Monday, March 7, 2011
A Really Cool Art Blog!
My friend emailed me about a really cool art blog this week called Pineapple Paintbrush (http://www.pineapplepaintbrush.com/). Check it out when you get a chance! Dani has a lot of really cool ideas and the projects her kids and her students complete are simply stunning.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Have You Seen Google's New Art Project?
This is very cool! Check this out to explore the museums of the world and perhaps gain some inspiration for your next classroom art project!
Google Art Project
Google Art Project
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wooden Easter Eggs - Kindergarten
The students had passed their lessons about shapes with flying colors, so around Easter time I thought it would be a good idea to introduce patterns. They learned about polka dots, stripes, plaid, swirls, and several more. My scrapbooking paper came in handy for examples! The children enjoyed painting designs on their eggs for spring.
Melissa P. recommended an adorable children's book to be told in conjunction with this lesson. It is called "Henri, Egg Artiste," and can be found on Amazon here: Henri, Egg Artiste. The students were so excited to recognize Matisse's "Icarus" painted on to one of the eggs in the story, as well as the Mona Lisa, which we had talked about when we were studying portraits.
INSTRUCTOR:
Shawna K.
GOAL:
To teach the students various patterns such as stripes, polka dots, and plaids; as well as have them painting on a 3-dimensional object instead of flat paper.
SUPPLIES:
Wooden Easter eggs (available at chain craft stores during the Spring), primer, tempera paint, small paint brushes for detail work, paper plates, tacky hold (we used a putty to temporarily adhere the eggs to the paper plates), spray lacquer, and smocks.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Prime the eggs before class and allow drying time. Our challenge with this project was to keep track of whose egg was whose and keep the eggs from falling over while the students were working on them, so we used putty that would normally be used to hang things on the walls and temporarily adhered the eggs to the paper plate. We wrote the children's names on their paper plates.
The students painted their designs on the eggs. Once the eggs were dry, we sprayed them with a lacquer to make them shiny.
TIP:
It is helpful to keep a close on eye the students who have a tendency to use a lot of paint and instruct them to wash their brush in between paint colors. Also, when a student appears to be done, TAKE their egg from them and give them something else to do. When left with a paintbrush and paint, the students will keep painting and keep painting, so a couple of eggs ended up being solid brown because they mixed all of their colors. It was a challenge for some students to not mix colors.
Melissa P. recommended an adorable children's book to be told in conjunction with this lesson. It is called "Henri, Egg Artiste," and can be found on Amazon here: Henri, Egg Artiste. The students were so excited to recognize Matisse's "Icarus" painted on to one of the eggs in the story, as well as the Mona Lisa, which we had talked about when we were studying portraits.
INSTRUCTOR:
Shawna K.
GOAL:
To teach the students various patterns such as stripes, polka dots, and plaids; as well as have them painting on a 3-dimensional object instead of flat paper.
SUPPLIES:
Wooden Easter eggs (available at chain craft stores during the Spring), primer, tempera paint, small paint brushes for detail work, paper plates, tacky hold (we used a putty to temporarily adhere the eggs to the paper plates), spray lacquer, and smocks.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Prime the eggs before class and allow drying time. Our challenge with this project was to keep track of whose egg was whose and keep the eggs from falling over while the students were working on them, so we used putty that would normally be used to hang things on the walls and temporarily adhered the eggs to the paper plate. We wrote the children's names on their paper plates.
The students painted their designs on the eggs. Once the eggs were dry, we sprayed them with a lacquer to make them shiny.
TIP:
It is helpful to keep a close on eye the students who have a tendency to use a lot of paint and instruct them to wash their brush in between paint colors. Also, when a student appears to be done, TAKE their egg from them and give them something else to do. When left with a paintbrush and paint, the students will keep painting and keep painting, so a couple of eggs ended up being solid brown because they mixed all of their colors. It was a challenge for some students to not mix colors.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Sunset Silhouettes - Kindergarten
We did these sunset silhouettes in Kindergarten, though truly they could be done in any grade. The idea for this project came from Mt. Helix Academy.
INSTRUCTOR:
Shawna K.
GOAL:
SUPPLIES:
Watercolor paper, tempera paint in sunset colors and tempera paint in ocean colors, pencils, black Sharpies, sketch pads, and smocks.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Day 1: Because the students were so young and not very adept at using a ruler, I had the students fold their piece of paper about a quarter of the way up width-wise. This separate the ocean from the sky, so the sky would take up 3/4 of the page and the ocean would take up 1/4. Using tempera paint, the students painted the ocean and the sky.
Day 2: Once the orange and blue paint had dried, the students sketched their sailboats on to the sunset, just touching the blue water to make a silhouette. The sketches were colored in with a fine black Sharpie.
INSTRUCTOR:
Shawna K.
GOAL:
This project began with a discussion about landscapes. Showed various landscapes including countrysides, villages, castles, city skylines, and beaches. Explained the word "silhouette." Students used orange and blue tempera paint to create a sunset landscape, with blues and purples for the water and reds, oranges, and yellows for the sunset. The students practiced sketching sailboat and ship silhouettes from pre-designed examples. The following week, the students practiced sketching their boats again, and selected a boat to draw on to their painted sunset. Once drawn, the students colored their boats with black marker to turn them into silhouettes.
SUPPLIES:
Watercolor paper, tempera paint in sunset colors and tempera paint in ocean colors, pencils, black Sharpies, sketch pads, and smocks.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Day 1: Because the students were so young and not very adept at using a ruler, I had the students fold their piece of paper about a quarter of the way up width-wise. This separate the ocean from the sky, so the sky would take up 3/4 of the page and the ocean would take up 1/4. Using tempera paint, the students painted the ocean and the sky.
Day 2: Once the orange and blue paint had dried, the students sketched their sailboats on to the sunset, just touching the blue water to make a silhouette. The sketches were colored in with a fine black Sharpie.
Goldfish Like Matisse - Kindergarten
Whenever possible, I like to physically take the children to the subject they will be drawing or, at the very least, bring the subject to them. For this project, I brought live goldfish in to the classroom for the kids to draw and then later released them into a goldfish pond. The kids were so excited to see live fish in their classroom!
INSTRUCTOR:
Shawna K.
GOAL:
To learn more about Matisse's famous goldfish painting and then make their own reproduction using watercolors and paper cutouts.
SUPPLIES:
You will need: pencils; scissors; orange, green, and brown construction paper; assorted liquid watercolors for the background; blue liquid watercolors for the vases; 12x18 watercolor paper; 9x12 watercolor paper; watercolor paintbrushes; gluesticks; and smocks.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Day 1: The students will select the shape of vase they wish to draw and cut it out of the 9x12 piece of paper. Using light blue watercolors, they will paint the entire vase blue. On the large piece of watercolor paper, they will paint whatever color they want for their background, but preferably something like brown, orange, or gold that will contrast with the blue vase.
The students will also draw small goldfish and cut them out. All of these things will be saved for later.
Day 2: After the watercolor washes have dried, the students will assemble their goldfish masterpieces. They glue the vase to the background, and the fish to the vase. They can then use brown construction paper to make a table or they can use green construction paper to decorate the edges of the vase with seaweed.
INSTRUCTOR:
Shawna K.
GOAL:
To learn more about Matisse's famous goldfish painting and then make their own reproduction using watercolors and paper cutouts.
SUPPLIES:
You will need: pencils; scissors; orange, green, and brown construction paper; assorted liquid watercolors for the background; blue liquid watercolors for the vases; 12x18 watercolor paper; 9x12 watercolor paper; watercolor paintbrushes; gluesticks; and smocks.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Day 1: The students will select the shape of vase they wish to draw and cut it out of the 9x12 piece of paper. Using light blue watercolors, they will paint the entire vase blue. On the large piece of watercolor paper, they will paint whatever color they want for their background, but preferably something like brown, orange, or gold that will contrast with the blue vase.
The students will also draw small goldfish and cut them out. All of these things will be saved for later.
Day 2: After the watercolor washes have dried, the students will assemble their goldfish masterpieces. They glue the vase to the background, and the fish to the vase. They can then use brown construction paper to make a table or they can use green construction paper to decorate the edges of the vase with seaweed.
Colored Shapes Portfolio Covers - Kindergarten
INSTRUCTOR:
Shawna K.
GOAL:
Our art projects get stored throughout the school year in portfolio covers made from posterboard. Typically our first day of the Art Masterpiece Program involves decorating the portfolio covers, which can be a little bit daunting for Kindergarteners. Staring at a large blank piece of paper can be intimidating.
One idea is to outline various intersecting shapes with black Sharpie and color them in.
SUPPLIES:
You will need: Blank posterboard, shape templates, black Sharpie pens, and crayons.
INSTRUCTIONS:
I used shape templates such as plastic bowls and plates in a variety of sizes (turned upside down), heart cookie cutters, rulers, drafting triangles, box tops, etc., for the kids to trace. The children were instructed to have their shapes intersect so they could color them in interesting patterns. They then spent the rest of the art session coloring.
TIPS:
Kindergarteners all work at vastly different paces. Some will agonize over every detail and others will make two scribbles and say they are done. If you do have fast workers, they can also work on the back side of their portfolios.
Shawna K.
GOAL:
Our art projects get stored throughout the school year in portfolio covers made from posterboard. Typically our first day of the Art Masterpiece Program involves decorating the portfolio covers, which can be a little bit daunting for Kindergarteners. Staring at a large blank piece of paper can be intimidating.
One idea is to outline various intersecting shapes with black Sharpie and color them in.
SUPPLIES:
You will need: Blank posterboard, shape templates, black Sharpie pens, and crayons.
INSTRUCTIONS:
I used shape templates such as plastic bowls and plates in a variety of sizes (turned upside down), heart cookie cutters, rulers, drafting triangles, box tops, etc., for the kids to trace. The children were instructed to have their shapes intersect so they could color them in interesting patterns. They then spent the rest of the art session coloring.
TIPS:
Kindergarteners all work at vastly different paces. Some will agonize over every detail and others will make two scribbles and say they are done. If you do have fast workers, they can also work on the back side of their portfolios.
Paper Cut-Outs Like Matisse - Kindergarten
INSTRUCTOR:
Gina T.
GOAL:
Each grade level is assigned one artist to study throughout the Art Masterpiece Program for the year. While not all of the projects need to be centered around that particular artist, the students should still know some facts about their artist and be able to recognize some of his or her more famous works. The Kindergarteners study Henri Matisse, and therefore spend quite a bit of time with paper cut-outs and collages.
After learning about some of Matisse's more famous works with paper, the students make their own paper cut-outs.
SUPPLIES:
You will need: a 12x24 background paper (construction or drawing), construction paper in lots of different colors, pencils, shape templates (optional), glue sticks, and scissors.
INSTRUCTIONS:
The students can use shape templates to trace different shapes on to the colored construction paper. Some teachers may opt to have the students draw the shapes free-hand, but if your students are timid, they may prefer something to trace. I simply used plastic plates, foam hearts, drafting triangles, small box tops, and rulers for a variety of shapes. Once the shapes are traced, they can be cut out and glued to the background sheet of paper.
TIPS:
This lesson goes quickly for most kindergarteners, so it is best to pair it with a lengthier lesson or story about Matisse.
Gina T.
GOAL:
Each grade level is assigned one artist to study throughout the Art Masterpiece Program for the year. While not all of the projects need to be centered around that particular artist, the students should still know some facts about their artist and be able to recognize some of his or her more famous works. The Kindergarteners study Henri Matisse, and therefore spend quite a bit of time with paper cut-outs and collages.
After learning about some of Matisse's more famous works with paper, the students make their own paper cut-outs.
SUPPLIES:
You will need: a 12x24 background paper (construction or drawing), construction paper in lots of different colors, pencils, shape templates (optional), glue sticks, and scissors.
INSTRUCTIONS:
The students can use shape templates to trace different shapes on to the colored construction paper. Some teachers may opt to have the students draw the shapes free-hand, but if your students are timid, they may prefer something to trace. I simply used plastic plates, foam hearts, drafting triangles, small box tops, and rulers for a variety of shapes. Once the shapes are traced, they can be cut out and glued to the background sheet of paper.
TIPS:
This lesson goes quickly for most kindergarteners, so it is best to pair it with a lengthier lesson or story about Matisse.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)