In the Art Room - Three Apples

I spend a lot of time with the Kinders distinguishing between the subject and the background.  This lesson reinforced that as well as introduced them to a still life.  In the coming weeks we will work on another still life, a portrait, and a landscape.

In the Art Room - #3 Squirrels

I've mentioned before that I often give the kids a starting off point - it's never a detailed drawing, but rather a line or geometric shape.  I've done a few projects that begin with a letter or number and then I teach the kids how to turn it into an animal.  The first graders each received a large paper with a #3 already drawn in the center.  Then they followed along with me to turn that 3 into a squirrel! 

In the Art Room - Wax Resist Sea Turtles

The kids love a good wax resist project and so do I!  This project was a great color and pattern review for my third graders. 

In the Art Room - Kinder Scarecrows

Usually around the 3 or 4 week mark, I do my first cut and paste exercise with the Kinders.  It's always surprising how many of them do not know how to effectively use the scissors!  Here's a little project we did today:

In the Art Room - Works in Progress

For our annual art fair, the 4th grades are creating a still life in the style of Roy Lichtenstein.  I love having them compare an elaborate still life from the Renaissance to Lichtenstein's still life.  I really try to impress personal style in art and I think showing them different artist's take on the same thing really helps them to understand this concept.
Here they are in the beginning stages:

In the Art Room - Works in Progress

Here are two projects that my middle school kids are currently working on.  My sixth graders are learning about ancient civilizations in their world cultures class, so in art we begin the year with a look at Ancient Egypt.  I tweak the lesson a little every year and this year, after three weeks of sketching, the kids are designing their own god or goddess in the style of Ancient Egypt.  Here are a few in the beginning stages:

The 8th graders begin the year with a scratch board project.  So far, they have all begun their practice piece, which is the same for everyone - a giraffe.  Looks promising!!!

In the Art Room - Positive and Negative Space

This year I decided to give this project a Halloween theme. My 4th graders loved it!  I need some new Halloween themed projects, so please let me know if you have some good ones!

In the Art Room - First three weeks for the Kinders

This has been a crazy busy start to the school year!  I always start my kinders with an introduction to color.  The first week we do Primary and Secondary colors.  The second week we do warm and cool.  The third week we do neutral. (The snail and the owl are from my kids, but the clown is an example from Artsonia.  I gave all my clowns back without getting pictures first!)