Ist Grade Impressionist Landscapes

First graders have been studying Impressionism. We talk a lot about how Impressionists painted light and reflections. We also learned about warm and cool colors. For this activity, we began by folding our white paper in half and only painting one half using purple, blue and green. Then, we folded the paper to create the reflection. The next class, we used oil pastels to make tree trunks. I told them to draw the letter "Y" for the trunks and we used to different shades of brown. Then, we used sponges to paint our warm colored leaves and folded the paper again. This was a nice, quick activity and it had a very high success rate!

2nd Grade Thiebaud Inspired Donut Collages!

This is my favorite project that we have done so far this semester. Thiebaud is one of my favorite artists. I thought these collages turned out great and the kids really enjoyed this. We began by studying the art of Wayne Thiebaud, focusing on his use of repetition. We also talked about neutral colors, geomteric and organic shapes. The students used a template to cut perfect circles for their donuts but they had to create their own organic shapes for the frosting. Then, they were able to embellish their donuts using hole punchers and glitter. Lastly, we added a smaller circle in the center that was the same colored paper as their background (also using a template) to be the donut "hole".

Painted Ladies: Victorian Architecture

My 5th graders created these beautiful contour line drawings using elements of Victorian architecture as inpiration. We looked at lots of examples from the San Francisco Painted Ladies (by the way, I was shocked to know that 5th graders watch Full House reruns and are familiar with these homes from the opening credit sequence) to some examples from hotels in Walt Disney World and then even some in our own community. We learned architectural terms like turret, pediment, dormer, widow's walk and molding. The kids used pencils and Sharpies to do the line drawings and then created a background using liquid watercolor. We sprayed the liquid watercolor with water to make it run and bleed a little more. I think they turned out great!

Back in Elementary!

I'm back!! After a hiatus into the world of teaching high school art, I am in elementary and back to doing these fun, kid-friendly projects. I couldn't be more excited to be at two wonderful schools in a great county! We're in the third week of school now and while I don't have any completed projects to share just yet, I do have some books and resources that I am excited about using this year in the art room. We use sketchbooks with all of the children in every grade level. I found this short video that I show to everyone but Kinder before we make our sketchbooks. All the grade levels think this guy is hysterical. Personally, I am glad this is a short video as I find him a tad annoying but who cares what I think!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KflV1CeCj4o
The same week that I used this video with the other grades, I read "A Dot is a Line That Went for a Walk" to Kinder. I stumbled across a copy of the story on Slideshare so I was able to read it to the kids from the projector so everyone could see. They drew their lines in the sketchbook as we read the story. http://www.slideshare.net/PHrbacek/a-line-is-a-dot-that-went-for-a-walk

I also have some great story books that I found this year. These two have been a big hit so far. Both Kinder and 1st thought they were hilarious!!

I also got this one but I haven't test driven it yet. I got it for our collage activities because all of the illustrations are made from collage.

 

 

Do you have any favorite books for the art room? Finished projects coming soon!

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. 

Dale Chihuly "Stained Glass" Flower Sculptures

This is another art camp project and it was really successful with all ages (6-11). It uses papier mache to create flower sculptures that have a stained glass look to them. The 6 year olds needed a lot of help with this project but parents could easily do this at home with 2-3 young children. Art teachers would have a difficult time doing this project with a whole class (unless you were lucky enough to have a few parent volunteers) if the children were younger than 3rd grade. This is also a great lesson to couple with the Georgia O'Keefe chalk flowers because you can talk about two-dimensional and three-dimensional art. The students can use their chalk flower as a reference and now make the flower into a sculpture. 


When I do this project again soon, I will post photographs of each step because there are a LOT. These turn out great and it's another messy project so of course the kiddos dig it! Here are the materials you will need for this project:


Tissue paper in at least 2 different colors 
Mod Podge or watered down white glue (half and half)
Balloons
Large paint brushes that you don't mind destroying
Plastic plates
Pipe cleaners
Plastic Wrap
Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
Scissors
Sharp pencils


This is a messy project. Begin by covering tables and probably the floor in newspaper. The first thing to do for this project is to make the paper for the leaves. I did this in advance and just let the kids use the ones I made. To make the papier mache leaves I used two different shades of green tissue paper. First, lay out a sheet of plastic wrap. I used about 3 8x8 sheets but the size doesn't really matter. Apply one coat of the Mod Podge or watered down glue mixture to the plastic wrap. Then, begin tearing off pieces of the green tissue paper and placing them randomly on the plastic wrap. Cover the sheet of plastic wrap with pieces of tissue paper and then apply another layer of glue and repeat the process. You need to have at least 3, preferably 4, layers of the tissue paper. When finished applying tissue, make sure that there is a final coat of glue on every piece. Allow this to dry overnight.


To make the flowers, blow up a balloon to the desired size. Your flower will be half the size of your balloon. Have children put a plastic plate under their balloon and work on the plate. We use plastic plates instead of paper because the glue will stick to the paper when the flower dries. Have the children start covering the half of the balloon opposite the end where the knot is. I have to tell them many times that they want a bowl shape and are only covering HALF the balloon. The papier mache process is just way too much fun for some and they want to cover the entire balloon. The students must apply 3-4 layers of tissue paper. After they have applied a final coat of glue, they leave the balloons on the plastic plates to dry overnight. I usually check each one to make sure there are no holes and no place where there is not layering of tissue paper.


The next day, the leaf papers can be removed from the plastic wrap. It will peel right off and the  green paper that you've made will maintain the sheen from the plastic wrap. It is pretty cool so I usually let the kids do this part. Then, I let them use scissors to cut out their leaves from this paper.


Now, the kiddos can pop their balloons. This is by far their favorite part. Shocking, right? They use a sharpened pencil to pop the balloon and then they can peel the balloon out of their flower. When the balloon is removed, the students can cut the rim of their flower with scissors to create the petals. I remind them that they might use zig-zag lines or wavy lines. Next, I have them use that same pencil to poke a hole in the bottom of their flower. I let them pick a colored pipe cleaner for their stem and then I assemble everything myself using the hot glue gun. I pull the pipe cleaner through the hole in the flower and tie a knot on the inside. Then, I use a dot of hot glue to glue the knot to the inside hole of the flower. Then, I glue their leaves onto the stem. Some kids want to use multiple pipe cleaners to add curly vines or more leaves.


I am doing this with a large summer camp group next month. I think I am going to spray paint dowl rods green instead of using pipe cleaners for this next one. I am thinking if the flowers have sturdy stems, I could put them all together in a large piece of floral foam and then display them at our local library. If this works out, I will post the pictures along with the pictures of the process for this project.

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.