Warm Leaves/Cool Day

This is a nice beginner lesson for fall, because it is not too messy, but it does get the kids painting, making art, and THINKING!  I've done this lesson with second graders a couple different times, but I think it could be okay with beginning-of-the-year third graders, as well.  We start off with talking about fall and the changing colors of the leaves.  This book is super simple, but a nice science tie-in, with good pictures for the kids.





Following the quick book talk, kids start drawing the leaves, as if they've fallen on the ground.  I also have them add 5-6 lines with a ruler, purposely going all the way to the edge of the paper, and through the leaves.  This takes some explanation, and I've also found that it is better if the students OMIT THE VEINS of the leaves, so they are not later confused by the ruler lines vs. the vein lines.  After drawing, trace with brown crayon.








Following that, it is time to paint.  Watercolors or tempera cakes work fine for this lesson.  The leaves should be painted warm, and the background cool, with a different color each time you hit a line.  I've found that it is MUCH better and easier for the kids if I have them start out on JUST LEAVES AND WARM COLORS first, THEN do background cool colors last. When switching back and forth, it becomes too confusing and they tend to mix it up.



For kids who finish early, I have pre-cut paper to mat and create a "fall" border.



The results are always lovely :)

Happy Halloween, art folks!  Isn't it a beautiful thing when you have a lesson that is SEASONAL, and has an ART HISTORY tie-in, and uses MULTIPLE SKILLS, and even a literacy element, as well?  This is one of those lessons, which is why I like it so much.



To begin,the students start with drawing their pumpkins, and outlining/shading with a bit of black oil pastel, to make them really POP.  I always be sure and provide lots of drawing resources, so the kids can see how many different kinds of pumpkins and gourds there are out there.







Once the kids have completed their drawings (I tell them to fit at least 4 different pumpkins/gourds on their orange construction paper), it is time to splatter.  If there is enough time, we watch a little diddy on Jackson Pollock .  While students watch the quick video embedded in my Prezi, the kids get to discuss what they think they see in the "action paintings".  We take some time to talk about safe and friendly splattering, and I have the students use WATER AND TEMPERA CAKES.  They splat with minimal mess, and they show up nicely on the orange paper.



I've found it works best if the kids hold with one hand (close to the paper, with bristles downward) and flick with their "writing hand".  The use and upward motion with just one flick of the finger, and the paint doesn't fling out all over the place.






Day 2 is all about assemblage and background.  The kids use oil pastels to create their background.  I use purple or black paper for this part, but that is up to you!   



After the background is done, it is time to add the pumpkins and any other details you like!



If there is extra time, I also like to read this adorable and fun book!!  In certain classes, this lesson has taken 3 class periods (1 full class for drawing and coloring the background), and in others, it has taken 2.  You be the judge of your kiddos :)



Have a spooky day :)

Donut Sculptures

Ok, first of all let me start by taking ZERO CREDIT for this amazingly fun art lesson.  I recently learned this at the "Bold and Bright" WAEA convention in LaCrosse, from fellow Wisconsin art teachers, Jill Montgomery and Karen Vanblarcom.  I came back to school and just happened to have everything I needed to make these cuties :)



To create, you will need Crayola Model Magic (I've found that white or yellow will work best, but brown might be okay, too), washable marker (brown), brown or tan chalk pastels, puffy paint (Jill and Karen had this Bubble Paint finger paint , but it is quite pricey, so you may want to try making homemade shaving cream paint , or do what I did and add a tempera mixing medium to give your paint a little more texture), and you will also want some beads or glitter (***** Oh, yeah, I said it! *****) to decorate.

First thing you do is take out your Model Magic and flatten it out a bit.



Next, color you Model Magic with brown washable markers.



After that, you push and pull the Model Magic to mix it up a bit, then roll it into a smooth ball.





Next step is to make the hole.  To avoid having a glob of "pushed out" Model Magic in the middle of your donut, poke your finger ALMOST all the way through, but not quite.  Then go through the other side to finish off the hole.





After the hole has been made (or perhaps you'll decide to make a donut with no hole), you need to make some chalk pastel dust, by scraping the chalk with a scissors and brushing it on with a soft bristled brush.  Brown or tan chalk works great!







Finally, it is time to decorate!  As mentioned above, you will want to use a thicker paint to mimic the look of frosting.  For icing or chocolate drizzle, brown versa temp with a little glue works wonders.




 For "nuts" a cut up tan Sax art eraser is PERFECT (credit, once again, to Jill and Karen for these adorably delicious ideas).



Beads, Lester Lace (plastic cording), glitter, and other fun things can also be added to your donuts, for a little extra "pizzaz".

The lovely ladies who presented this mentioned that they break it up into 2 days: one for sculpting the donut, and one for all steps of the decorating.  I recently did it all in one class for my adaptive high schoolers.  YOU know your kids and what will work best.  Now go, have fun, become obsessed with donut making, as I have!

If you'd like to add in a little art history, here is a Wayne Thiebaud prezi I have used and altered for a few different tasty food lessons.

Time to make the donuts ;)

Digital Self Portraits...with a side of imagination ;)

I love an art lesson with VARIETY!  Each of these is so different, and they give good insight to the kids' interests.  To complete these fabulous works of imagination, while students were working on a previous lesson, I took them each aside to have them pose for their portrait.



The next art day, students cut and glued their pictures down, depending, of course, on what they were going to be drawing. One tip:  I outline their bodies on their photograph before they come in, because some students do tend to get confused about where to cut.







I emphasized the importance of LINES and UNIQUE IDEAS in this lesson.  We had a discussion all about taking chances in art, instead of copying.  We used Crayola construction paper crayons on black paper to get that "glow in the dark" look :)






This was a lesson I did with second graders, but I think it would be fun and successful with most ages.





Keep on creating!!

Thiebaud Tints and Shades

Ok!! Wayne Thiebaud: Dessert Guy...we all know that :)  We began this lesson with a discussion of Wayne Thiebaud's work, emphasizing the term "STILL LIFE".  I used my Thiebaud Prezi to discuss artwork with the kiddos before we started:  Thiebaud Treats Prezi ... feel free to check it out for your own Thiebaud lessons :)




After chatting and observing, students created their own still life drawings, using a special sweet treat as their focus.  We traced with black oil pastels when finished.



Day 2 was spent with a focus on "TINTS" (mixing colors with white to create something lighter).  I added liquid tempera to my colored tempera cakes for quick and easy color mixing.  The kids loved it, and it saved me loads of time and clean up!





On the third and final day, we looked at some artwork with obvious shadows.  The kids noticed that the light was always on the opposite side as the shadow.  We then used regular black tempera cakes to add to one side of each object in their paintings, showing SHADES.  The paint mixed nicely with paint that was already on the paper....insta-shadows!


 

Have a SWEET day, my fellow artists :)

Analagous Color Pumpkins at Night

Ok!  So I'm super excited about how these are turning out.  The first day the kids were working was the day of drawing from observation.  I collected tons of different gourds,  and some pictures as well,  so that they would begin to notice just how many different colors,  sizes,  and textures are possible.

Students were encouraged to draw their pumpkins and gourds overlapping. 

 Once done with drawing,  we used clear Elmer's gel glue to outline the drawings.  They dried beautifully,  with nice, dark lines.

Day 2 was used to color. We used oil pastels and talked about analogous colors for blending. To help kids remember what "analogous colors" means,  I described them as "friendly colors", or "colors holding hands".

Next step will be to finish up and jazz up the backgrounds!  Happy art making :)