I have something to share with you that I’ve been working on for a long time. Well, a couple of months. It takes forever for me to accomplish anything lately (I have a clingy toddler who doesn’t like to sleep) so I work in short spurts whenever I get a chance. Many of you probably know of Ian and Melissa from Apex High School. They have developed a list of Artistic Behaviors for the high school level. I have been … Read more…
If you are looking for something to add a new dimension to regular painting, sand painting just might be the ticket! The tactile experience is something exciting for children. I recently taught a unit on painting with sand to my third and fourth grade class. You may remember my “how-to” blog post about this technique. If you are wondering how we did our sand paintings, check out that post for all the details. For a more advanced technique using adhesive … Read more…
My third grade students recently made these fun Artist Trading Cards (or ATCs for short.) They are sized at 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ and they were made using a fun technique on coffee filters. To make these cards, you will need Artist Trading Card blanks Sharpie permanent markers Crayola markers Coffee filters Spray bottle with water Scissors and glue Steps: 1. Doodle lines and shapes on a coffee filter with Sharpie permanent markers. 2. Color in the background spaces … Read more…
My students had a blast drawing Manga faces again this year. I tried this lesson previously with great enthusiasm and results. I printed off lots of handouts I found online of cartoon faces, eyes, noses, mouths, hairstyles and accessories. The kids used these sheets plus books to put together their Manga portrait. I encouraged the students to include background patterns or accessories (such as a basketball) or a pet (like the dog) to tell a little about the character they … Read more…
I have several art lessons that I did not post about yet from this past school year, so look forward to a few more art project ideas this summer. This lesson is fairly simple to prepare for and teach. “Notan” is the term used by the Japanese to mean “light/dark” space. We can also learn about positive/negative space through Notan designs. My third graders studied Asia this year in their Social Studies class, so this was a nice tie-in. To … Read more…
My third graders ended the school year learning a little about the symbolism of the sun in Mexican pottery. The sun has been used as a symbol of the life-giving energy and of good luck. Cassie Stephens has a very good Prezi here about Metepec, Mexico. To make these colorful, sunny pictures we started by tracing a circle shape for the face of the sun. Then we designed our faces with unique facial expressions, rays and other designs. We talked … Read more…
I love non-objective art. Non-objective art means that the art does not represent or depict person, objects or places. It is a picture with lines, colors and shapes as the subject. I teach this drawing project every year and the results are always beautiful. The children learn about concepts such as types of line, organic and geometric shapes, shading, values, variety of sizes, variety in general, overlapping, texture (from rubbing plates) and how to categorize non-objective, abstract and realistic art. … Read more…
