Mondrian Paintings

     It's always fun teaching kids about Piet Mondrian and his simple use of line, color, and shape. It's so simple it's fascinating. Oftentimes kids think art has to be complicated and realistic. In lessons like this one, kids gain a great sense of a accomplishment. To begin the lesson, I showed my 2nd graders a You Tube video showing the progression of Mondrian's paintings from the very beginning of his career to the end. Then to start the project, we glued down strips of black paper to create a grid of squares and rectangles. Next, we used primary colors to paint a select few shapes. They did a great job!!

Van Gogh Sunflowers

I just LOVE teaching about Van Gogh. Kids can learn so much from him. Such as his unique sense of color and texture, his depiction of movement and rhythm,  his whimsical subject matter, and his sheer determination in his art. I read the book 'Camille and the Sunflowers' before we began our lesson. Students drew their still life with sharpies and then used watercolors to add color. I showed them how to mix colors together on their paper like Van Gogh did. Aren't they adorable!? 

Crazy Hair Paintings

Let me begin by saying, I LOVE my student teacher! She's just the breath of fresh air that I needed. This is a project that she decided to teach to my 3rd graders. First, students drew a portrait of themselves and colored it. Next, they used watered-down tempera paint to put along their hairline so they could blow the paint in different directions using a straw. We had small cups of the tempera on each table and a brush for each color. We instructed the students to take one 'scoop' of paint and blow it then select another color of paint and blow it again. How fun! You should definately try this project!

Stamping with homemade paintbrushes

This project was a lot of fun!  I decided to go out on a limb and try something new for our St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Picture the Music Art Competition.  First, we all listened to a musical composition and brainstormed some colors, shapes, and lines that would go well with the music.  The students used oil pastels to create an abstract work of art that best represented the music.  Next, for some added interest to their drawings, we made our own paintbrushes/stamps using pipe cleaners.  Each student got 5 pipe cleaners, twisted them together, and spread out the bottom ends to create a 'star' shape.  Students then used their new 'paintbrush' to stamp colorful shapes on top of their drawings.  This was  a lot of fun and gave the students the chance to think 'outside of the box' or 'outside of the painting' for once!

Kaleidoscope Art

Remember using kaleidoscopes as a kid?  I LOVED them!  This project was referred to me by a teacher here at school, and I love it.  The kids were really interested and engaged throughout the entire class period.  I had them trace circles with a sharpie because I wanted this to be a 1-day lesson.  If you wanted to extend it, have them stamp circles using black paint and then when the paint dries, you can have them use watercolors to fill-in the areas.  Another idea is to have the students experiment in color mixing where they paint the entire circle a solid color and then when it overlaps with another circle, they can see what new color is made by overlapping the colors.  Of course I thought of this technique AFTER I finished the lesson, but good to know for next time!  Good luck!

Mixed-Up Chameleon

Welcome to the third week of school!  I'm a little embarrassed that this is my first post of the new school year, but things have been so busy around here!  I have been focusing on the all-time favorite children's author and illustrator Eric Carle this week.  In fact, I have found some great You Tube videos showcasing his lively illustrations and storytelling!  Most of the kids have heard this story before, but who can complain about hearing an Eric Carle story for the second time???  Not I!  Here are some fantastic Mixed-Up Chameleons made by some fabulous 3rd graders:

Bubbling Fish

     How does one begin a multi-step painting project without losing one's mind?  Well, it's all in the Prep.  While some people look at an art teacher's schedule and scoff at the amount of prep time we get, others understand that good preparation is key to a great project.  That was the case with this project.  We had a fish to cut-out, scales to glue down, and bubbles to paint.  I find that if I can get the tables set before the class comes in, they can see how the tables should look before they leave so the next class can do the same thing.  With my schedule, my 2nd graders come first and the Kindergartners come next.  The 2nd graders LOVE to get the class ready for the little ones!  So, here are the tables all set and ready to go!

     Now, we work with the least messy supplies first and the most messy supplies last.  So, we drew the fish, cut it out, and glued the scales down first.  After that, we used the lids to stamp white circles onto the blue paper.

     And here is a finished project (by a Kindergartner, nonetheless):

Color Wheel Ferris Wheels!

I have a confession to make...I don't always teacher color wheels every year.  There I said it.  Now, I do, however, teach color theory in lots of other lessons, but the actual painting inside the spaces in a particular order just, I don't know, BORES ME!  But I decided to give it a go with my 4th graders this year.  They loved it.  And they turned out great!  However, I just couldn't leave the color wheels as they are in their blah state.  We turned our color wheels into Ferris Wheels!  Who doesn't LOVE a Ferris Wheel?  The color, the lights, the shape, the excitement (just not the price, lol).  Here are a few of our fabulous Ferris Wheels:

By Kyra 

By Dominique

Visual & Actual Texture

      This is a great lesson for this time of year!  The leaves are changing, the air is crisp, & the colors are vibrant and warm.  I found this lesson at www.thatartistwoman.org/.  She does an amazing job teaching lessons that involve layers of interesting materials, colors, and themes.  Check it out!

      First, we worked on tagboard because the yarn can be heavy when glued to paper.  The students cut out circles from brown poster board and used long pieces of yarn to glue around the circle.  Since this is a skill that can take a LOT of time, I had them fill the inside of their circle with pre-cut pieces of yarn.  This way, we still get the radial design of the circle with added texture in the middle.  Next, the students cut the tree trunk from pieces of brown poster board in the shape of a letter "Y".  Lastly, I demonstrated how to paint the background to depict visual texture.  This painting technique involves NO BRUSH WASHING, which makes the project move faster.  We started with blue for the sky and added white for contrast.  The colors mix to create a lighter hue and eventually the brush will dry out from making the left-to-right brushstrokes.  Then, they dip the brush in the green, make sideways brushstrokes until their brush is dry and use white again for contrast.  Next, the dip their (dry) brush in the red, then in the orange, yellow, and lastly white again.  Now don't get me wrong, some of the students DID, in fact, end up with a brown ground because their brushes weren't totally dry before they dipped into the red.  But, that's OK... a brown ground is just fine!  Here are some finished 5th grade works of art:

 By Victor 

 By Stephen

By Diamond

Painting & Descriptive Writing

     Well.  I have to admit.  I am a sucker for all things cross-curricular this year.  I was trained under the theory that Art is for Arts Sake.  A painting can stand alone solely on visual interpretation.  As I become an active member of our school 'family' by sitting in on grade-level data teams and see what concepts our kids are struggling with on assessments, I feel the need to support them in any way that I can.  There.  I said it.

    I feel like descriptive writing is a weakness for some of our kiddos.  It takes some 'thinking outside of the box'.  It takes some 'imagination'.  And what better place to use imagination than in the Art Room?  So, I found this painting inspiration on Pinterest (yes, I'm addicted):

Here's the link to the original lesson: 

http://arteascuola-miriampaternoster.blogspot.com/2011/01/paesaggi-in-gradazione-tonale.html

    We started talking about perspective and how objects become smaller as they go farther away from you.  Then, I introduced the students to the concept of Atmospheric Perspective and how the colors of things become less intense the farther you look.  So, I showed the students three different ways to draw their lines to depict either a desert or a meadow landscape (with soft curved lines), a forest landscape (like the one above), or a mountain landscape (using jagged/peaked lines).  Next, I let them select one color for their palette.  I gave them a scoop of white per area they had on their paper (5 hills, 5 scoops of white).  The directions were to paint the foreground with the original color, the second space with one scoop of white mixed in, the third space with another scoop of white, and so on.  

     When the paintings were finished, they were to write a descriptive paragraph telling the viewer where they are, what they feel (temperature or emotion), what they hear, what do they see, etc.  We talked about the moods of color and color temperature.  

     Next class period, I gave them colored pencils and let them add details to their paintings to depict exactly what type of landscape they have.  They were instructed to use visual perspective when drawing their objects.  Here are some stellar examples:

Abstract Lettering a la Robert Curry

I discovered this artist's work on Pinterest one day while browsing the Art pins.  I thought the 6th graders would appreciate his use of bright, bold colors and his technique of overlapping. 

Untitled painting by Robert Curry

I explained that he probably used digital media to create this effect, while we would be using the ever-popular (and cheap) tempera paint.  I wish I had access to large-scale color printers at my school to create digital prints, but we have to settle sometimes, don't we?

I told the students that they could use words such as their name, their school, their sports team, etc.  I tried to emphasize overlapping the letters, altering the size of the letters and making some go off the page so the audience cannot read the actual words they used. 

Here are a few finished paintings:

Sophia's Painting

Untitled Painting

 Jada's Painting

 

Teshekia's Painting

Dr. Seuss Week!

We are getting ready to have the Cat in the Hat visit our school.  What better way to welcome him than an art display dedicated to Dr. Seuss himself?  Here are three examples of projects that we have been working on:

3rd graders drew portraits of the Cat in the Hat -

Another 3rd grade class made these fun fish paintings:

And Lorax trees:

African Masks

     For the rest of this month, we are getting ready for Black History Month coming up in February.  I want some dramatic artwork to display around the building because we are hosting an evening in February to celebrate African American History.  The students will be performing plays, skits, songs, poems, and much more.
     The 4th graders today worked on these gorgeous African masks.  We discussed the purposes of masks, African art, and the meaning behind some of the symbols/designs commonly used in African art.  I always make the point that African art is always meaningful to the artist, has some symbolic meaning behind the shapes & colors, and is almost always useful/functional.  With these key features in mind, students can understand African culture a little deeper.
     We began by watching this short slide show I found on YouTube:

   
     Next, I gave the students this handout to base their mask design from:

    I demonstrated how to fold the paper in  half, draw half of the mask shape on the folded side, and cut it out.  Next, students added graphic designs to the mask using ideas from the above examples.  Lastly, we used shades of brown, black, & white tempera paint into the shapes.  We also added raffia & yarn around the masks for that touch of texture.
     Here are a few examples:

Kindergarten Lions

     In keeping with the African American cultural unit, kinders made these adorable lion portraits in Art last week.  Starting off with the lion face, we colored in the features with neutral colored crayons.  Next, I put orange, yellow, & brown paint on their tables and showed them how to paint straight lines radiating from the lion's face to represent the mane.  Lastly, I put pieces of neutral colored yarn on the tables & let them glue pieces of yarn on top of the lion's mane.  Here are just a few examples of student work:

 Rhyan's Lion

 Autumn's Lion

Olivia's Lion