Do you know what Gyotaku is? You probably think the word sounds a little crazy, but it is a Japanese word for fish rubbing. It is a way that the fishermen could prove how big or small their fish was. This started in Japan in the early 1800’s. This is how we made it and it's pretty simple really. First paint the fish black and then lay some paper on top to make a print of the fish. Our class made gyotaku then we wrote a How To which included an Introduction, Materials List, and Step by Step Directions. At Museum Night our Gyotaku was on display for everyone to enjoy. Then we took them home. Now I feel like the queen of Gyotaku and you are the king, if you are a boy, of course.
How would you like to have a beautiful lantern like this hanging in your house? What is a lantern? A lantern is something made in Asia that is used for light and decoration. These are made of rice paper,so you must be careful or they might break. How did we make the lanterns? First, we painted the back ground. Next, we did the trees. Then we painted the green. Next we added the leaves on the tree. Each side represents one of the different seasons so we did this for all four seasons. And that is the way we made our beautiful Asian lanterns.
The best part of this fun project was painting with different types of paint, like acrylic and metallic. It was exciting to make our own palette and mix our very own paint. Now we get to look at our incredible lanterns every day hanging in our homes!
Did you know Ellsworth Kelly was a famous painter in the U.S.A.? Ellsworth Kelly is an American painter and still lives in Spencer Town, New York. Ellsworth Kelly’s art is considered abstract art. In our class we made a replica of one of his pieces called Brush Strokes Cut into Twenty Squares and Arranged by Chance.
We shared our paintings for Museum Night at our school on December 9, 2008. We made it by painting thick and thin lines and cutting them into twenty squares. Then we glued the squares on a big black piece of paper for the background. Our class learned about lines, art, and abstract art.
Can you believe that this piece has arrays in it too? Arrays helped us when we first started Multiplication. An array is an arrangement of columns and rows. So we found the math in this art piece. If you look carefully, you should see these arrays too. The U.S.A. has a lot of famous painters. Now our favorite painter is Ellsworth Kelly.