We have been exploring one of the basic elements of art, the line. Lower Elementary students learned various types of lines, including vertical, horizontal, and diagonal. They also practiced making straight, loopy, zig-zag and other lines. We learned a few ways to remember these terms, including my favorite: Ernie, whose shirt and face shape represents horizontal lines, and Bert, who represents vertical. To this day, I still say “Bertical” when remembering which is which.
Lower Elementary completed two projects on lines. The first was a quick demonstration depicting their knowledge of vertical, horizontal and diagonal. They chose from drawing tools, colored paper lines, or a mixture of the two. There was such great variation in their work!
The next project included a bigger choice of lines. They could use whatever type of line they wished, but were instructed to start their line on one edge and “take it for a walk”, ending on a different edge of the paper. They filled in the sections created by their intersecting lines with a choice of paints, markers, crayons, pencils, or a mixture. Again, I was impressed with the variety of finished products.
Upper Elementary and Grades 6/7/8 did a quick review on type of lines, then completed a similar project, but took it a step further by creating 3-dimensional constructions with their work. Both groups are also starting preliminary work on their Artist Research Project. More details on this coming soon.