3rd Grade Reflection Drawings

This has to be one of my all time favorite projects to teach! I sorta feel like a magician when I reveal the reflection pressed into the bottom half of the paper. The kids think it's so cool! To start, we talk about different types of art - landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes. Next, students share what types of big cities they have visited and some of the most famous features of those cities. I demonstrate how to draw different sizes and shapes of buildings on the upper half of the folded paper. The more color they add, the better the drawings will look! When the drawings are complete, they paint the bottom half of the paper with water and then fold the paper and reveal the reflection! You should try it with your students! You won't be disappointed!

Klimt Trees

    What does an Art Teacher do when she needs a moment of sanity?  She brings out the Metallic Markers of course!  Let's face it, it's the end of the year...kids are losing their attention to detail, they are tired of being here, and need some sparkle & shine!  And let me tell you... IT WORKED FABULOUSLY!  These 6th graders were peaceful & fully engaged in the project for the entire HOUR!  I deserve an award for this monumental idea!  In fact, I think all teachers should break out the metallic pens and pencils for the remainder 4 weeks of school and these kids will do their work, be excited about it, and will be eager to learn (hahaha).

Tye-Dye Line Designs

I wrestled with this project for over a week now until FINALLY yesterday morning, I decided that we would create a sort-of 'zentangle' pattern in the foreground of our tye-dye paper.  Whew.   The kids LOVED making the tye-dye paper using water color markers.  Here are the steps:
1.  Draw a large swirl in the middle of the paper using a pencil.  Make sure to draw very lightly so the pencil will not show through the marker.
2.  Scribble the first color on the swirl line using the side of the marker to get a lot of watercolor on the paper.
3.  Scribble the second color next to the first color, overlapping just a bit.
4.  Scribble the third color in the remaining space, overlapping the colors just a bit.
5.  Mist the entire paper with water so the colors will bleed together.

But, what next?  I didn't want to ruin the 'musical' elements that we spent half the class working on last week.  I wanted there to be emotion, and whimsy, and added surprises...but I was struggling with what would work best.  So, I handed out some of my own tangle creations that I have photocopied, available on the activity shelves.  I inspired the students with the VERY simple process in creating shapes using line variations and filling in the shapes with patterns.  And then. I brought out. The. GOLD & SILVER MARKERS!!!  Ta-da!  That's what was needed to make these colorful creations special, interesting, and whimsical :)  Here are some of my 6th grade students' masterpieces:

 Nile

Xavier

Marissa

Drew

India

 Kalle

Art + Music + Kinders = 1 Tired Teacher

Today we worked on our art for the annual Picture The Music Art contest for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.  We talked about how different kinds of music and evoke different emotions and how certain colors can match those emotions.  (Deep, I know).

Then, I had the students pick three or four colors that they thought best matched Beethoven's 5th Symphony.  They 'scribbled' the colors all over their paper and then I sprayed water on top of their paper so all of the colors would bleed together.  This was the background for our paintings.

Next I gave the students a tray of tempera paint and gave them some specific things to paint.  First, I told them to paint a wavy line, then a square, three circles, two straight lines, etc.  I think they are fabulous and we had lots of fun creating these musical paintings :)

Our "marker paintings" drying on the floor

 

a finished painting with the details added on top