I had to snap a shot of this one before Braylen started in with color. The composition, the attention to detail and the line quality of this jungle drawing is just so special. I'll post another photo of it in a couple of weeks once he is finished.

Braylen, 3rd grade, October 2014

This fantasy jungle painting was created by Jude in the 3rd grade. The action and detail in this artwork is simply amazing. He titled his work Trouble in Paradise, which is a perfect title. Look closely - you'll see why!

Jude, 3rd grade, October 2014

Here is Sofia's brushstroke experimentation and moody sky painting. Everything about The Storm is wonderful to me; her composition, use of color and sense of movement are so sophisticated.

Sofia, 2nd grade, October 2014

Inspired by van Gogh's sky paintings, second grade students were prompted to experiment with various brushstrokes and then create their own painting including a moody sky. Banyan hit the ball out of the park with his approach to the assignment - expressive and moody work, for sure!

Banyan, 2nd grade, October 2014

I'm very proud of my fourth graders for their hard work on this lesson. We began this unit with several days of focused drawing from observation. They made many blind contour drawings of different animal models, then eased into turning the blind contour drawings into contour drawings, then finally into drawings with shading and detail. They all improved their drawing skills and gained confidence. We ended the unit by learning about the art found in the Lascaux caves in central France. The students made their own animal drawings inspired by the cave art that we studied. They finished by signing their work with their hand signature - the icing on the cake.

4th grade, September 2014