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POLAR BEARS – 3RD GRADE

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How adorable are these bears?! We used liquid watercolors and salt for the background, then a guided drawing of the polar bear and black oil pastel for shading! Read below students artwork to see how we created them with step-by-step pics!

DAY 1

On the first day of this 2 day lesson, students painted their background sky for the polar bear.

I put out bowls of turquoise and magenta liquid watercolors and bowls of kosher salt. 3rd graders watched me do a quick painting demo under the doc camera first, reviewing the wet-on-wet painting technique. First applying only water to the top half of their 12×18″ 80# white drawing paper, then adding whichever color paint they want first to the wet areas on their paper. Kids always love seeing how the paint spreads and feathers outward when doing wet-on-wet!

I encouraged students to paint randomly, and let the two colors merge here and there. If they created somewhat of a stripey effect with the two colors, I showed them how to brush on only water between the two stripes to help blend them together and blur the lines a bit more.

They loved watching the variety of lavender and purple hues develop when the turquoise and magenta paint mixed!

Once half the paper was painted and while still wet, students sprinkled salt over that area creating a salt resist technique! 3rd graders remembered this technique when they created the 3D Water lily last year in 2nd grade. Once dry, the salt crystals leave behind white areas that resemble snowflakes in the sky. For our 3D waterlilies project, the salted areas resembled light reflecting off the water background for the waterlily.

Once half of the paper was painted and salted, they wet the other half with just water and repeated painting and adding salt to the remaining half. Working on half the paper first, ensures the area is still wet enough for the salt. If the paper is too dry (the paint has dried up and the paper isn’t wet enough) the salt has nothing to absorb to create the snowflake effect.

Paintings were set aside to dry until the following art class.

Once dry, I brushed off all of the salt on students paintings and flattened them under a pile of heavy books. Here’s a few students painting’s that have been brushed off and flattened and are ready for the polar bear!

They ALL turned out beautiful, but I LOVE the way the salt created those interesting marks at the top in this one!!

DAY 2

3rd graders followed along with me while I did a guided drawing of the polar bear on 12×18″ 80# paper. Here are step-by-step photos that show how I drew the bear with my students.

STEP 1: DRAW 2 RAINBOW LINES FOR THE BEARS FEET
STEP 2: DRAW 3 LINES WITHIN EACH PAW

STEP 3: DRAW ANOTHER SMALLER RAINBOW LINE IN BETWEEN THE TWO PAWS
STEP 4: DRAW A LARGE RAINBOW LINE FROM PAW TO PAW
STEP 5: DRAW THE BEARS HEAD
STEP 6: DRAW TWO CURVED LINES FOR THE EARS
STEP 7: DRAW TWO SMALLER CURVING LINES INSIDE THE EARS
STEP 8: DRAW A LARGE EGG SHAPE INSIDE THE HEAD
STEP 9: DRAW 2 SMALL CIRCLES FOR THE EYES
STEP 10: DRAW AN UPSIDE DOWN TRIANGULAR SHAPE FOR THE NOSE
STEP 11: DRAW THE LETTER “W” FOR THE MOUTH. DRAW A TINY CIRCLE IN THE RIGHT PART OF THE EYES. DRAW A LONG OVAL SHAPE ALONG THE TOP OF THE NOSE.

Once drawn in pencil, I showed students how to add the black oil pastel. First we traced over all our lines with the black oil pastel. Then colored in the eyes and nose except for the small shiny reflective parts, where it remained white, like below.

STEP 12: TRACE OVER ALL LINES THICKLY WITH BLACK OIL PASTEL. COLOR IN THE NOSE, EXCEPT FOR THE OVAL. COLOR IN THE EYES, EXCEPT FOR THE TINY CIRCLES.

Then using one finger, smudge the oil pastel, following the direction of the lines drawn for each area, creating shadows within the polar bears fur. The only areas you don’t smudge are in the polar bears eyes, nose and mouth.

Where the curve of the belly is, we drew a few curving lines with oil pastel and smudged a U shape to give him MORE chubby cuteness!

Then draw a straight horizontal line where the curve of the belly is on either side of the polar bear with pencil. This creates the snow the polar bear is standing on.

Once finished smudging, students cut out their bears. Cut following the horizontal line, then cut following the curve of the body of the bear and to the other horizontal line. Now the bear and the snowy ground are cut out as one piece.

Then glue the back with a glue stick, (especially around the edges), then glue onto the painting, lining up both papers edges!

Voila! I LOVE these polar bears so much!

This wonderful lesson idea is from @2art.chambers (with a few changes). Thanks LauraLee!

More 3rd grade polar bears will be added after winter break! Also STAY TUNED for new 2nd grade artwork– Coming very soon!!

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Matisse inspired ORGANIC SHAPES COLLAGE – 3rd Grade

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I think this is a great end of the year art lesson because it only takes 3 classes (maybe even 2 if your art classes are longer than 40 minutes) and it’s fun!  But more importantly, it’s a nice way to review and assess students understanding on the basic elements of art; LINE (curving, wavy), SHAPE (organic vs. geometric), COLOR (primary, secondary, warm and cool as well as color mixing), as well as a review on overlapping, abstract art and composition.

Students in 3rd grade learned about the life and artwork of French artist Henri Matisse.

I showed them a Powerpoint slideshow of his artwork throughout the years, from his paintings to his collage work.

We talked about how Henri Matisse used a lot of bright, bold colors, simplified shapes, and was one of a few painters in his day who started a new style of painting called “fauvism” -(stemming from the word fauve, which means “wild beast”) and how later in his career, he would paint his own personal painted papers with many different colors that were then used for his cut paper collages.

They also learned how Matisse would cut right into the painted papers without drawing first, and called this technique “painting with scissors”.

We also reviewed the word collage and students noticed how many of his cut paper shapes in his collages, resembled leaves and plant life, and learned how they were organic shapes.  We talked about how organic shapes have curving, free flowing lines and can be found in nature, like in clouds, puddles, leaves, and flowers.  As opposed to geometric shapes (shapes that have straight lines and are usually symmetrical).

DAY 1 – Creating the painted papers

For this Matisse inspired lesson, students created their own painted papers first, just like Matisse did!

They began by folding a 12×18″ piece of paper 3 times, in order to create (8) rectangles, folding and pressing firmly each time to make sure they have visible creases to separate the 8 sections within their papers.

After unfolding the paper, students painted each rectangular section using liquid watercolors. Students were instructed to paint the top row with specific colors (Left to Right) using only primary colors, using only secondary colors, using only warm colors, and using only cool colors. In the top row, students could use those specific colors, painting any way they wanted –BUT– without mixing colors on their papers. The bottom row students could paint each section with any colors they wanted and could mix colors. I kept this up on the board for students as they painted (see pic below).

Some students were having a hard time recalling what those specific sets of colors were, so I gave them clues to jog their memory a little. For instance, for primary colors, I said – they consist of 3 colors, and when mixed they make the secondary colors. I also said, “If you start with the first color in the rainbow, red- (that’s your 1st primary color) then skip the next color, then you’ve got what? (Yellow- that’s the 2nd primary color) then skip the next color to ? blue (that’s your 3rd primary color). With warm colors, I asked them to think about what the first 3 colors in the rainbow were, plus pink, and with cool colors I suggested think about the last 3 colors of the rainbow.

Students tested colors out on a paper towel before applying paint to their paper. Sometimes the colors of liquid watercolors can be hard to see, since they are so saturated and appear very similar to one another in color within the ice cube trays.

DAY 2 – Cutting organic shapes

On day 2, we reviewed organic shapes. Students first cut out each painted rectangle from their painted paper. Then they cut out various free-flowing, organic shapes from each section, -1 large shape per section- cutting straight into their papers, without drawing first, just like Matisse did!  

In addition, students chose 5-6 pieces of colored construction paper to cut organic shapes from as well, to add to their collection of cut shapes for their collage. So all in all, students had up to 13-14 shapes total.

These shapes were then all paper clipped together and students wrote their name on the back of the last one and were saved in their class folder for the next class.

DAY 3 – Creating the collage

We reviewed abstract art (artwork that focuses on mainly lines, shapes and colors) and what composition meant in artwork.  Students learned that composition in art, means where things (or images) are laid out on the paper.

 Students arranged at least 8 of their cut organic shapes on a sheet of 12×18″ white 80# paper, moving them around on the paper, considering the composition first before gluing, and overlapping at least 5 shapes, before gluing into place.

I really love teaching this lesson. Not only is Matisse one of my favorite artists, but the vivid colors and arrangements of shapes turn out so beautifully and each collage ends up looking so unique!

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check back soon for my next posts on 1st Grade “Watermelon Weavings” , 2nd Grade “Springtime Bunny, Bear, or Fox!”, 4th Grade “Enlarged Flower Drawings” and 5th Grade “Grid Drawings”!

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Self-Portraits with Personal Symbols – by 3rd Grade artists

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This lesson was inspired by the artist Frida Kahlo, who is well known for her self-portrait paintings and often incorporating symbols into her artwork.

This lesson took about 4 (40 minute) art classes to complete.

DAY 1:

Students were introduced to Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, and learned about her interesting life and beautiful artwork!

We looked at a variety of images of her paintings as well as photos of her creating her art. We looked at photos and self-portraits of her and her many unique pets as well! (Students loved seeing her with her pet spider monkey, 4 parrots, a deer, a hawk and other interesting creatures! She loved animals and had a lot of unique pets throughout her life!

Students also learned how she originally wanted to be a doctor and studied medicine, but then was in a terrible trolley accident which left her bedridden in the hospital for a very long time. Her mother gave her paints and drawing supplies to help her pass the time in the hospital and set up a mirror above her bed, which led her to her love of painting, becoming an artist and creating her many self-portraits!

After discussing her use of symbolism in some of her self-portraits, and discussing what a SYMBOL was, students looked at a variety of student examples as well as my teacher examples.

For the lesson, I explained they needed to draw themselves large on the paper vertically, only including their head, neck and shoulders, (like in their school photos!) then to draw 6 or 7 symbols around them that reflect their interests and personality. The symbols should be drawn large and at least as big as their closed fist (making sure the objects are clearly identifiable and easy to outline and color in later on).

I reminded them to make sure the symbols should only be images, no text! They could connect to things that they enjoy doing, things that are important to them, a favorite memory, favorite foods, hobbies, seasons etc. They could however, add words in their shirt if they wanted.

Then, I reviewed with students how to draw the shape of the head and facial details as well as facial detail placement on the head, under the doc camera on 12 x18″ 80# paper. I had facial detail handouts to use and refer to as they drew with a variety of eyes, noses, and mouth images if they wanted to use them, but didn’t have to.

Students then started drawing soon after with pencil, drawing lightly in case they needed to erase.

DAYS 2-4:

Students continued drawing and once all details were added and 6-7 symbols were drawn around them, they outlined all lines with a black sharpie.

Students used crayons (pressing firmly! so the colors would be vibrant! ) to color in. I explained to find a crayon –(or two, overlapping and blending the two colors if needed) that best matched their unique skin color, hair color and eye color. (In previous years, kids used oil pastels to color in, but I wanted to switch it up and try good ol’ crayons for a change (and lets face it….less mess!)

As a final step, students chose one color to color in the background, to make their self-portrait and symbols stand out,  filling in the entire paper so no white paper was showing.

Once finished, students filled out a self-assessment on their knowledge of Frida Kahlo and on their own artwork! This sheet will be taped to the back of their drawings before going home.

To my 3rd graders in school, can you tell who’s WHO in these self-portraits by looking at their drawings and symbols?? : ) Take a look below! (obviously, the first two are very evident!) 🙂

Photos of students creating their beautiful masterpieces below student artwork too! (I guess that would kinda give it away now wouldn’t it, haha)

YES, YES….. I know…… I take a TON of photos!!….. 🙂

Thanks for stopping by! Check out below for my recent post on 1st graders “Dream Houses”!

Next up for 3rd grade…….Painted Organic Shapes Collage inspired by artist Henri Matisse!

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3rd Grade- Complementary Creature Prints!

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3rd graders did such a fantastic job printmaking!! 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!)

This lesson took about 5 (40 min.) art classes to finish, and create three prints of one drawing. We used markers and styrofoam printing plates to create our prints.

DAYS 1-2 

On the first day of the lesson, I showed students prints students created from previous years as well as my own examples. Then I showed them the first portion of my video tutorial and discussed what printmaking was. The book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak was inspiration for this lesson.

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 take photos of kids drawing so this pic and the next few with the pink background are ones I created for my video tutorial)

My example drawing

Once drawn, students then taped their drawing onto a sheet of styrofoam (the printing plate) to trace. Being sure to tape it to the top in two areas where there wasn’t any image, so the paper wouldn’t move on them while tracing.

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

Below you can see the image has transferred to the styrofoam plate.

Once that’s done, students trace over all their lines indented in the styrofoam plate. They used a colored pencil for this step as well. The reason they trace twice (once with their drawing over the styrofoam and once on the styrofoam only) is so the indentations are deep enough for printing a crisp, clear image of their drawing.

Styrofoam plate all ready for coloring in with markers!

DAYS 3-5 

Students learn what complementary colors are, (colors opposite one another on the color wheel and consist of one primary color and one secondary color. (red + green, blue + orange, and yellow + purple).

 

Students learned that when complementary colors are used next to one another in artwork, it makes an image pop and helps make the artwork stand out.

On the styrofoam using regular washable Crayola markers, they colored their creature with one set of complementary colors, and then their background with a different set.  It’s important that the markers are juicy (aren’t dried out) for this. (I saved and set aside a large box of markers for just this lesson, to ensure students would have juicy markers!)

After the styrofoam is completely colored, they take off their taped on drawing and sprayed a sheet of 9×12″ 80# drawing paper using water from a spray bottle. (For the spray bottles, I just use recycled empty spray cleaner bottles after thoroughly rinsing out).

They sprayed the paper 6 times- two on top on either side, two in the middle on either side 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 gently 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 all over for about 10 seconds, they used a brayer (which is like a mini paint roller except it has a rubber roller) to roll over the back of their printing plate to help further push and transfer the marker to the damp paper to create their print.

(I explain to students it’s VERY important to always have one hand holding down the styrofoam plate, while pressing with their other hand or using the brayer, so they don’t move their styrofoam which would smudge their print, thus creating a blurry one).

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, they lift the opposite corner with the other hand to check if there are any bald spots. If there are any bald spots (where their isn’t any color), they roll over that area again and/or use their fingers to press into any smaller detailed areas where needed. 

Once they check all areas, they lift off the styrofoam plate to reveal their print!

There are a lot of steps involved in creating these prints, which can be tricky to remember!  So I have students watch the printmaking steps of my video tutorial in the beginning of the first couple of art classes when they have begun printing, to review and help them remember!

I’m so glad I decided to make that video for this lesson! Students find it helpful to watch and such a time saver from constantly having to set up and waste paper and marker ink each time as I would while demonstrating…. and since it’s recorded- I don’t ever have to worry about forgetting to tell them something!

Once they print their first print, they repeat the process of coloring their printing plates and wetting their papers to print, and pressing 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!

Here is my video tutorial on this lesson!

https://youtu.be/njw-xLPtq_k

Thanks so much for stopping by! To view other art tutorial videos I’ve made click on “Art Instruction Videos” under the drop down menu or visit my YouTube channel!

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KINETIC ARTWORK BY 3RD GRADE!

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This was my 3rd graders last art lesson of the year before summer break! Kinetic Piranhas (OR…. any other creature really!) In previous years I had students draw only piranhas, but decided to open the lesson up to anything the students wanted to draw! They came up with some fantastic and creative ideas!

Students learned that kinetic artwork is art that moves and depends on motion from someone or something to make it move, in order to reach it’s full effect. This could be from a bunch of rotating gears, a computer, batteries, the wind, solar power, water etc. or in our case—hands to open and close the folded paper!!

Students looked at kinetic artwork by artists Theo Jansen, Arthur Ganson, Anthony Howe, and Mark Nixon before they began their drawings. Below the photos of students artwork, is a video of Theo Jansen’s “Strandbeests” kinetic creatures– watch the video! It’s incredibly amazing!

Doesn’t the one above remind you of something from Monty Python?! Or is that just me? 

 

Here are a couple videos on artist Theo Jansen and his AMAZING kinetic Strandbeests…..

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this post! Be sure to check back in a few days to see 1st grade “Dream Houses”, 2nd Grade “Thinking of Summer Self-portraits”, 4th Grade “Animal Drawings”, and 5th Grade “Grid Drawings”!! I will be posting these throughout the week!

If interested in checking out artwork by grade level, click on the grade level under the drop down menu!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

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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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CURRENT ART LESSONS UNDERWAY!! 1ST–5TH!

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Here’s what students are currently working on in Art class!

1st Grade: HOT AIR BALLOON COLLAGES

Students are using the Elements Of Art LINE and SHAPE to create these fun collages! These photos of student art are from last year. To learn how we are creating them and what the learning goals are click HERE. 

 

2nd Grade: BIRCH TREE LANDSCAPES

2nd Graders are learning about foreground, middle ground and background and how to create a sense of space in art for this lesson. The photos above are of student artwork from last year. Some students are finishing up their Love Monsters this Thursday and will begin this lesson after. To learn more about this lesson and how students will create this, click HERE and scroll down! 

 

*****I will be creating a YouTube video tutorial on the Birch Tree Landscape lesson soon, as well as a few “How to draw animals” videos for the lesson! Stay tuned!!!***** 

 

 

 

3rd Grade: COMPLEMENTARY CREATURE PRINTS

3rd graders will start this lesson soon once the 3D Winter Mugs are finished. To learn more on how these prints were created and what the learning goals are for the lesson, click HERE and scroll down! 

I have a YouTube tutorial on this lesson as well! Click under the main menu on “YouTube Tutorials” and view my video there! 

 

4th Grade: ENLARGED FLOWER DRAWINGS 

4th graders are currently working on this lesson inspired by the artist Georgia O’Keeffe! Photos above are by 4th graders from last year. Students enlarge a section of a flower while observing photos, using oil pastels. I LOVE this lesson and how we abstract the flower by zooming in and cropping just a section of a flower! 

To learn more about this lesson and learn how students will create these beauties, click HERE and scroll down! 

 

5th Grade: FALLING FOR FORESHORTENING 

5th Graders are currently working on these fun perspective drawings! These photos above are by 5th graders from last year and previous years. They learn about the type of perspective “foreshortening”, and draw the person’s expression to match what they are falling into, add details to the hands and feet and create a background using colored pencils. To learn more on this lesson, and view additional drawings click HERE and scroll down! 

 

SPECIAL EDUCATION: MIXED MEDIA FLOWER AND BUGS 

Students created these adorable flowers and bugs using cut paper and cupcake liners! Kids glued green construction paper for the grass and flowers stem and leaves, then painted ovals and/or circles on separate paper with tempera paint to create the bugs. Then they painted a cut paper plate for the large flower head with liquid tempera paint.

On day 2, they glued on their paper plate flower head, then a cupcake liner for the center. They then drew legs for their bugs with marker, cut out the bugs and added them to their flower picture with google eyes!

Once finished, I showed them how to draw flowers in grass and they colored in crayon!

Be sure to check out the previous post on “PULLED STRING ART” my special education classes created below!! They came out so beautiful!! 

To view additional artwork by my special education classes, click HERE! 

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AMAZING ART IN THE WORKS! Series #2!

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Parents and Students-

To give you a sneak peek into what kids will be creating in art, after returning from winter break, here it is! …

 

Everyone at ROOSEVELT Elementary will finish up their previous lesson before the break, (if needed), then start the Square 1 Art fundraiser drawings!

Then will continue onto the following lessons as AMVET  (read below).

 

BTW–I have only received the Square 1 Art box for Roosevelt so far.  Amvet Elementary will start on them once they arrive! 

 

For students at AMVET ELEMENTARY….

 

1st Grade:

Mixing Primary colors to create Secondary colors 

 

This is a 1 day lesson. Then in the following class, students will be creating “Mondrian Collages” using primary colors.

 

 

2nd Grade:

Finish Monet Inspired 3-D Water Lilies (2M and 2D) 

 

If finished- “Catching Snowflakes” portraits are up next!

 

 

3rd Grade: 

Finish “Self-Portraits with Personal Symbols” oil pastel drawings

 

 

THEN….. Create a “3-D Winter Mug”!!

(**PHOTO CREDIT OF 3-D WINTER MUGS ABOVE AND BELOW FROM MELANIE LABONTE-POIRER —VIA PINTEREST**)

This will be a new art lesson I’m trying out this year! I don’t have a teacher example of my own or students art to post yet– I’m super excited to try it though, and can’t wait to show my 3rd graders!!!! So fun!

 

 

4th Grade:

Finish “Victorian Houses” 

 

 

Then, create “Wayne Thiebaud inspired Mixed-Media Donuts!”

Donuts Inspired by the amazingly talented Mrs. Cassie Stephens! Thanks Cassie! 

Did I mention the sprinkles are created using three-dimensional puffy paint!?! This is one of my favorite lessons!!

 

 

5th Grade:

5th Graders will finish their “3-D OP Art Cone Drawings” if needed

Then….

Will start “Falling For Foreshortening” drawings!

 

 

 

Special Education will start a fun “Mixed-Media Sheep collage”

(photo above by “blps_art” via Instagram) 

*This will be a new lesson I’m incorporating, and do not have a teacher example or students examples yet– Can’t wait to try it out!!  How adorable are these bubble wrap sheep!! 

 

To view more art lessons by grade level, click on the grade level under the drop down menu! 

Thanks for stopping by!!

 

 

 

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AMAZING ART IN THE WORKS!! Series #1!

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Since ALL my students are currently working on their next lesson– and– it will be a few weeks until I post any new finished artwork, I thought I’d share what kids are all currently working on!! Starting with 5th….

 

5th Grade– 3D OP ART paper cone drawings!  

(The pic above is my teacher example)

5th graders are currently learning about OP Art and looked at artwork by OP artists Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley. They are drawing 3D paper cones using black sharpie, then will learn about the element of art value, and will add white colored pencil for highlights and black colored pencil for shading.

This lesson is going to be a great introduction to creating subtle value changes and will scaffold nicely into their grid drawing lesson later on in the year (see under 5th grade art lessons in the menu to check their AHH-maaazing grid drawings!!!!!)

I’m SOO excited about this lesson, and can’t wait to see their finished masterpieces!

I will be adding a step by step video tutorial on this process when they complete this lesson!  Stay tuned!…

Here’s some pics of my 5th graders working hard on their drawings!

 

 

 

 

 

 

4th Grade– Victorian Architecture! 

(artwork below by my 4th grade students from previous years)

 

 

 

 

Students are currently learning about architecture and the key elements that create Victorian style architecture! Students are also incorporating they’re math skills using rulers to create acute or obtuse angles for their gables, and various geometric shapes for their house! Students will learn about monochromatic color schemes and color in their Victorian homes with colored pencils.

I can’t wait to see all the amazing houses students will create!

To learn more about this lesson and view students Victorian house drawings from previous years- click on the main menu and select 4th grade art lessons and scroll down! 

 

3rd Grade– Self-portraits with personal symbols! 

(artwork below by my 3rd grade students from previous years)

 

 

Students learn about the artist Frida Kahlo, her self-portrait paintings, and what a symbol means. They’ll also learn how to draw facial features and learn blending techniques using oil pastels to create and blend colors together that best match their unique skin tone!

To view students artwork from previous years and learn more about this lesson, click on 3rd grade art lessons under the main menu and scroll down! 

 

2nd Grade– 3D Water Lily inspired by Claude Monet!

 

 

 

(Photos above are of my teacher examples)

Students are currently learning about the artist Claude Monet and Impressionism. Students will learn the term mixed-media and create a 3D flower out of painted paper, felt, tagboard, and tissue paper!

I’m super excited about this new lesson I’m integrating into 2nd grade!!  Kids have begun the painting process for this lesson at Amvet and will create the lily pad next! I can’t wait to see their beautiful results!!

I will be creating a step-by-step video tutorial on this lesson after they finish and will post it on my blog soon! Stay tuned!!….

 

1st Grade– Not So Scary Scarecrow Collage! 

(artwork below is by students from previous years)

 

 

 

Students are learning what a landscape is and looked at landscape paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Grant Wood, and David Hockney for inspiration. Students used a variety of line to create details in their own landscapes and learn what the term collage is when they add their scarecrows!

(To view Not so scary scarecrow collages from previous years and learn more about this lesson, click on 1st Grade art lessons under the menu and scroll down!)

Thank you for visiting my blog!! I’d love to hear any feedback you might have!

Best,

Mollie

 

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DIA de los Muertos skulls –3rd Grade

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Many of my 3rd graders finished up their Day of the Dead skulls this week! They came out great!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a little tricky photographing them being so reflective! 

 

 

 

To create them, I first prepared all the kids sheets with tinfoil. I laid a sheet (shinier side facing down) on the table. Then glued a piece of 8.5″ x 11″ heavyweight tagboard with a glue stick all over with a thin coat of glue. It’s important to not have any globs of glue here so it won’t show on the tinfoil as bumps.

 

Then I flipped the tagboard over -putting the glue side down, and smoothed it all over with my hands. Then I glued the edges of each side of tinfoil. Then folded the edges onto it.

So that all four sides of extra tinfoil are glued and folded onto the tag.

Then flip it over to the tinfoil side.

 

I found 3 different images of skulls online and printed them out so the images were printed lighter (a grey outline rather than black). Students then chose an image and taped it to the tinfoiled tagboard with 1 piece of painters tape along the top.

Students then traced the image, pressing firmly with a dull pencil, to transfer the image.

 

 

Students LOVED this and were amazed when they saw their lines transfer to the tinfoil!

 

 

 

 

 

This tracing step took most of the 40 minute art class. Once finished tracing, students then colored in their image using colored sharpies.

 

 

 

The sharpies take about 20 seconds to dry, so be careful while coloring so you don’t smudge.

 

 

 

Students learned that Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday and festival held from October 31st – November 2nd to remember and honor friends and family members who have died and is celebrated throughout Mexico and by people of Mexican heritage living in the United States.

 

My third graders LOVED this lesson and thought it was a lot of fun!

This lesson also ties in nicely to our NEXT lesson -(studying the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and creating self-portraits with personal symbols inspired by her work using oil pastels! (you can view previous 3rd graders self-portrait artwork under the menu and scroll down!) 

 

Next blog post later Saturday 10/28 on 2nd grade abstract self-portraits! One of my absolute favorite art lessons!!! Click under 2nd grade art lessons under the menu, and scroll down to view last year’s artwork! 

Stay tuned!…

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