Chalk Landscapes

This is a very easy and fun project to do with  kids. It really allows them to be creative. I began this lesson by talking about landscapes and the different types of landscapes. This is also a great activity to discuss foreground, middle ground and background. We viewed and discussed several examples of landscapes before making our own. The students got very excited about this project and asked, "Can we make an ocean?" "Can we make a sunset?" Yes! Yes! Yes!

The materials you will need for this project are:

1 sheet of white paper

1 sheet of paper of any color that is the same size as your white paper (this will be your scrap paper)

Paper towels

Chalk pastels (These are available at any crafts or art store and very affordable. Regular colored chalk could probably be used but the effects will not be as vivid. I haven't tried it myself)

Spray fixative

Crayons

The first step is to tear the sheet of scrap paper in half so that the torn edge is sort of wavy and interesting, not straight across. Then, have the children think about what type of landscape they are creating because this will influence what colors they choose. Are they doing hills and valleys, a desert, maybe a seascape?

In this case, the student was doing a field so she began with green chalk. The scrap piece of paper is placed on top of and near the top of the white paper. The student draws a heavy, thick line with the green chalk on the torn edge of the white paper.

Now, she takes a clean paper towel and uses it to smudge that chalk line all the way up to the edge of the paper (We were rather rebellious here and did not cover the workspace with newspaper. That is not recommended).

Lift off the scrap paper and you have the first layer of your landscape. Now, the student can choose to use the other side of the paper or the other torn half of the paper to make different shapes on their landscape.

Move the scrap piece of paper down about an inch, choose another color of chalk and repeat this step.

The student continues with this process until she is about 2/3 of the way down the page. This student only used three colors but I encouraged 3-4.

Next, the student turns the paper around so that it is "upside down" and voila! A beautiful landscape. I let the students who wanted to, fill in their sky or other elements with crayons. Lastly, spray these with a fixative or aerosol hairspray. Make sure to test on a scrap piece of paper. Some fixatives leave dots or a film on the artwork. 

Backyard Birds in Chalk Pastels

This lesson is the same premise as the Georgia O'Keefe chalk flowers. I love Mrs. Picasso's blog and got the idea for the birds from her. We followed the same instructions as the flowers only we viewed bird photographs beforehand. Part of the assignment was to incorporate the bird's habitat so we looked at pictures of all types of birds and talked about what their environment might be like for that all-important science link. They really turned out beautifully and the kiddos LOVED them.

The Obligatory Georgia O'Keefe Chalk Flowers

Pretty much every art teacher I know does these flowers. However, parents who are looking for some crafty ideas will love the ease of this no-fail activity. The images below were done by 7-10 year olds. Although, I have successfully done this project with 5-6 year olds too. I just have to take out the two pastel colors that they choose and not give them access to the whole box of colors. The whole box is just way too tempting! Most important in this activity is encouraging the kids to draw big and fill up the whole page. Size is what makes these flowers most striking. 
The materials you will need are:
Black construction paper
Chalk pastels (cheapo brands are fine)
Elmer's School Glue
Pencils
Photographs of flowers for reference
Fixative Spray


I let the children select their flower reference photograph and then encourage them to draw only one or two flowers that fill the page. If the flowers go off the page, even better. Then, the students trace their pencil lines using the glue. The glue needs ample drying time. I let them dry overnight just to be safe. When the glue dries clear it give the look of the leaded area on stained glass. The next day, the kids can use the pastels to add color in the areas between the glue lines. Regular chalk will not give the vibrant colors that you get from the pastels. I also tell them to stick to two or three colors and not to use black. The black over powers the other colors and if they use more than three colors, it starts to look "muddy". I show the kids how to lay down patches of color and blend the edges with their fingertip. Q-tips come in handy and help avoid little fingerprints but we didn't have any for these. Then, the pictures can be sprayed with a fixative. Test your fixative on your teacher sample first. Many hairsprays will leave dots on the artwork. I want to try this activity with other subject matter since so many people do the flowers. I will be doing Backyard Birds later this week so I will post those pictures when they are done. I also think this would be a great project to make abstract designs for Holiday Stained Glass Windows.