Art student's sketchbooks are used for many different purposes throughout the year: taking notes about a new artist or movement, drawing practice, generating ideas, and working on creative development exercises. This week in first grade art, students created abstract collages inspired by a Stuart Davis painting. They practiced their cutting skills, and made creative decisions about their compositions. Second grade classes worked on drawing skills, by completing the other half of animal photographs. They were asked to not only draw the contour, but also to look at the texture of the animal fur or skin, and to recreate the texture using the drawing tools of their choice.