Friday, January 27, 2012

van Gogh Sunflowers

This lesson was all about drawing from observation, Vincent van Gogh, and the secondary colors.  

After a brief introduction of Vincent van Gogh, I passed out a set of sunflowers in a vase to each table.  Students talked about the shapes the saw in the flowers such as, circles (middle), triangles (petals) and rectangles (stems). While I demonstrated on the board, students used a black oil pastel to draw the table, vase and flowers.  

The next day, students used the secondary colors to paint their sunflowers.  We talked about why Orange, Green and Purple are the secondary colors and how each is made.  Once the painting was complete, students used black tempera paint to outline their artwork.  








Cardinals

Kindergartner's practiced their drawing skills by created these seasonal illustrations.  The cardinal is a winter bird & it's the state bird of Virginia! They started with pencils first, and then traced their drawings with black sharpie.  They used crayons to color in the cardinal and branches.  The last step was the background, which they used texture plates for.







Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Germs

You know that time of the year, when it seems like half the school is out because everyone is sick? Teachers are sick! Kids are coughing everywhere!  There's just not enough tissues and hand sanitizer to go around!

I saw this time of the year as a "teachable moment."  Kindergarten students learned about the importance of staying healthy, washing their hands, covering their cough and getting enough rest!  We had a whole class discussion about how to stay healthy and what germs look like.  There are lots, and lots of different types of germs in the world.  Kindergartners were surprised to find out that germs are everywhere around them! The grocery store, school, in their home, pets, ect.

I also sunk in a few art skills to this health lesson! The germ bodies are created from an organic shape and texture rubbing.  Students practiced their fine motor skills of cutting and glue.  They also illustrated line variety to make the germs arms/hair.  Check out their germ illustrations below!











Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Peacocks

I did this project last year, but I think it turned out even more fabulous this year!  On day one, I started with basic drawing techniques such as eye placement for the peacock, the body and then focused on drawing BIG feathers.  I skipped the pencils, and had students just draw with black oil pastels.  They seem to draw bigger once I take the pencils away. Also on day one, they painted the eye features on bright colored paper.  I set out the pearlized paints and gold for them to use. 

On day two, students painted their peacock body's and feathers.  Some students chose to create a pattern, other stuck with one color for the feathers.    Once they were done painting, I passed out black paint and thin brushes so they could add a black outline.  This step is very important! The black outline seems to make the peacocks pop! Last step, they cut out the eye feathers and glued them to their beautiful birds! 










Guitars

5th grade art club students learned about the artist Pablo Picasso.  They used his paintings and sculptures as inspiration for their own crazy guitars.  Art club students were challenged to think BIG! They were able to use any of the materials in the art room to boost their creativity. I think they would agree with me in saying that ART CLUB ROCKS! Check out their guitars below!



















Cityscapes


Wow! America!



5th grade students learned about one point perspective in this cityscape project.  I used the book "Wow America" as a source of inspiration for students. The Wow! City! page really triggered their imaginations! After practicing one point perspective and drawing a practice city, students used crayons, watercolors, markers and tempera paints to create their own Wow! City! Check out our architects below!










Thursday, January 5, 2012

Wild Things

I think every Kindergartner should do a "Wild Things" project at least once!

Day 1:  First, I read the story "Where the Wild Things Are" to them as a class. After they heard the story, we discussed the different textures and body parts the saw in the illustrations.  They drew their wild things in pencil first, and then traced them with black crayon.

Day 2: Students used water color paints to add color to their wild things.

Day 3: I had them cut out their wild thing first.  Kindergartners needs lots of time to cut & lots of practice! After they cut out their wild thing, they used texture plates to create an interesting background.  Last step- glue it all together!

Check out our wild things below!