Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

March 2nd is Dr. Seuss's Birthday so Herrera's Kinder students drew Cat in the Hat. We used a black crayon first and drew step- by step. Next, they used all the colors to fill in the background and color the hat and bow-tie!! Dr. Seuss would be proud!! Happy birthday!!!

Still life with VALUE

Junior High students are studying the Elements of Art. The most recent element we studied was Value (first we made the tasty value scale, which can be seen in another junior high post)!!! the student drew a still life and were asked to add value and shading into their still life. They were allowed to choose their medium between colored pencil, charcoal or just pencil. Students also learned about CRITIQUES during this lesson. They did a peer critique in the middle of the lesson to improve their still life and a self critique at the end of the lesson.

Dot Dot Suerat

5th and 6th Graders studied Pointillism and the art of Seurat. Next, we used markers and tissue paper to make a pattern out of JUST DOTS!!! Also, we learned about symmetry because we folded the tissue paper in half and the marker went through!! Lastly, we mounted the tissue paper on a piece of construction paper! I think they came out beautifully!

Creative Color Wheels!!

Junior High students are studying the elements of art (line, shape, space, form, texture, value and color) and we just finished the color project. Their assignment was to mix primary colors to create secondary colors and two colors of their choice. Afterwards, they were asked to use those colors and make a creative color wheel.

Mrs. Castrigano's Paintings!!!

Here are just a few of my own paintings!! I currently show my painting in hair salons, restaurants and galleries in the Phoenix and Scottsdale areas. Art has always been my passion. Painting is what I turn to when I am happy, sad, mad, bored, or stressed! One of the things that I love most about my job is watching and guiding students to find their passion in life, whether it is art, music, writing, reading, acting and so on. Kids have the most amazing imaginations and I get so much of my inspiration from my students. I love their bold and bright colors and their fantastical creatures mixed with everyday images , which I can see in my own artwork. There is a common theory that " those who can't do teach!!" During my four years of doing both teaching and painting, I have found that they are completely interrelated. My teaching and students directly inspire my art and my art inspires me to teach my students to find their own joys in life.

Love Bugs!!!

Love bugs...
1st and 2nd graders created these LOVE BUG scenes for Valentines Day. First, we discussed how we can turn regular bugs into Love Bugs by using our imagination and adding hearts as wings, antennas and bodies. They were so creative with their love bugs and came up with so many great ideas!! We used black crayon first, and then we used colored pencils to color them in. This is the first time that the students used colored pencils in art class and I was really impressed how well these turned out!! After all the bugs we colored in we used a blue glitter watercolor paint for the sky! I <3 these LOVE BUGS!!!

Kinder Kandinsky

Kandinsky was especially interested in color, even as a child. Beginning in his earlier, more realistic paintings, Kandinsky used color to show EMOTION rather than to make objects look real. He is considered one the first artists to create abstract art. As he grew as an artist he became more concerned with the power of color in describing what he was feeling. He began to paint patches of color instead of realistic details. He knew how to paint people and landscapes well but like abstract more than realistic. He was also a musician and was very interested how the two worked together. He claimed that when he heard music, he saw colors.

Herrera Kinder students used tissue paper and glue/water mix to cover the paper with colr, then used black paint to create the lines on the painting!!