It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas.....And It's Not Even Thanksgiving Yet ;)

2nd Graders have just completed an Advent candle project that will be ready to hang and decorate the halls when we return from Thanksgiving break.  Students learned about shading and adding highlights to their pictures to make it look like they were glowing from the candle light.  They were very impressed that they could create this effect just by adding white oil pastel over their drawings. 

3rd Graders just completed their silhouetted nativity scenes.  

We learned about tints and shades, silhouettes, and focal points and tricks artists use to draw your eye to a specific point in the picture.  Focal points might be created by changing the size of something, by using a certain color, drawing lines to a specific point, etc.  Students used a few tricks of their own to create a focal point on the nativity scene and bringing your eye to the most important aspect of their pictures, baby Jesus.