This fun winter landscape was just done by my 1st grade classes. We look at the differences in realism and abstract art. We learn about the colors that make us feel cool. Then we create this cool feeling winter landscape using only the cool colors.

Snow Bug

This is a winter lesson I just finished with Kindergarteners. We used the "magic" of oil pastel alnd watercolor resist to draw a catapillar type bug with snow flakes inside each segment. We then added snow falling from the sky. The so called magic occurs when the colorful watercolor is applied overtop of the white drawing, snow and flakes magically apear, the little guys love that. To wrap up we write a collective class story about the adventure of our snow bugs.

This is part of a unit that I just finished with a group of 5th graders. We spent time studying the differences in contour and sketching lines. For the contour portion students chose and interesting clip art animal and played with layout, space and composition. Students then filled the background with pattern style contour lines. It turned out to be a cool graphic art piece.

Recycled Robots

This was a very fun project for all involved. As part of my art club students found interesting material to create a "recycled" robot. They gave them names and they all had interesting facts. They turned out to be cool industrial type sculptures.

This year for part of our Native American Unit 5th grade created coil pots. I do not have a kiln so we used air dry clay and then painted them when dry. The students really enjoyed the process and liked learning the pottery lingo.

Ode to Starry Night Mural

My art club recently finished this amazing 4ftx8ft mural with their version of Van Gogh's Starry Night. They enjoyed studying the "vibrations" and movement of the painting. We explored the way a painting can evoke an emotion. I have a great little coffee table book called "The Wisdom of a Starry Night" it shows paintings with a single question prompt. For this one we wrote about what wisdom we could find in this starry night. Some sample responses from my 4th and 5th graders were: "The stars in the sky remind me of how small we really are," "The bright starts remind me that my grandpa is always watching over me," it was a great reflective exersize to go with our mural.

Symmetrically Sketched Spiders

In this lesson my student have been exploring the differences in draing techniques. Sketching and gestrual drawing vs. complex contour designs. For an exercise in sketching students were given one half of a spider and asked to finish the spider using sketching and shading. Student show off what they have learned about value and skethcing before partaking in a contour exersize.

Pastel Spider Web

This project highlights the lines of a spider web while introducing little hands to conrolling glue and blending chalk pastels. Students first draw a dot in the middle of the paper and make ratial lines reaching to the papers edges. Students then color in each section with a different color of chalk pastel. Using two fingers student blend in a back and forth motion to smooth the colors into the paper and to blend the edges together. Students then create a glue dot and repeat the line pattern they created earlier with glue. Student then add circles that get larger to complete the web. The glue will disolve the pastels showing the black paper and leaving the blended pastels in the web's spaces.

Abstract Tree Silhouette

In this project students start by watching a Prezi that I created introducing them to the basics of what abstract art is and why we create it. Students then create a bare tree silouette with branches that strech to the edges of the paper. Students use black oil pastels to thicken thier outlines. Students then add a different color of oil pastel to every space created by the tree branches giving the work an abstract feel.

My character

This was a great kindergaten art project. Students explore how found objects can be used to create art. Students scavenger the art room in search of objects that can be used to create a face. Things such as buttons, string pieces, dust bunnies, scrap papers, crayon and eraser pieces, etc. Then using a construction paper circle students assemble a face. Student study pattern and rubbings to create an outfit. Students then sketch hands and feet. To end this project students create a drawing of the asseblage piece they have created. They give thier character a quote and learn how to write in a speech bubble. The two works are mounted and displayed together.

Fall Leaf Watercolor Print

This project showcases the beauty of the leaves in fall. In class student pretend to be a bug on a leaf as we explore the lines and shapes that nature creates. Students then explore outside to find a variety of leaves to use in thier artwork. Students then use the backside of thier leaves under thier papers and the side of a wax crayon to create a rubbing or print of thier leaves. Students them outline the leaf with a marker and them use watercolors to blend around the leaves and fill in the background. To culminate this project students write a haiku about the experiece of being a leaf falling from a tree.

Fishy Wax Relief

This is a lesson that uses the technique of wax relief. You can buy these black pages from art catalogs but they are costly and you can create your own pretty easily. Give students oil pastels and have them create a grid, being sure to use lots of colors and make a thick layer. They may use rainbow colors or chose a color scheme to work from. After paper is filled with color students apply a thick layer of black oil pastels untill the colors are covered. Then students use printmaking "scratchers" to create thier work of art. For this lesson in particular we focused on underwater scenes. We learned fun fish facts and studied the beauty of the color spectrums found underwater.

Wayne Thiebaud Cakes

In this lesson as a class we watch a few video clips of ace of cakes. We discuss how even cake can be art and the many forms of jobs that fall into the artistic category. We talk about how Duff, from ace of cakes uses his creativity to think outside of the box; a key element in our art room. We then look for inspirations from artist Wayne Thiebaud and discuss how he used cakes and candy as his main subject matter.

On black construction paper, Students create and elipse shape to start then fill in as a cylider. They may make multiple tears, but tears should get smaller as they go up. Students are to add a cake plate and stand to accompany the cake. Students then add decorations. Warn them not to make too small of decorations as oil pastels will be hard to fill in tiny lettering or details. Students then use oil pastels to decorate their cake giving it an icing feel. Student may follow up with a short story or poem using describing words to tell the tale of thier delicious cakes.

Under the sea

This is a 1st grade lesson that allows students to explore the world that lives underwater. We start by finding interesting fish facts from books and internet sources. We have a class discussion on ideas we already know about underwater life then we build on that knowledge base by adding new facts from research.

Now that we have a good knowledge base we delve into the art process. Student do thier sketchbook connections first by doing step by step how-to-draw demos that allows them to do sketch work on about 8 different marine life animals. Then we choose our best fish to create a large individual sketch. Then we create a resit with watercolor and oil pastels. To wrap up each student presents their fish along with one interesting fact they learned and places them in a mural that we have previously created.