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BUBBLE BLOWING SELF-PORTRAITS- 1ST GRADE!

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This was a really fun lesson where first-graders learned the difference between a self-portrait and a portrait! This lesson took (3) 40 minute art classes to finish.

I just love this artist’s winking self-portrait! So cute!

 

DAY 1

Students looked at different self-portraits by famous artists and then learned how to draw the head by drawing an upside down egg shape. They learned how to draw facial features in correct proportion and learned that eyes are drawn like the shape of almonds/footballs or lemons and ways to draw the nose, mouth, ears and eyebrows through a demonstration under the document camera.

Once they finished their self-portrait, students added a pattern of circles in the background, then traced over all their lines with a thick black sharpie.

DAYS 2-3

On the second day of the lesson I read them a story called The Colors of Us, by Karen Katz. I absolutely LOVE this story because it talks about appreciating each others differences and to notice the variety of skin colors we all have and that they are ALL beautiful!! We talked about how weird and boring the world would be if we were all the same skin color!

Students then found a crayon that best matched their own unique skin color, eye color and hair color and colored in their self-portraits. I demonstrated that they could combine and layer colors to create the colors they needed. I encouraged students to press hard when coloring and to try to color in completely so no white paper showed through.

For a final step, I poked holes in their papers using a pencil and a pre-tied balloon was attached to their self-portrait using tape on the back!

Students did a fantastic job creating their self-portraits! (*Some students are still finishing coloring and I will be adding more photos later on!)

Now a beautiful and colorful hallway!! 🙂

Thanks so much for dropping by!! Read below to check out yesterday’s post on 2nd grade artwork!

If interested– sign up for new blog post updates via email, (to the right, or scroll all the way down on a cell phone) 🙂

I will be blogging again tomorrow night on NEW 4th grade artwork (Neon Pop-Out Self-portraits!) Stay tuned!…

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SPRINGTIME BUNNIES AND BEAR CUBS- 2ND GRADE!

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How adorable are these?!? My 2nd graders did such a fantastic job creating them!

This lesson took (3) 40 minute art classes to finish and incorporates the Elements of Art- Line, Shape, Color, Value and Texture! We also used overlapping, contrast and pattern in our work!  Students could choose between creating a bunny or a bear cub. Read below the photos of students artwork to see how they were created!

Sorry, there are A LOT of photos!! I couldn’t help myself–they are ALL too cute!

TEACHERS – You can get a free downloadable BEAR CUB template on my TPT page HERE! 

These are currently up on display!

I couldn’t decide which image to post –so I decided on showing both panoramic and regular!

DAY 1 

Students drew flowers all over their 9×12″ 80# drawing paper using markers and crayons. They were encouraged to draw the flower heads LARGE and draw LOTS!! Especially along the top and sides since later on the bunny or bear would be placed over their painting.

I demonstrated a bunch of different ways to create the flowers first, but students could draw them any way they wanted! I also encouraged them to use bright colors. If they drew flower heads with a circle center, they colored in the circles with crayon, pressing hard. Once their paper was filled they drew green stems from each flower head going all the way to the bottom, using a green crayon as well as a green marker for each one. 

DAY 2

Students finished up creating their flower heads and stems if needed (they really took their time with this step and loved created intricate flowers!!) then using just water on a paintbrush, they went over each flower with water.

This turns the marker into almost a watercolor consistency, which kids LOVED!! I showed them how to just do one flower at a time then rinse their brush before moving onto the next so the colors wouldn’t get muddy.

Then students went over all their stems with water. The crayon part of the stems would remain a solid line since crayons resist water.

We talked about the Element of Art “Value” and how the colors of the flowers would get softer and lighter in value once water was applied.

I absolutely LOVE this flower painting below!! Particularly the way the yellow flowers came out! So lovely!!

The wet flower paintings were left to dry until the following class. Students then either chose a bunny or bear cub template to start drawing lines with sharpie to add TEXTURE!

I downloaded and printed the bunny template from a website for teachers called Teachstarter (free template) and then created the bear one myself and made copies for kids.

I demonstrated how to draw straight lines close together in between each section using sharpie. Students could leave the eye area as it was, or go over the lashes and create longer lines. We discussed how the lines created fur- like texture. We also discussed how the black & white vs. the colorful flower background would create CONTRAST.

DAYS 2-3

Students continued drawing lines if needed, then carefully cut out their animals and glued onto their flower background! I just LOVE how simple yet beautiful this lesson is! Plus- kids continue to understand how they are applying the elements of art while creating!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog! I hope you enjoyed viewing their beautiful artwork 🙂

To view additional 2nd grade artwork, and other art lessons, click on “2nd Grade Art Lessons” under the drop down menu! Follow me on Instagram for more work too!

Be sure to stop on by again tomorrow (SUNDAY!) to view NEW artwork by 1st Grade —then Monday night for NEW artwork by 4th grade!!!

Have a great weekend everybody! Take care and be kind 🙂

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COMPLEMENTARY CREATURE PRINTS! – 3RD GRADE

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3rd graders finished up their prints! They did such a fantastic job!! Take a look below! 

(Read more below the pics to find out how they were created, and to view my YouTube tutorial on this lesson!)

(haha don’t mind the “Dirty Water Bucket” in the background ….I don’t have a sink in my art room and use a water bucket system to dump out old water between art classes. I’ll probably blog about how I go about that for lessons involving paint at a later time. If you’re an art teacher and don’t have a sink in your room, please share what methods you use!) 

A panoramic picture of the 3rd grade prints –up now on display!! I love all the bright colors!

And then a pic of the same display… only non-panoramic because sometimes I can’t decide which way to post it!

 

This lesson took about 4 (40 min.) art classes to finish, and students created three prints of one drawing total. We used markers and styrofoam printing plates to create our prints! 

DAYS 1-2 

On the first day of the lesson I read students the book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak for inspiration. We discussed what printmaking was and I showed them students prints from previous years as well as my own teacher examples. They also watched the first few minutes of my video tutorial before they began drawing their own creatures.

Kids then got to work drawing their own made up creature on 8.5″ x 11″ regular printer/copy paper with pencil. The goal was to create a unique creature, large on the paper, with simple lines and details. I explained their creature could consist of a combination of animals, aliens, monsters, inanimate objects, people, sea creatures, food, fantastical creatures….whatever they wanted!  Something that was from their own imagination.

(I didn’t get a chance to snap pics of kids doing this step so this pic and the next few with the pink background are ones I created for my video tutorial) 

 

Once drawn, students then taped their drawing to a sheet of styrofoam (the printing plate). They only taped it to the top in two areas so the paper wouldn’t move on them while tracing.

Then using a dull colored pencil (not to sharp–if its too sharp, it could tear or puncture the styrofoam) they traced over all their lines to transfer their image to the printing plate underneath. I have them use a colored pencil so they can see clearly where they’ve already traced.

 

Here you can see the image has transferred to the styrofoam plate

 

Once that’s done, students trace over all the lines indented in the styrofoam plate once more. They used a colored pencil for this step as well. They trace twice so the indentations are deep enough for printing a crisp, clear image of their drawing.

 

DAYS 3-4 

Students learn what complementary colors are, (colors opposite one another on the color wheel and consist of a primary color and a secondary color–red + green, blue + orange, yellow + purple). They learned that when used next to one another in artwork it makes an image pop and really stand out.

They colored their creature (on the styrofoam printing plate) with one set of complementary colors, and then their background with a different set, using markers. I saved and set aside a large box of markers for just this lesson to ensure we’d have juicy markers!

Students were creative and made some cool unique creatures!! 

 

After completely colored, they took off their taped on drawing (if they haven’t already) and dampened a sheet of 9×12″ 80# drawing paper using water from a spray bottle and damp sponges –(For the spray bottles, I just use empty spray cleaner bottles after thoroughly rinsing out).

They sprayed the paper 6 times- two on top, two in the middle and two along the bottom on either side of the paper.

Then using a damp sponge, they hold down the paper along the bottom, and wipe going away from their fingers in one direction to help spread the water evenly all over the paper.

 

They then lay their colored styrofoam color side down onto the wet paper. They press all over the back of their printing plate using the flat of their hands to help transfer their image to the dampened paper. After pressing for a few seconds, they used a brayer to roll over the back of their printing plate to help further transfer their image. I explain to students it’s very important to always have one hand holding down the styrofoam plate so they don’t smudge their print.

Students roll the brayer over the entire backside of their plate for at least 15 seconds, then while holding down a corner with one hand, lift the opposite corner with the other hand to check if there are any bald spots. If so, they roll over that area again and/or use their fingers to press into any smaller detailed areas where needed.  Once they check again, they lift off the styrofoam plate to reveal their print!

I have students watch the printmaking portion of my video tutorial in the beginning of the first couple of art classes where they print, just to help them remember all those steps!

So glad I decided to make that video for this lesson! It’s such a time saver…. I don’t have to waste paper or marker ink each time as I would in a demonstration for the kids…. and since it’s recorded- I don’t ever have to worry about forgetting something while explaining!! I wish I had started make youtube tutorials a long time ago for those reasons!

Also— if I must be completely honest, students are way more engaged and STAY silent throughout the ENTIRE time watching my video— rather than when I am demonstrating in person under the doc camera! What’s up with that kids?!??!

As you can see in the photo above I have printing supplies (pre-dampened sponges, spray bottles, brayers, 9×12″ paper, and box of fresh new markers) along my extra “supply” table. Kids get their needed supplies and bring them back to their seats and print there. Water bottles, sponges and brayers are shared so I don’t need a ton of each.

Once they print their first print, they repeat the process of coloring their printing plates and wetting their papers to print  etc. to create 3 prints of the same image total. This way, students have some practice with printing and have the opportunity to create a good, clear, colorful print!

Click HERE to view my video tutorial on this lesson!

Hope you enjoyed reading this blog post! If interested, you can get email updates on when I blog next by signing up with your email over on the right hand side of the top of this page!

I’ll be posting again REAL SOON on new 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 4th grade artwork!! STAY TUNED!!!……

 

 

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MIXED MEDIA BIRD NESTS- 5TH GRADE!

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LOVE, LOVE LOVE THESE!! This is a new lesson I introduced this year for 5th grade and it’s definitely a keeper!! Thank you Painted Paper Art for this wonderful lesson idea!

These are created by 5Y, 1 (of my 5)  5th grade classes! (Other classes are going on day 2 of the lesson later on in the week). It’s a 3 day art lesson (40 minutes each) and incorporates ALL the Elements of Art (value, shape, line, color, form, space, and texture!)

HERE ARE A FEW CLOSE-UPS OF INDIVIDUAL NESTS!

 

DAY 1: 

Students created the nest using oil pastels on a 6×6″ sheet of manila tagboard. They drew a large circle with pencil, then chose whatever color blue they wanted, to fill in the background.

They then drew a small black circle in the center, a loop of dark brown around the black circle, then looped various shades of brown oil pastel within the remaining part of the nest, layering as they went around. After that they drew short, curved lines extending outside the nest with brown, to create little pieces of hay or sticks sticking out from the nest.

Students then used various shades of yellow and golds to overlap the brown, until the manila paper was completely covered with oil pastels. As a final step with oil pastels, students used black to lightly draw circles close together extending outward from the center, to create the illusion of space and the nest going inward in the center.

 

For the last step on day 1, students glued on strips of pre-cut, painted papers all around the nest, to add texture!

 

 

DAY 2: 

On the second day of the lesson, students shaped and created 3 eggs out of model magic air dry clay and glued them on in the center of their nests with tacky glue. Then they glued down 8-10 small twigs using tacky glue to add even more texture to their nests! (BTW- Twigs were collected while walking my dog in the park on a previous day. With only 7 more art classes remaining before summer break, (although it might have been fun), I didn’t want students to spend an art class searching around the school for them!!)

I love the various shades of blue in this one!

I have to say, I REALLY LOVE tacky glue!! I’ve used it for so many art lessons recently and it’s WAAAAAY better than regular old white school glue! It adheres quickly (which is super important for this lesson) and best of all—dries clear!

These were all set aside to completely dry in Mason paper box tops until the following week!

 

DAY 3: 

Students painted their eggs using liquid tempera (students could choose from a variety of blue/ blue-green paints).

They had the option to then add spots of white and brown speckles using the end of a paintbrush handle.

 

Students did a wonderful job creating their beautiful bird nests and eggs, I couldn’t WAIT to hang them all up!!!!

I hot glued twigs to create their sign and added some colorful cupcake liners for flowers! More nests to come SOON  to fill in the empty spaces on this bulletin board!!! 

 

Thanks for checking out my blog!! Be sure to check back tomorrow (Tuesday) night for another new post on some NEW artwork!!! To view other 5th grade artwork -click on 5th Grade Art Lessons under the drop down menu! 

 

 

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CURRENT ARTWORK IN THE WORKS! (1ST-5TH GRADE)

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It’s been awhile since I last posted, so thought I’d share what we’re working on in the art room! I’M SUPER excited because there are 3 NEW art lessons that we’ll be starting!!

Let’s start with 5th grade!

5TH GRADE – MIXED MEDIA BIRD NESTS

Let me tell you, I couldn’t wait to start this lesson! It’s a perfect one for springtime and the kids in 5th haven’t done any real 3D artwork yet this year, so I thought it was a perfect fit! This lesson was inspired by Laura Lohmann of Painted Paper Art~ Thanks Laura for the inspiration!

These are my teacher examples I created!

It includes an oil pastel background on 6×6″ tagboard, cut painted papers, twigs, model magic for the eggs, and tempera paint. I’ll discuss more on how we create them in a future blog post!

Students in Mrs. Yeomans class started them today, and other classes will follow next week.

We cover ALL the Elements of Art for this one! (Color, Form, Line, Shape, Space, Texture, and Value)

I can’t wait until they finish (it’s a 3 day lesson) and display them all in the hallway! I plan on using twigs to write out “mixed media bird nests” with a hot glue gun above their work!

The rest of my 5th grade classes are finishing up their “Falling for Foreshortening” lesson  (seen below) this week, and like I mentioned, will start the bird nest one NEXT week.

 

I LOVE this rendition of Alice falling down the rabbit hole!! 

AFTER they complete their MIXED MEDIA BIRD NESTS, 5th grade will do a final art lesson for the year on GRID DRAWING! CHECK BACK FOR THAT ONE LATER ON! (If you’d like to view artwork from previous years on grid drawing, go to the drop down menu and select 5th Grade Art Lessons and scroll down to that one, to view some pretty AMAZING art!!

 

4TH GRADE- POP OUT SELF-PORTRAITS!

This is another NEW art lesson, that I’m also VERY excited about! I love the addition of text (listing positive attributes of themselves)  the NEON paper, and the 3D POP OUT effect! I think kids will LOVE it! (See my teacher examples below)

This will be a 3 day art lesson.  This lesson focuses on the Elements of Art (Line, Shape and Color)  but also Principles of Art (Balance, Emphasis, Variety, Movement, Contrast, and Pattern) as well as enhancing their knowledge of facial proportion when drawing themselves!

Students at Roosevelt will start this lesson on Wednesday! Kids at Amvet will begin once they finish their “Enlarged Flower Drawings” seen below.

Once other 4th grade classes at Amvet finish up their enlarged flower drawings,  they will begin the pop out self-portrait one!

The FINAL art lesson of the year for 4th Grade will be “Animal Drawings” (see students drawings from previous years under their 4th grade page, under the drop down menu).

 

3RD GRADE- COMPLEMENTARY CREATURE PRINTS

This one is an oldie but goodie (I’ve taught this lesson since I’ve started teaching) and is a 3-4 day art lesson. I love the bold colors used in this lesson and the creative creatures students come up with!

These images below are of my teacher examples

Here are some student examples from previous years!

This lesson focuses on the Elements of Art (Line, Shape, Color, and Texture).

3rd Graders will draw their own made up creature (this can be anything!) and learn about Complementary Colors and printmaking techniques (using markers and styrofoam printing plates). ALL 3rd graders are currently working on this lesson at both schools.

Then— once they finish printing their complementary creature prints (to learn more about and view additional prints from previous years, select 3rd Grade Art Lessons under the drop down menu and scroll down), they will work on the lessons “Kinetic Piranha” and “Sunset Silhouette” for the remainder of the year (you can view artwork from previous years there as well)!

 

2ND GRADE- SPRINGTIME BUNNIES AND BEAR CUBS

This lesson is also a NEW one!! I can’t wait to start this one with my students tomorrow at Roosevelt!

Here is a picture of my 2 teacher examples below!

2nd graders will have an option of creating either a bunny or a bear cub with their spring flower background! This lesson incorporates the Elements of Art (Line, Shape, Color, Value, and Texture) and includes overlapping, contrast and pattern!

Some classes are finishing up their “Birch Tree Landscapes” (see student example below) but will start this “Springtime Bunnies and Bears” lesson next week!

 

Once 2nd graders finish their “Birch Tree Landscapes” as well as “Springtime Bunnies/Bears”, they will move onto another possible NEW art lesson (this one is still in the works….) and THEN,  for the final art lesson of the year it will be “Thinking of Summer Self-portraits”. Which also can be viewed under 2nd Grade Art Lessons from previous years!

 

1ST GRADE- BUBBLEGUM BLOWING SELF-PORTRAITS

One of my favorites for 1st graders! I did this one last year and LOVED them! Here’s a pic from one of my firsties from last year! I LOVE how she drew her eyes closed and her expression! It really does LOOK like she’s blowing up her balloon (aka bubble)!

Students not only learn how to draw the face and facial details, but we also talk about color matching and trying to best match our own unique skin colors, eye colors and hair colors using crayons.

We focus on the Elements of Art (Line, Shape, Color, and Form), as well as use (Principle of Art) Pattern in the background!

Students at Amvet have started this today and students at Roosevelt will begin their “Mixed Media Alphabet Soup” tomorrow! (See the previous blog entry to view students artwork on that lesson there)

 

YIKES!  There are a lot of classes that seem to be a bit off from one another in regards to what art lesson they are on, but that’s par for the course I suppose when snow days, sick days, 1/2 days, and holidays etc. sometimes throws some classes off track and pushes things back a bit! 

Once classes finish up both of those art lessons, the final art lesson of the year (cross my fingers hope we have time for it!!!) is the “Tanglebird Collage” lesson. (You can view that one from previous years under 1st Grade Art Lessons and scroll down as well!)

 

SPECIAL EDUCATION CLASSES – “APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS”

I LOVE these so much! We used a wet-on-wet watercolor technique for the umbrella (using only warm colors), and crayon, oil pastels, and marker for the grass, puddle and flowers background.

They brushed just water over the areas with marker to create a painted sky, puddles and grass.

I took a photo of each student “holding their umbrella” and printed out on regular copy paper.

Thank you to Mrs. Price over at wh_artroom (Instagram) for this lesson inspiration!! I love it!!

 

Phew! I think I covered everything???? Now I need to go take a nap!!

Hope you all enjoyed this blog post! I try to update it as much as possible, and definitely will be posting new artwork from all the above mentioned art lessons soon!!!!   If interested, follow me on Instagram for the latest info on what’s happening in the art room!

 

 

 

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1st Grade– “MIXED MEDIA ALPHABET SOUP!”

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SOUPS ON!!! 

I was so excited to try this lesson out with my first graders this year–I absolutely LOVE them!! Especially the mixed media/ 3D aspect of them!!! A big shout out and thanks to Lauralee Chambers for the wonderful lesson idea!!

Read below to view process pics and read how we created them!!

(the photos of artwork above and below are by first graders in Mrs. Uthoff’s class)

 

 

The focus of this lesson combines letter formation/identification with an understanding of mixed media (we used oil pastels, liquid watercolor paint, markers and charcoal), and three-dimensional elements within artwork. 

This lesson took 3 (40 minute) art classes to complete.

DAY 1: 

After showing students my teacher examples, and reviewing what mixed media is (using multiple art mediums in a piece of artwork), and what 3-D means (artwork that isn’t flat and sticks out–soup spoon and plastic letters), students each received a piece of 9×12″ 80# drawing paper with a circle traced on it (for the soup). The alphabet was projected onto the white board for students to review if needed.

Students drew the alphabet using oil pastels inside the circle to create their alphabet soup. They were encouraged to draw their letters large, pressing hard (so the oil pastel later on would resist the paint!) as well as draw some upside down, and backwards and going in different directions with multiple colors.

Once drawn and the letters almost filled up their bowl, they drew small orange squares (for carrots) and green circles (for peas).

Then students painted over their letters with a yellow-orange liquid watercolor (creating the broth), creating an oil pastel resist!

These soups were then set aside to dry until the next art class!

 

DAY 2: 

Students each received a 12×18″ piece of 80# drawing paper with another (larger) circle pre-traced with black sharpie. This circle was drawn off to the side of their paper, so there would be room for the napkin later on.

After reviewing vertical and horizontal lines, students drew a plaid tablecloth (or placemat) using 2 chosen colored markers. Then kids painted over their lines with water to create a “painterly” look. Students thought it was so fun that the marker could turn into “paint”!

I had students place a paper plate over their “bowl” while painting with water, to avoid water getting inside their traced bowls.

These were then set aside to dry until the following art class.

 

DAY 3: 

Students cut out their soups carefully and then glued down in the center of the larger traced circle bowl, using a glue stick.

Then they glued down a pre-cut “napkin” (heavyweight tagboard cut to about 4 1/2″ x 9 1/2″) next to their bowls of soup using a glue stick. They then used a piece of charcoal to outline one side of their napkin (I told them to create the letter “L” with their charcoal, as well as half the side of their soup bowl (I told them to create a “C” with their charcoal). I explained this would create a shadow effect, and make it all look more realistic and 3-D. Then students smudged the lines of charcoal with their finger!

This is a first time for first graders using charcoal, and they loved this step!

For the final steps, I glued down a plastic spoon (metal imitation soup spoons found on Amazon) and 2 colored plastic letters (plastic letter beads from Roylco) using a hot glue gun!

They look SO real don’t they??!!

Like I said, I absolutely LOVE this lesson, and I hope you do too!!

Thanks for visiting my blog! Please check back again SOON for more student artwork!!

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4th Grade -COLLABORATIVE FLOWER DRAWING!

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I was so excited to try this out with my 4th graders as a continuation on learning about Georgia O’Keeffe and it didn’t disappoint! I can’t wait to hang it up on the wall above their lockers with their other flower drawings (see previous post on that below)!

The artwork below was created by Ms. Eagleston’s 4th grade class during one 40 minute art class.  It was a collaborative enlarged flower drawing using oil pastels of Georgia O’Keeffe’s Red Poppy painting. Scroll down below it to view the printed photo of O’Keeffe’s work students observed.

(Photo below of everyone’s drawing glued together. Total image size 30″ x 36″)

 

(Photo below of the printed photo of her painting “Red Poppy No. VI” that has been cropped a little, with a grid drawn on it. Each student received one 1 1/4″ square to draw)

 

 

(Photo below is of Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Red Poppy, No. VI” in it’s entirety)

 

Each student got a tiny 1  1/4” square section of the photo to copy on a 6” square of 80# drawing paper. Each tiny photo had a number written on the back as well as the word “Top” along the top edge, so students knew how to view their image before drawing. Students wrote their corresponding number on the back of their 6″ paper as well as the word “top” along the top edge. This would make assembling the flower a whole lot easier for me later on!

They then drew the lines and shapes first with pencil then colored in trying to best match the colors of the print out.

Once complete, I brought them all home and assembled together on large white paper with hot glue.

PLEASE NOTE: The photos of students working below are from Mrs. Roberts class, and observed a different flower image by O’Keeffe to copy. (Unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to snap pics of kids working on the red poppy flower).

4/10/18 UPDATE!! View Mrs. Roberts classes finished collaborative flower drawing below these “in process” pics! 

Any takers on trying to guess which flower their working on???!!!!!!!

 

(Below is Mrs. Roberts Classes collaborative flower drawing of Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Pink Tulip, 1926”)

 

(This was a bit tricky to create trying to have everyone’s lines connect! In retrospect, I think selecting an image with less line changes/ shapes and colors would have been more successful, but I LOVE this painting so much I wanted to give it a go and see what would happen. Although it’s a bit fragmented, it’s still VERY beautiful and I love the attention to detail students put into each individual section!! Awesome work everyone! )

 

(Below is a selection of the image by O’Keeffe I used to create the grid. )

 

(Below is Georgia O’Keeffe’s painting “Pink Tulip, 1926” in its entirety.)

Thanks for visiting my blog! More to come SOOOOOOOOoooooooon! ….

 

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4th Grade Enlarged Flowers and 5th Grade Falling For Foreshortening

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4th Grade- Enlarged Flower Drawings inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe!

Students learned about the artist Georgia O’Keeffe, and viewed examples of her flower paintings. We talked about the scale (size) of her work and that her flower paintings were so large because she thought flowers were incredibly beautiful and wanted people to notice them! She loved to create close-up paintings of flowers. Looking at her flower paintings is like looking at a flower with a magnifying glass!

We also reviewed what abstract artwork is (artwork that focuses on mainly lines, shapes and colors), which is how Georgia O’Keeffe depicted a lot of her flowers in her work. She focused on just small sections of a flower –instead of the entire flower in a lot of her work, therefore abstracting the image. Not all of her flower paintings are abstract, but many are.

DAY 1: 

I showed students multiple examples of her flower paintings through a power point presentation and discussed her work and background.

After demonstrating how to focus in on one area of a flower and block out the rest (students could choose their own printed flower image to observe) by using a viewfinder, (using a black square piece of construction paper with a small (about 2×2″ square) cut out in the middle). Students had to select an area of their flower so it’s petals touched or ran off at least 3 sides of their viewfinder (see pics below).

Students then practiced drawing and enlarging small sections of their chosen flowers, in their sketchbooks. They did this 3 times, each flower drawing on a different page in their sketchbook. They had a choice of choosing 3 different flower images OR drawing from 1 flower image but focusing in on different areas of the flower each time.

 

DAYS 2-3:

Students selected 1 photo of a flower for their final drawing. They enlarged a section of their flower on 12×12” paper, making sure that their drawing of their chosen flower ran off or touched at least 3 of the 4 sides of their paper, while considering the composition (how and where things are placed on the page).

Once drawn, students colored in using oil pastels. Students had a choice of coloring in their flower any colors they wanted!!  In previous years I had students color in their flowers trying to best match their flowers colors in the photo. The only rule with color I had was, was to switch to a different color when their was a transition of color in their flower photo.  Also, If their was a bit of background showing in their composition, (some students selected areas of their flower that only showed the flower– without any background) they needed to color it in with any one chosen color for contrast.

DAY 4: 

For a final step, students created a bit of depth within their flower by adding shadows around the edges of their flowers petals with black oil pastel, then blending with their finger. Adding black for shading with oil pastels is a pretty tricky step, and can be a bit challenging, but I think students did a wonderful job adding that element to their artwork!!

 

5th Grade- “Falling for Foreshortening” Drawings! 

 

 

For this art lesson, students learned about a type of perspective called foreshortening.

(Scroll down further to view more photos of students working on this lesson!) Foreshortening is a drawing technique used to create the illusion where parts of something or someone appear to come out at the viewer strongly, making those areas seem closest to the viewer, and some parts appearing to recede strongly, making those areas seem the furthest away from the viewer.

Students used this technique by drawing a person that appears to be falling backwards into something, with their arms and legs outstretched. They did this by tracing their hands along the top of the paper, and their feet along the bottom of the paper, leaving space in the middle. They then drew the head, neck, arms, and legs of a person smaller, to create the illusion that the body was further away than the feet and hands.

Students were instructed to pay special attention to the soles of their shoes, being sure to add details and texture to make it look like the bottom of their shoes. Students also had to draw the person’s facial expression to match whatever it was they were falling into (something scary, or something soft and fun!), show movement in the hair, and add details to the palms of the hands.

Once the person was drawn, 5th graders outlined in black sharpie, then drew a background depicting what their person was falling into, and colored in everything using colored pencils.

 

Thanks for visiting my blog! Check back soon for NEW artwork by 1st Grade!! (Mixed Media Alphabet Soup!!)

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2nd Grade- BIRCH TREE LANDSCAPES!

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Students at Roosevelt finished these beauties up on Tuesday!  Amvet students just started today, and will finish on 4/12! 

This is a 3-4 day art lesson (40 minute art classes).

The objective of this lesson is to create a LANDSCAPE painting, while students are introduced to, and gain an understanding of, FOREGROUND, MIDDLE GROUND, and BACKGROUND within artwork, as well as learn about the size/space relationship within those areas. Second graders looked at the artwork of Bev Doolittle for inspiration.

Students learned that objects in the FOREGROUND in artwork, are the things closest to us as viewers. Objects in the foreground should be drawn larger and lower on the page to show this.

Objects in the MIDDLE GROUND within artwork, are a little bit further away. Things in the middle ground should be drawn in the middle of the page and drawn smaller.

Objects in the background within artwork, are the furthest things away. These need to be drawn even smaller and higher up on the page.

DAY 1: After demonstrating, on a sheet of 12×18″ tagboard students drew one large tree in the foreground, then a line for a hill in the middle ground with two medium sized trees, then another hill line higher up on the page with three small trees for the background.

***Making any more trees than this amount on 12×18″ paper can make the landscape look too crowded, and would also be a lot more challenging to paint in the sky later on. 

Students then used the side of a piece of corrugated cardboard dipped into a little bit of black liquid tempera paint, to create the black lines within their birch trees (shown below). 

***Here, it’s important to take any excess paint off the cardboard after dipping, by tapping the length of the cardboard on the paper plate. Students simply scraped the cardboard from one edge of their tree to the other, and then repeated that step working their way up the tree. 1-2 branches were then added per tree by scraping thin, diagonal lines.

Paintings were then left to dry until the next week. Students could draw in their sketchbooks or read an art book for the remainder of DAY #1.

 

DAY 2:  Students drew grass blades and flowers using crayon in just the foreground (pressing hard!). We reviewed how things in the foreground are closest, and that our eyes can’t make out details of objects that are very far away.

Students then painted the land and sky with liquid watercolors, creating a crayon wax-resist! 

 

DAY 3:  Students drew 1-3 animals to add to their painting.

They each got a step-by-step, “how to draw” animals packet that I made to refer to (with multiple woodland animals to choose from–Fox, bunny, deer, squirrel, owl, skunk, racoon, horse etc.) and drew them on separate small pieces of 80# drawing paper.  Students could also choose not to draw from the packet and draw an animal of their choosing!

***I used to give students only packets of photocopied PHOTOS of animals to use as reference, but after teaching this lesson for a few years, Ive found that it’s more successful for kids to understand how to draw animals in this step-by-step way for this age group, and they enjoy doing it as well! 

Once drawn they colored their animals in with colored pencils, carefully cut them out and glued them onto their finished paintings with a glue stick to inhabit their wonderful birch tree landscapes!

 

Look at that cute itty bitty skunk!!! 

 

Students could also create their own animal!

The results are beautiful and I think students did such an incredible job!

What do YOU think? I’d LOVE to hear from you! Comments, questions, suggestions are all welcome! 

BE SURE TO CHECK BACK TOMORROW FOR MY NEXT POST!! 4TH GRADE AND 5TH GRADE ARTWORK! 

Thanks for stopping by!

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1st Grade – HOT AIR BALLOONS!

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First graders used their knowledge of collage and learned what mixed-media is when they created these wonderfully fun and colorful hot air balloons! Read further below on how we made them and to see in process pics! 

 

 

Sorry, too cute not to post a ton of pics!! 

 

 

DAY 1: ON 9X12” drawing paper, students designed their own hot air balloons by filling them with all the things that lines can do. They traced a large circle template made from cardboard, then added a small box on the bottom of the circle. We reviewed all the different types of lines and once they filled their balloon up, they traced over all their lines with sharpie and colored in with either markers or crayons.

 

DAY 2: Students painted a sky background with blue, purple, and magenta liquid watercolor paint.

First graders learned how to apply the wet-on-wet technique to help spread and blend the watercolor paints on the paper. To create wet-on-wet, students wet their paper with just water first, then applied the paint to that area.

Then students finished coloring in their balloons if needed!

(Roosevelt students painted their sky background with tempera cakes (seen below). Using that medium is much easier when traveling on a cart from classroom to classroom. Still beautiful color and beautiful results though!)

 

DAY 3: Students carefully cut out their balloons and glued them into their sky paintings. They glued on yarn for the handles with “quick-dry/fast grab” clear drying glue, a construction paper basket to ride in, and a few clouds for texture (from poly-fil batting). I took each student’s photo, printed and cut them out ahead of time, then added their picture to their basket for a final step.

I LOVE how they all turned out! It’s definitely one of my favorites that I teach year after year, and I hope you enjoyed viewing them as well! 

STAY TUNED for tomorrow’s post!  (2nd grade BIRCH TREE LANDSCAPES)  and Friday’s post on both (4th grade ENLARGED FLOWER DRAWINGS inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe), as well as 5th grade’s (FALLING FOR FORESHORTENING DRAWINGS)!!! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

 

 

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