Showing posts with label art lessons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art lessons. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

DIY: Folk Art Fish UPDATE!

My sweet second graders had to push the pause button on this project last week to tend to painting and bedazzling their exotic birds. But now that those are done, we were able to bring back our Sandra Silberzweig-inspired folk art fish and work on them a bit more today. Almost all of the kids finished them off in 30 minutes (which is pretty awesome, considering these are 12" X 18"!) and they were so thrilled with themselves...as was I!
You can check out (and feel free to use!) the complete lesson right here: 
My students did this project in three 30 minute classes. On the first day, we chatted about Sandra, her work and the use of line and black glue. We drew our fish and went over our lines in glue. If you go to this post, I share how I make black glue. 
 The following art class, we began working with the chalk. This project is perfect for my second graders as they are about to embark on their chalked ceiling tile project super soon. You can check out what my second graders have chalked in the past both here and here. I'm not sure what they'll be chalking this year...but I need to figure it out soon! I'll be sure to share with you right here. 
The key to working with chalk is getting the kids the right stuff. So much chalk is filler and junk. The end result is usually very light in color. I love Koss Brand Chalk, even it if is hard to find. We purchase ours through Amazon. I love the subtle colors in this artist's work. 
 Compared to how bold and vibrant this one is!
 I seal all of our chalked projects with Aqua Net. I have noticed that the nozzle on the 'Net has changed and it now does not come out in a nice stream but speckled. However, if you hold the can far enough away from the work and spray, it's fine...and the speckles (mostly) disappear. It's much cheaper than fixatives.
This is usually how I lay them out to spray. Take 'em off the drying rack, spread 'em out and spray away!
They are going to look stunning at our art show!
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Monday, April 3, 2017

Art Scouts 2017 UPDATE!

Big News: Registration for Art Scouts 2017 is now open! And we are filling up fast. Want to learn more about this summer's Scouts? Here you go...
Are you excited yet? I can tell you that Ginger, Laura, Jennifer and I are super stoked. We can't hardly wait to head to Montgomery Bell State Park, roll up our sleeves and introduce you to brand new projects that are all about making big messes with little people. We are offering two options for Art Scouts this summer:
Here is a look at what our schedule of events looks like:
We're going to introduce you to so many projects, you'll be able to kick off your school year with plenty of clay (for no kiln and kiln friends), fibers, collage and painting projects. Not to mention, you'll meet so many new art teacherin' types that will become fast friends. It really is a summer camp experience...but for art teachers!
Last summer we hosted our first ever Art Scouts in Ohio, home to Laura and Ginger. You can check out that experience right here. Just a matter of weeks after that, Jen and I had folks join us in Nashville, Tennessee. It truly was the highlight of our summer (maybe even our year!) to spend time with so many fun, dedicated and creative art teacherin' types. We are looking forward to an even bigger and better experience this summer!
So looking forward to meeting friends, new and old, and spending time sharing our passion: Art Teacherin'. Get yourself over here and register to join Art Scouts 2017
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Thursday, February 2, 2017

In the Art Room: Heart Sculpture UPDATE!

Hey, y'all! I'm poppin' in to share with you an update on a clay project I posted here not too long ago. I did this lesson with my second grade students in 3 thirty minute art classes and it was a huge hit. I decided to not have my kids create the wings because I was fearful that they would break. I was inspired (as usual) by my good buddy Laura Lohmann to create the popsicle stick hangers. Here is the video'ed lesson:
List of supplies:

* One sheet of thin aluminum foil per student.
* One large bag of Celluclay per 60-80 students. I mixed up about an orange-sized piece of clay per kiddo.
* 10 large popsicle sticks per frame. I laid them out and hot glued two horizontal sticks across the back to act as braces.
* Paint in a variety of colors.
* Twisteez wire.
* Beads....LOTS of beads!
Day 1: We began by talking about sculpture and getting a sheet of aluminum foil. Together, we slowly sculpted our foil into a heart shape. I really used my peer tutoring to friends help others who needed it. We went to our seats and added the clay to our hearts. We worked fast and furious to get it all done in 30! 
Day 2: I put the hearts in front of a fan overnight. The next day, the kids painted their hearts and their "fences" using two different colors.
 Day 3: I took my drill to school and quickly drilled two holes in the top of the "fence" frame. The kids looked at Jim Dine's hearts and painted theirs with small brushes and Q-tips. I gave very little instruction, I wanted to see what they'd create. 
 So pretty, right?! That took no time at all. Then the kids added the wire to their frames. They did this by putting the wire in one hole, twisting it like a twist tie and then loading up with beads. I have a TON of beads and I was glad to have the kids use them up. They thought that was pretty much the best thing ever. Then they twisted the other end of the wire and BOOM! Masterpiece complete. 
 Not gonna lie: this project was labor-intensive on my part. I had to glue those frames, drill the holes and then hot glue the hearts to the frames when complete. I had a helper student slap ModPodge on the hearts so the paint wouldn't chip. I really love how they turned out and the kids had so much fun. The work was worth it. I am hanging them in the hallway tomorrow!
The kids are so excited to share these with their moms and dads! I heard many conversations on color choices based on mom's favorite color. So sweet. 
In fact, this young artist redid his entire bead pattern once he found the "perfect purple for my mom"! 
IN OTHER NEWS! You can find my interview with the lovely Heidi Easley of Texas Art and Soul here! It's free, fun and fabulous. So many awesome artsy folks interviewed. Y'all go and check it out and please tell me I don't sound like a crazy person ;)
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Wednesday, December 7, 2016

In the Art Room: Fourth Grade Faux Stained Glass

Hey, y'all! Today I saw a couple of fourth grade classes for their second day working on their Faux Stained Glass Winter Scene project. I was so impressed with their beautiful work that I thought I would share and let you take a peak at how these 12" X 18" beauties are turning out. In case you missed the demo video, here it is:
On our first day, we sketched out our ideas, enlarged our favorite onto our 12" X 18" piece of paper and drew the lines in either black glue or puffy paint. I decided to change the size of the artwork to better accommodate frames. I have had parents tell me that when we do odd shaped artwork, it is difficult for them to frame. I really love the idea of them framing their child's work so of course I'm going to make some changes to have that happen!
Today we watched the second half of the video and dove right into chalkin' it up. I stressed the following: no more than three colors per shape; colors had to be analogous; keep your fingers clean by washing and drying regularly. 
 About 1/3 of the kids finished today, some used glue today (because they were absent last time) and others are still in the middle of creating. Yay! That should be real fun to coordinate all those finishers/almost finishers/no where near finisheders. Such is art teacherin' life. I plan to provide some open ended projects for those wrapping things up as that will be our last class before break. 
 This project was inspired by the success of this third grade project!
One of the half dozen freshly-glued designs from today. We dry these on our messy mats on the floor. I found that placing them on the tilted drying racks causes the glue to run.
The partially finished pieces really stole my heart. These kids were serious about taking their time and doing their best. I love this Hershey Kiss tree!
 This one is really so stained-glass-esque.
 This artist got a big warm hug from me. So stunning!
And this artist, ah! I was so concerned when I saw his glued design as I thought, that is gonna take him forever! I was worried that he wouldn't have the patience to fill it in the best he could but he really is rockin' it!
And this one says Paul Klee to me! 

Please feel free to give this project a go in your art room! I'd love to see the results if you do.

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Tuesday, November 15, 2016

In the Art Room: Super Hero Selfies in Second Grade

Here they come to save the day! Second grade selfies are on their way, y'all. I've been sharing with you the self portrait projects my students have been creating for their Artome art show. So far, you've seen my Royal First Grade, the third graders' abstract self portraits inspired by Sandra Silbertzweig and the fourth graders Romero Britto-inspired selfies. For second grade, I decided to do a take on this fourth grade lesson from last year. The kids LOVED creating these super hero versions of themselves so I just had to share this lesson. Here is a video of my fourth grade's lesson:
Like I said, I did alter this lesson quite a bit to fit the needs of my wee second graders. Lemme tell you how we made them.
I see my second graders for 30 minutes, twice a week. So this here lesson is broken down into bite sized bits. 

On day one we: chatted about Vincent van Gogh and Starry Night. We spoke about creating movement and texture in our sky with line, shape and color. Using florescent oil pastel (my favorites are these), we created an evening sky. The following art class, we used watercolor in a cool cool palette to paint our skies. 
The following class, we chatted about cityscapes and silhouettes. I found that there are plenty of images of city silhouettes online if you just do a quick google search. I printed off several and placed them on tables as idea sheets. We used watered down black tempera paint and small brushes to create our cityscape. Larger brushes were used to fill in the silhouette. I watered the paint down a pinch as I find that it makes the paint have more viscosity. 
 
By the way, as y'all know, we ALWAYS have those early finishers. For my early friends, I had a wide variety of super hero idea sheets available. I tasked the kids to start sketching ideas for their superhero selfie if they happened to finish early.
 After the silhouettes were painted, I cut up a TON of Post-It notes into tiny pieces for the kids to use as windows. I thought they were a great color for windows. The kids glued those onto their buildings and resumed their super hero sketches.
By the third week, the kids had completed their oil pastel sky, watercolor painting, silhouette city making and window collage. We were ready for the best part: our super heroes! Since the kids had been practice sketching for a couple of days, they were feeling really confident about diving into this final phase of their masterpiece.
 To insure that their heroes would be a good size, I asked that the kids trace a circle for their heads. From there, we chatted about using shapes to create out bodies: rectangles for the torso and shapes for the arms and legs. 
We also talked about masks, capes and symbols. When the kids were finished with their super hero, they traced them in Sharpie. Before coloring, we chatted about finding our skin tone. We also talked about limiting our color palette to three colors for our super hero costume. Checking out Superman, Spiderman and Ironman really helped them understand the idea of a limited palette. 
Once complete, the super heroes were cut out VERY CAREFULLY before being glued into the cityscape masterpiece. The kids were so thrilled with their hard work... cannot wait to see them in a frame at our art show! I'll let you know how they look and how the art show goes. Until then!

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Thursday, October 27, 2016

In the Art Room: Sandra Silberzweig Selfies with Third Grade

I'm doing something new this winter: an art show with Artome. If you aren't familiar, it's an organization that will frame student art work and completely transform you school into an art museum for parents to enjoy and purchase the framed works of art. I'm having each of my kindergarten through fourth graders create self-portraits as I kinda think that is something all parents would want to keep forever. If you follow me here, you've seen a little of our progress. I'll be creating a video'ed lesson for each of these self portrait units. And if you wanna stay up to date on those, you can subscribe here
For third grade, I decided to introduce them to the artist Sandra Silberzweig and her fantastically colorful works of art. I love them so! The kids have loved the process of creating their abstract selfies so far. 
Here's the video'ed lesson. Feel free to use it in your art teacherin'/makerin' setting.
 So far, we've done the glue portion. Someone recently suggested that mixing India ink with white glue works better. I also had black puffy paint on hand for the kids who created very fine details. The difference between the puff and glue is that the puffy paint dries with a high gloss finish and is, of course, more puffy. It also is harder to use as it doesn't come out of the bottles as easily. We had to take "hand breaks" to give our wee hand muscles a rest.
By the way, the chalk I am using in the video is a brand called KOSS. I have found it on Amazon...and it truly is the best and brightest chalk I have found to use. It isn't cheap...but we've used it for years. It is the same chalk we used to create our ceiling tiles!
When I share this video with my students, it will be divided up into two parts: one day drawing and gluing, the next chalking. I'm excited to throw color theory into this lesson.
I plan to have several of these printed (and laminated!) for the kids to use at their seats as they explore analogous colors. 
I'll be certain to keep y'all updated on their colorful progress...and stay tuned for more selfie lessons and videos to come!
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