Fourth Grade at All Saints School
Today students at All Saints participated in a VTS (Visual Thinking Strategy) art lesson learning about the American artist Frederic Remington. Students were shown a PowerPoint of several of his paintings and sculptures and were asked a series of prompts, allowing the students to hypothesize story and meaning through examining the artwork.
"Through VTS' rigorous group 'problem-solving' process, students cultivate a willingness and ability to present their own ideas, while respecting and learning from the perspectives of their peers. Engaged by contributing observations and ideas, the students participate in VTS-based lessons in ways they often don’t in others. VTS is a curriculum for schools; as a method of discussion, it is used in many art museums". -Visual Thinking Strategies
Students used the grid system of drawing to break down one of two images of a horse. The grid system has been used by artists for hundreds of years to break down a large image into smaller more manageable parts to allow for more realistic representation. Egyptians even used this method! The grid system also allows artists to enlarge images easier, by simply keeping the right ratio and making one grid larger an artist can enlarge any image. Students used a blank grid underneath see-through vellum type paper, while examining the squares on the horse drawing grid, copying what they saw. We will create a collage during the next class where students will take torn magazine images and compose them into a scene. We will take the drawings from the previous class and attach that to the new collage. Through this students will also learn about mixed media art.