmaking was seeing how the prints came out. The good thing about printmaking is it saves paper and you can use your design more than once. Your print may not come out good the first time, but there is always next time and never give up. Some people's designs were initials, names, funny faces, and their favorite things. At first the ink was sticky. We loved printmaking and we hope to do it again.

What do you think about printmaking? Please comment on our post.

Yearbook Art

2011-01-19T14:58:00.000-08:00

What The 5^th Graders Are Up To

By Emily W., 5E

The 5^th graders just finished their yearbook self-portraits. It all came together very well and Ms. Palefsky helped us the whole way. The first step we did was a draft, and drew the face with the "T" across it, creating a guideline. Then we illustrated all the features and started on the one that we were going to show the whole school. We finished the details on our final copy and colored it all in. Then we made the background. It was all so exciting.

You get to see some now but you will have to look in the yearbook to see the rest…

Art in the A.M.

2011-01-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

                                          What better way to start the
                     day than in the Art Room? Students signed up for independent "studio time" as an opportunity to practice skills, exercise creativity, and develop individual projects.

Cookies & 'Crackers . . .

2010-12-17T08:45:00.000-08:00

Kindergarten worked with the Gingerbread man, while 1st grade examined the Nutcracker.

After their theater trip, First Graders created their own Nutcrackers...

Ceramic Leaf Bowl

2010-12-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

By Ben M. and Drew R.

The 4th grade students of Purchase School made ceramic leaf bowls. Our first step was to get a big leaf and roll out a slab of clay. We put the leaf on top of the clay and used a rolling pin to get the veins to show in the clay. Next, we used a clay needle to trace and cut out the shape of the leaf. Then we took a cup of water, dipped our finger in it, and smoothed over the edges of the clay. We laid it out on a paper towel and placed it into a bowl to get the shape of a bowl. While we were gone, Ms. Palefsky put the clay into the kiln to be bisque fired. When we came back, we glazed our bowls with special glazes that contained little pieces of different colors. The colors of the glazes looked different in the container, but they changed when they were heated in kiln. After we finished putting on three coats of glaze, our bowls were put back in the kiln for another firing. When they came out, they were waterproof and very shiny. You can also see the little color bursts that created speckles of different colors. Making the ceramic leaf bowl was a great experience.

Enjoy the slideshow of our process.

Still Life Collages

2010-11-19T12:30:00.000-08:00

Second graders explore the many possibilities of paper -- weaving, cutting symmetry, tearing & overlapping -- to create Matisse-inspired Still Life Collages. They set the table with artistic flare... and just in time for Thanksgiving.

A still life shows objects that don't move.

Matisse paints his objects overlapping one another.

Thinking about composition,
students arrange their materials.

Installation Art

2010-11-13T11:13:00.000-08:00

By: Judy F. , Isabella C. & Rachel S.

Every year the 4th Grade comes together in art for a big project. We split into groups and each group makes a life size stuffed person. We make it look like real kids. Here is a little about the process…

First every group traces a real person on a big sheet of paper then they cut the person out. This all involves lots of teamwork! Next, the group thinks of lots of ideas of what the person is going to look like (clothes, nose, mouth, eyes, shoes and bottoms), that way it will look realistic. Next class, the goups start to design the person. For example one group used someone's real shirt that didn’t fit any more and stapled it on and used shorts that didn’t fit them too. You also get to paint the person first. You get to use a variety of materials. After your group is done with the body, you can move on to the face and shoes. You can use yarn for the hair. In our group, 3 people designed the shoes with lots of different fabric. When you are in 4th Grade you are going to have a blast with this project! Ms. Palefsky is the best art teacher ever!

Fourth graders collaborate to construct life-size paper sculptures to be placed around the school.
Each figure demonstrates a way to Care About Yourself & Care About Others (C.A.Y.C.A.O.)

Proportion - the relationship of one part to another.
Students traced their own bodies for accurate proportion.

Mixed-media - when two or more media are
combined in a single composition.

Students combined paints, fabrics, oil pastels & markers,
creating different textures.

Graphic Design

2010-11-03T09:37:00.000-07:00

Typography is the art & technique of arranging type.

5th graders explored typography, applying basic concepts of graphic design.

Reflection, By Noah R.

"I learned that art isn’t just about painting and writing, it’s also about experimenting on the computer."

In Art I learned about a lot, and one of my favorite things was learning about fonts. I learned about kerning and leading, serifs and san serifs. A serif is a letter with a (foot), a san serif is a letter without a foot. (A) is a san serif because it has no foot, and a serif has a foot or (tail). We had to make a commercial about serifs and san serifs. A place you can find serifs and san serifs is in a magazine. My favorite part was learning about different fonts. There are so many different fonts that are cool. I learned that art isn’t just about painting and writing, it’s also about experimenting on the computer. You can do kerning and leading on the computer to. I have probrably tried kerning and leading without knowing what it was. I think the tricks are very helpful to understand the meanings of kerning and leading. Ms. Palefsky showed us so many different examples that looked awesome. In conclusion, I learned a lot this session in art.

Introductory terms

Serifs & San Serifs

Designing the Pledge

Overlaying fonts & images

Visual representation of the Web

What font would YOU be?

Choose a font from the list below.
Describe what you see, and how it reflects you.

For example, "I would be Parade. I notice the variation of thin and thick lines, and use of serifs on some of the letters. This font seems comical & playful, but still level-headed."