4th Grade Art Page

Romare Bearden "Block" Collages:
Students studied the artist Romare Bearden and his detailed collages. We based our project on Romie's most famous collage "The Block." Students then created their own "Blocks" using assorted paper and magazines.

Boldereach Water Vessel Project:
The Boldereach group came to Whittier to discuss the importance of clean water in countries with little or no engineering. Students learned about the women and children in Africa who use water vessels to bring water many miles from their water source into their homes. Students then decided to create their own water vessels to raise awareness for this important issue. After a few demonstrations on how to create a water vessel, students created their own vessels using clay coils. After a bisque fire, students glazed their vessels to beautiful effect. We then had an amazing art night on which this important issue was discussed and the vessels were on display!

Students learned about the ancient Japanese printmaking technique called "Gyotaku" (Gyo=fish & Taku= rubbing). We made prints of fish and then watercolored the backgrounds. To finish up, we mounted them on black paper.

Picasso Self-Portraits
Students studied the artist Picasso and his use of color and cubism. Students then sketched themselves using mirrors with both organic and geometric shapes. They finished their self-portraits using oil pastels and watercolor.

Students studied the paintings of Abstract Artist Mondrian and his use of lines, patterns, colors, and shapes. Then students created a grid using strips of black construction paper and filled in the remaining spaces with various patterns in colored markers.

Fourth Grade 2004-2005 Artwork