Visual Art

So Visual Art was by far the hardest of all the forms of creative arts for me. I have never been very talented when it comes to drawing, I am very creative and have good ideas but actually implementing them on paper things don't always match up. After my reading and discussions in class, I feel that I am more comfortable now then ever with visual art. I love that we broke it down and spent time really getting the elements

• Line
• Shape
• Color
• Value
• Texture
• Space

Then through various activities you helped me understand the Principles of Art

• Proportion
• Balance
• Rhythm
• Variety
• Emphasis
• Unity

The resources that were given to us will truly help us teach through the arts in our future classrooms. Art is a huge part of our world and if we don't bring it into the schools we are hurting our children. Our world is going into such a technological age and people are losing sight of the impact that art has on our world. I have to say that visual art scared me before this unit, but I know that there will be many students that learn through an artistic lens and I have to be able to give them that outlet so they can reach their full potential in our class.

My team decided to do our illustrator study on Eric Carle, all of us remember his books from when we were learning to read and that left a huge impact on us. His illustrations are unlike many others. And going onto his website and actually watching him create his caterpillar really made the art come to life for me. I feel that during our presentations each group really worked hard to help us dig deep into the brain of the illustrator and create something not only beautiful but it really helped us see that art isn't as hard as you thought.

I love ART now and I know that I will be using it everyday in my classroom. Children need to have the chance to reach outside their comfort zone to help their brains grow and develop. From the very first time you put a crayon in a child's hand they begin to scribble, art represents a different level of communication that words just simply can't compete with and there is so much more behind a piece of art then pretty colors. A picture can tell a 1000 words right well then why don't we use them more often? Sharing apart of your soul through art is something that will stick with your students forever, and by making the art projects you do meaningful they will stay with your students and they will be able to remember what you were teaching.