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About Marcia Beckett

Marcia is an elementary art teacher and loves painting, drawing, sculpture, art journaling and clay. Her blog, Art is Basic, features many exciting art projects for kids.

Carving Rubber Stamps with 5th and 6th Graders

Before I left for my maternity/medical leave, my 5th and 6th graders were carving rubber stamps.  They were turning out so well and I can’t wait to see all of the finished projects. Here are some of our stamps from previous years.  We looked at African Adinkra symbol stamps and the students created their own personal symbols. We print our stamps by applying acrylic paints with a foam brush.  A light touch is best. Students can also test their stamps … Read more…

Adventures in Shapes, Shading, Texture and Lines

First of all, thanks for being a loyal blog reader (or) welcome, if you are new!  I have a personal update to share with you… I went on medical leave this week and Monday was my last day of work for the time being.  My pregnancy is complicated and I could not work anymore.  The baby is healthy, but physically I need to lay down as much as possible and it is really hard to sit or stand without a … Read more…

Penguin Collage Paintings with Kindergarteners

Penguin Collage Paintings with Kindergarteners

Thank you, Patty Palmer, for this fun penguin collage project idea! We used paint dotters to paint the backgrounds instead of paintbrushes (and I also didn’t get out all the extra collage supplies because so much of our stuff is in storage right now), but otherwise, you can see the steps on Patty’s website.

Fruit and Flowers, Mice and Me!

Fruit and Flowers: I colored in the sketch that I showed you here.  I mostly used colored pencils, watercolor pencils and watercolor paints. A Mouse: My 5th/6th graders are painting animals and my go-to demo is always a mouse or hamster.  I love cute rodents.  The kids are always astounded when I show them how to make furry texture with a fan brush!  So fun.  Do you have go-to images you use when demonstrating techniques? Me: Here I am at … Read more…

Concentric Patterned Hearts: 2nd Grade

Concentric Patterned Hearts:  2nd Grade

Concentric means that the shapes share the same center and are placed inside one another. Patterns are arrangements of repeated parts Creating concentric patterned hearts are a great way to explore creativity, pattern making, size and shape.  We made these in 2nd grade around Valentine’s Day, but this would also be a nice idea for a Mother’s Day card or picture.  The children could write or draw about their moms in the spaces around the hearts.

Artsy Book Club

Artsy Book Club

  Did you join the Artsy Book Club on Facebook?  It was started by Cassie Stephens.  You should come join us!  We are starting to work through the book One Drawing A Day: A 6-Week Course Exploring Creativity with Illustration and Mixed Media. The first assignment was a pen drawing of a still life set up of stuff you find around you. Drawing immediately with pen is harder than it seems.  I was so worried about drawing a line wrong … Read more…

Paper Mache Masks — 3rd & 4th Grade

Paper Mache Masks — 3rd & 4th Grade

These paper mache masks by the 3rd/4th grade received lots of compliments when they were hanging in the hallway. The class was studying Native American history in their Social Studies and we looked at some Pacific Northwest Coast masks and we discussed the functions of masks in general throughout the world. We started with a mask form (made of paper mache) that I ordered in a class pack from Nasco.  From this starting point, the students built up and embellished … Read more…