“lining things up”
November 15, 2011
Since school started in August, L has been working on the “Lining Things Up” section of Art for the Very Young, Ages 3-6 by Elizabeth Kelly and Joanne McCanville. This book introduces basic art concepts and techniques through activities that emphasize process, and the book also provides helpful references to relevant artists/artworks. Here is what she worked on.
Line Dropping–introduced by looking at Franz Kline’s b+w abstract compositions
Foot Path–she loves footprints, looking for those of animals, making her own in sand or with her wet feet on pavement so she def loved to get to make footprints with paint
Lines of Movement–lines made to the music of the White Stripes, followed up with a reading of Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
Spiral Lines–she got to play with my record player
Glue Lines–she made these with colored glue and now she can use them for printing
Calligraphy for Kids–first I showed her some of John Stevens’ work and made her a calligraphy pen out of a craft stick cut at an angle and she went to work
Painting with Rollers–using rollers from her playdough set and her little chubby Viking cars.
Multi-media Lines–she loves the color green and paint so she didn’t focus much on other media but she did try some different lines
Tape and Color–testing out the perpendicular lines she learned about in math
Line and Shape Design–she named her work, “Playground.” She made it from dried spaghetti that I dyed black (well, almost black, more like a really dark purple) and cardboard she painted black and cut into shapes.
We skipped the lessons, “Group Lines” and “Outdoor Art” because they were difficult to execute with just one artist (the book is designed for brick and mortar classrooms not necessarily for homeschoolers). I supplemented this unitwith lessons I found through Pinterest. They gave her a chance to explore lines in additional ways. Here is what she worked on.
(Projects from smART Class, bloesem kids, Modern Parents Messy Kids, and Family Fun.)
We also read Laura Ljungkvist’s Follow the Line. Not only did the book get L to counting, thinking, and observing with the questions Ljungkvist posed but also brought in the concept of line in a captivating way–the line goes everywhere and brings everything together, from the front to the back cover of the book and through the little world Ljungkvist creates in between.
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Overall, I think L has a good grasp of the concept of lines and the different ways she can make them. And now she notices them everywhere and enjoys it when they come up in other lessons and as she adds more to her repertoire.
