To give the kids a little time for self-expression and a break from the more rigorous academic art lessons, Mr. Mueller presented all the classes from 1st Grade through 5th Grade with a unit on Abstract Expressionism. To kick things off, everyone did a completely non-objective line drawing called a "Morning Drawing." This exercise was to get the kids to draw lines with movements that expressed the actions they took in the morning from the moment they woke up, to getting out of bed, to brushing their teeth, and so on, switching colors with every new action.
Then the classes viewed and discussed artwork by Kandinsky, de Kooning, and Pollock, touching on things like emotion, line use, color, movement, rhythm, contrast, and more.
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Then came time for the kids to do their main piece. They started with a watercolor background, then moved on to make lines with pens, markers, and pencils. Finally, they topped things off with a layer of contrast by using crayons and bright oil pastels.
In addition to their individual creations, all five classes from 1st to 5th worked as a team to make the paper that covered their workspace look like a larger version of what they'd been doing on their own. Together they finished these four very large pieces.
And even after the unit on Abstract Expressionism was over, some kids still brought Mr. Mueller more drawings that were inspired by what they learned in class.
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