Subtractive Art, It All Adds Up To Something Beautiful!

Last Monday Mrs. Johnson’s fourth grade class participated in their first art project of the year. Mrs. Thompson led them in a lesson that allowed them to draw with scissors like Henri Matisse but she included a contemporary edge as she shared the art of Jen Stark. Students learned all about organic shapes, subtractive design, layering, contour line, collage, and honed those cutting skills too.

Students were very proud of their designs which are now displayed on the fourth grade hall. If you are interested in this type of art you can replicate this lesson at home. All you need are four rectangular pieces of colored card stock or construction paper that measure 4.5″ x 6.5″, a pencil, scissors, and glue stick. First our students chose which color they wanted to use as their project base. Next, they chose their first shape color. On that piece of paper they drew a large organic shape (the opposite of a geometric shape – curvy shapes that are like those found in nature, such as those in plants, rocks, clouds, etc.) Next students carefully cut out their organic shape and then traced it onto their next colored sheet. After tracing they used their pencils to draw a smaller version of the organic shape in inside their tracing – this is where math and subtractive art comes in. Each time the students completed this process their shape decreased in size. Then it was time to cut again. Now each student had two organic shapes. They repeated the tracing and cutting step one more time and then assembled the shape layers using glue sticks.

To see these awesome projects on display check out the fourth grade hall!