Last Week of Summer Classes! "Under the Sea" Detail

"Under the Sea" Waves and Koi Fish!

The last week of art classes for the summer has come and gone. I would have added these pictures sooner in separate entries, but SOMEONE lost the cord to plug the camera into the computer. (Don't get me started on that!)

I wanted my two younger students to continue the eastern theme and they had a watercolor Koi fish project that had reverse symmetry. Here is Mikelle's that she did ahead of time:

 Later at class, my six year old student completed hers.We also talked about the significance of the Koi fish in Eastern culture and folklore. It was believed that if a koi fish succeeded in climbing the falls at a point called Dragon Gate on the Yellow River, it would be transformed into a dragon. The coy fish has become the symbol of courage and the ability to achieve a high goal. 

On Wednesday, the last day, my other younger student completed his Koi Fish Project. That will be featured in the next entry!

My other students were working meticulously on their "Great Wave" projects. I loved that they cared so much about detail.

 Here is one that was completed that day:

 Analytical Cubism "Under the Sea"

Pablo Picasso, Ma Jolie, 1911-1912

After the Great Wave project, we continued the "Under the Sea" theme by challenging ourselves to some Analytical Cubism. Returning to the "west" briefly, we looked at Picasso's Analytical Cubism (as opposed to his synthetic cubism and more organic cubism as we've studied with previous projects). 

Analytical Cubism is a more systematic study of structure removing color, using monochromatic and earth tones, so the focus was more on the structure. Colors were very limited in these types of Picasso works. Therefore, we limited ourselves to an Analogous Color pattern in our Under the Sea project. As I mentioned in an earlier entry this summer, Analogous Colors are next door neighbors on the Color Wheel:

 

My Under the Sea example in progress. I limited my Analogous Colors to Red, Blue and Purple.

A student's beginning to her "Under the Sea":

Stay tuned for the awesome completed projects from the last day on Wednesday! 

Oh, and here is another completed "Three Flags" project!