The TVCS art program presents the basic elements of art (line, shape, form, color, value, and texture) through medium submersion. Each project explores a particular medium, such as watercolor, in all its variations. Students have opportunities to explore and use a wide variety of materials. Creativity and experimentation are our priority and project ideas often come directly from the students or the projects they are working on in their classrooms. Learning how to engage in constructive art criticism and appreciation of unique points of view is paramount to the TVCS art program. The program culminates in the annual Art Show each May.

It is hard to believe this was our final art class for the school year! The Black Bats have truly grown as artists. This was so clear today as I observed students today utilizing fine motor skills to cut colorful mobils and also showing more complexity and detail in their drawings. Have a fun and artful summer!

As we near the end of our weekly art class, the Black Bats are squeezing in as much creative learning as possible! Today in class, our talented artists explored tissue paper painting. We discussed how it is possible to create imagery with materials other than pencils, crayons, markers, or paintbrushes- today’s art process involved creating imagery with torn paper pieces instead. Tearing small pieces of differing shapes, size, and color, students selected subject matter and represented related imagery by painting (applying with thinned glue) these individual pieces onto long rectangular pieces of paper.

Mixed-media in art today! Each student started with a long rectangular piece of paper and drew a human figure of interest; a ballerina, soccer player, family member… Then, using fabric, students cut out colorful pieces to cloth the figures. We concentrated on drawing so our person filled the page, adding detail to the face, hair, and background area. Students drew the shapes for shirts, shorts, dresses, skirts.. onto the fabric and then cut these shapes out.

Bats explored the art element ‘color’ further today. We watched an excellent and very entertaining video teaching the basics of the primary and secondary colors today. Your child will probably be humming this catchy tune all week! Then, each individual traced the outline of his/her hand, drew successive lines inside the contour, and using primary colors filled in the spaces between the lines using these colors to create a color pattern. We finished class drawing illustrations from our creative imaginative minds!

Happy May Day from the Black Bats in Art! Today students created fantastic May flowers; a unique technique using bound paper cord and liquid water colors. Beginning with a piece of the cord, each student carefully unraveled the fine mesh to expose the compressed paper; then, carefully and gently separated the paper to create petals. Students dabbed the flower with liquid watercolors which were quickly absorbed creating beautiful results!