Wow City!!

      I found this book on Pinterest and asked my librarian to track it down for me.  I like it because it is visually stimulating.  The author is actually an illustrator who decided to write a book after he took his 2-year old daughter to the city for the first time.

      I used this book with my K-3 classes but changed the medium according to grade level.  For example, these are examples of glue-line relief drawings using chalk pastels.  K&1 classes used Crayola oil pastels to add color to their drawings.  The first class, we drew the city using the concept of overlapping buildings.  I showed them how to draw buildings in the foreground and add buildings that look like they are behind the other buildings.  Some little ones got this, and some didn't.  It is a more advanced thinking skill for little artists, but I figure I may as well introduce the concept early so they might remember it when they are ready to manipulate the skill.  Here are some stellar examples:

By Krystal

By Rachel

Curved Line Drawings

     I found this lesson over at Stuck In The Mud Pottery and fell in LOVE with it.  First of all, it's a H.S. lesson.  Second of all, I knew my 6th graders would be up for the challenge.  Third of all....our designs turned out FANTASTIC!  Janelle's instructions were top-notch.  The only thing I changed was adding oil pastels over our cross-hatching shadows.  My students love to use oil pastels, and quite frankly, I have a hard time leaving artwork b&w.  I need color in my life, what can I say?

     My students worked on 16x20" paper, started with a pencil, then traced over their lines with a black marker.  I showed them how to make the "ribbons" look like they are going under other ribbons, how to make the loop, and how to add shadow where another "ribbon" overlaps it.  I think I have the best artists here at Halls Ferry.  What do you think?

by Jordan

 by Mrs. Keller

 by Armani

by Sophia

Metallic Winter Trees

I know tree silhouettes tend to be overdone from time to time.  But...I just think they're beautiful!  I also think they are one of the most simple things to draw with the most beautiful results.  So, I gave each one of my 6th graders a 6x8" piece of paper and showed them how using line variations and overlapping the lines can be quite easy.  Next, the amazing part came.  I let them each use a SILVER MARKER!  They were very excited and tried extra hard so their drawings would turn out just beautiful.  After we colored in the trees & added falling snow, the students used watercolor right over the marker drawings.  I told them they could 1 color + black so it looked like nighttime.  Here are a few examples:

 India's Tree

 Christopher's Tree

 Alex's Tree

Gabe's Tree

Kg. Mood Paintings

This project is another one for the annual Picture The Music Art Competition for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.  Here, I wanted to focus solely on color & its relation to feelings or moods.  So, after listening to our selected music, I had each student think of only 1 color that they think would best match the song.  Then, we drew an abstract drawing on the paper using a variety of lines & shapes.  Next, I showed the students how to mix their colors into each space.  They painted each space a different tint or shade of their color.  I know tints & shades are a little deep for Kg's, but I figured the process of mixing the colors to make them darker and lighter is more important here rather than focusing on the technical terms.  So, I think they turned out pretty well...what do you think?

Penda's painting

Corey's painting

Jared's painting

Monrey's painting

 Mackenzie's painting

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

The Longest Line Drawings

Students in grades 4-6 have been working on these fun, colorful drawings for the past two weeks.  This project went right after our Moving Line Drawings, both using colored pencils, and I think my students need a break from the "sit and color" routine we've been in for 4 weeks.  So, next week I am thinking we need to do something fun and fast, maybe with paint :)

For this project, we discussed the definitions of line and shape.  It was quite comical to hear their responses for the definition of "line".  They said things such as, "a straight line...uggh, nevermind", to "something that is either straight or curved", to finally "a segment connecting two points"!!!  Yay!  It was difficult to define something so simple.  We reviewed the different types of lines and went to work filling up our papers with only ONE line.  They could curve the line, squiggle the line, zigzag the line, and so on, but it could not stop until they filled up the entire paper.  Next, we traced the shapes over our drawings and colored in each shape with a monochromatic color scheme.  Here are some results:

Abstract Name Designs - Finished!

My 6th graders finished their Name Designs today and they turned out fabulous!  We used watercolor paint to fill the spaces in with color.  Here are the finished results:

Andrew T.

Jasmin C.

Alex B.

Dyami P.

Evan H.

Abstract Name Drawings w/ Pattern

This is one of my go-to projects when I need to introduce pattern.  The results are stunning and I have about a 100% success rate even for the the kids who struggle with completing their art projects.  We talk about creating interesting patterns using simple lines and shapes.  I created a slideshow of Zentangle patterns so the students can see some interesting examples of line patterns.  Here are some of the 6th grade drawings that were completed this morning.  We will be adding color next week.

Relaxation in the Art Room

I found this great online radio station called SKY fm radio this morning and had it playing all day while the kids worked on their art projects.  Today most of my students have either been doing a repeat of lessons I've already posted or are finishing work from last week, so we needed some good background music to keep us inspired.  I felt like I was at the spa all day long...nice way to end the week!  And, here's my creation for the day:

Parabolic Line Drawings

I got this lesson idea from Mr. Rees' Class Blog @ www.mrrees.com.  The main idea of this lesson is to introduce students to pursuit curves and parabolic line patterns (which are repeated straight lines that eventually create curves in art and architecture).  We discussed how this concept is closely related to math concepts.  The students looked at the architecture of the Syndey Opera House in Sydney, Australia, which was designed by John Utzon using pursuit curves and parabolic lines.

I gave each student a 9x9 piece of white paper and a 7x7 square stencil.  Step 1:  Trace the square on their paper.  Step 2: Measure a "finger's width" or 1/2" away from the top left corner of the square, rotate the paper counter-clockwise and repeat on all 4 corners.  Step 3: Connect the dots, rotate paper counter-clockwise, connect the dots, repeat.  These steps should be repeated over and over and over again. 

Van Gogh Line Drawings

I know that Van Gogh can be a little overdone in elementary school art, but I find that students can relate to his artwork easily because they tend to think that all art should be an exact representation of something, and are easily awed at Impressionist art because it is only an "impression" and not an exact copy.  Also, Van Gogh is a great artist to study when working on line drawings and texture. 

For this assignment students began by watching the video, Who is The Artist: Cezanne, Van Gogh, Seurat (which I have to say, is NOT the best video for elementary age students, but we made it through).  Next, I played the PowerPoint on the TV screen that showed three of Van Gogh's paintings on a slideshow.  The students were to choose one of the three paintings to duplicate through a line drawing.  

I taught the students how to make a simple plan on their paper before adding the color by dividing the space into sections where they will then add the lines and color later.  This is an important skill to get the students to think about simplifying an object and not becoming overwhelmed at trying to duplicate the subject.  It also helps the students to break-up a subject into shapes, drawing the easiest first and adding the complicated details later.  Next, the students used markers to add a variety of lines to each section of their paper, trying to use the colors that Van Gogh used in his original paintings.