In the Art Room - Dragonflies

Another great spring project - dragonfly drawings!  This was also a review of warm and cool colors for the second graders.  Each student began with an oval on their page for part of the body.  They followed along with my oral directions to draw the rest of the dragonfly.  They came up with their own patterns for the body and wings then colored with crayons.  Chalk pastel was used on the background to finish.

  

 

In the Art Room - Scratchboard

I love the look of scratchboard art but I have had a very difficult time teaching this lesson.  It's gotten better over the years, but there's just so much to remember!  In the end, the kids love their finished projects.  Be prepared - this one takes A LOT of patience!  I give each student a small practice square first.  We all begin with a close up of a giraffe's face.  We look at how the fur grows in different directions at different points on the animal.  We look at how to make lines closer together and farther apart to create light and dark.  We practice using longer, then shorter lines to create the effect of different fur.  Like I said, this is a tough one, but worth it!

  

 

In the Art Room - O'Keefe Flowers

Every spring I do a Georgia O'Keefe project.  I will vary the medium and the technique as I go!  One year, I had the kids draw just part of a very simple flower then blend chalk pastels to finish.  These are probably my favorite version so far!

  

  

How to Draw - Thiebaud Cakes

I use the same simple steps every year to teach the kids how to draw a Wayne Thiebaud inspired cake. 

I've done this project with kids as young as Kindergarten and as old as 5th grade. We've used crayons, colored pencils, paint, oil, and chalk pastels in the past to complete these and they always turn out wonderful!



In the Art Room - Gators

I saw a project on Elementary Art Fun for GIANT alligator paintings.  I loved the idea, but I don't have the space for 30 first graders to spread out and make a giant painting on butcher paper.  So, I altered it slightly and got great results.  First I had the kids sponge blue paint on half of their background paper for the water, then they added white to their blue paint making a tint.  They used the light blue to paint the top half for the sky.  They used spoons to scratch in clouds in the sky.  We had an alligator drawing lesson and I let them use gold and blue paint to add some scale details to their animals.  Last they cut out their gators and glued them on!  This took about two whole class periods to complete.

Here is one from Elementary Art Fun:





In the Art Room - CAKE!

I do a Wayne Thiebaud project every year.  His art is so kid friendly and easy to teach.  I always begin the lesson with the question; why did he paint so many desserts and sweet treats?  The kids come up with endless possibilities.  In the end, I tell them there is always a reason an artist creates.  One year, I taught the fourth graders how to draw a cake with a slice taken out.  They used paint and oil pastels to finish.  The backgrounds are chalk pastels.  This is one of my favorite projects!  Later I'll post the super easy directions for drawing the cake.

  

 

Here's a great variation from the Texas Art Teacher.  I love the collages for first graders!

Photo courtesy of the Texas Art Teacher

In the Art Room - Drippy Monsters

I originally saw this project on Elementary Art Fun.  Once I saw it there, I started seeing it all over the place!  Maya Made and Scrumdilly-do also have fun versions on their blogs. 
I did this with my second grades and they had a blast!  Once we went over the severe consequences of playing with the straws and paint, we settled down and had fun.  I used watered- down tempera in analogous colors for each table.  Then gave very specific instructions on how to use the straw to blow the paint around the paper.  While the paintings dried, I gave each child 4 small squares of colored construction paper.  They had to have eyes and a mouth, but they could use the scraps to add whatever they wanted. 
This was a quick, easy, and fun project that was finished in just one class!



In the Art Room - One more bunny

So, I decided to do one more bunny project.  This time it's more crafty than artsy.  I had my third graders make a bunny envelope.  They love anything crafty, so these were a big hit!  The original idea came from the Martha Stewart website.



In the Art Room - 2 Point Perspective

Once they mastered 1 point perspective, the fifth grades moved on to 2 point perspective.  This year I had them draw a stack of books.  They had a really hard time with this!  In the end they did a great job.

   

Last year's 2 point perspective project was castles.  I think I might like these better than the books!

   

In the Art Room - Kinder Bunnies

Here's the last of my painted bunny projects.  These are from the Kindergartners.  We used all sorts of ovals to make these bunnies.  We also mixed red and white to make pink and tried to create a fur texture by blotting our brushes on the paper rather than using strokes.  They are very cute!