Debbie Bellia
Art News, Pre-K – 8th grade
The students at OLG have been making great progress on their art work. We have been doing 
a lot of drawing and are working on many different projects, some of which are currently displayed in the hallways.
The pre-k, kindergarten and 1st grades have completed pumpkin drawings using
chalk pastels on brown paper. They learned how to make a shape become a form by
filling with color and adding contour lines. They also learned how to use highlight and
shadow to make their pumpkins appear as 3D forms. They did a great job
demonstrating that in their work.
The 2nd grade is working on creating a tropical rainforest mural as part of their
study of S. America. They are drawing and painting large plants, flowers, animal and
bird subjects that will be cut and composed onto large jungle murals they will create this
week. Their subjects are amazing and the completed mural is going to be a great
reflection of their art skills.
The 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grades are working on warm color watercolor leaf
studies that are floating on a cool color watercolor background. The background is
abstract and filled with intricate patterns that were drawn in black Sharpie pens. The
patterns were then painted using greens, blues and purples. Their works are almost
completed and are a beautiful example of organic and abstract subjects combined in
one piece of art.
The 8th grade is working on close up pencil drawings of a mammal, bird, reptile
or amphibian subjects. They are shading their subjects showing a full range of light and
dark and adding details like fur, scales or feathers. The drawings will be cut out and
added to a paper collage frame that implies the subject’s habitat using color and
textures from images cut from magazines. They will also be incorporating the subjects
name into the framework. The completed work will have black background with the
pencil drawn subject popping out of the frame. They are doing an awesome job on their
work so far.
It has been a very productive month in art. The students continue to do amazing
work and have endless creative energy while doing it. It is pure joy to teach them!
