In the Art Room - Toucans

I had seen this project done by several schools on Artsonia and loved it!  I always do a parrot project with the third graders and I wanted to do something similar with the Kinders.  I started by drawing one long curved line for the top of the beak on everyone's paper.  I had the kids follow along with me to create the rest of the drawing.  We used oil pastel and paint to finish.

     

 

In the Art Room - Bikes

Art with Mrs. Smith posted a quick and easy bicycle drawing lesson.  You could take this in so many different directions!  I needed something my fourth graders could start and finish in one 45 minute period and this was the perfect solution!

You can find step by step directions on Art with Mrs. Smith.



In the Art Room - Illuminated Letters

Our sixth graders celebrate Medieval Day every Spring.  To help decorate we make illuminated letters in art class.  I've tweaked this lesson from year to year, but I keep the same overall rules.  First, we investigate what an illuminated letter is, who made them, when they made them, and why they made them.  Then I give each child an alphabet written in a Gothic type and they can choose one of their initials for their letter.  Behind their letter, incorporated into their letter, or overlapping their letter they had to add an image reminiscent of the Middle Ages.  Some options were flowers, vines, dragons, knights or swords.  They did a great job:

   

Here are a couple great variations from other art bloggers:

Mrs. Art Teacher used metal for her letters.



Vivid Layers used watercolors to create their letters.

 

In the Art Room - Repousse Masks

I do a lot of drawing and painting in the art room, so anytime the materials for a project do not consist of paper, pencils, and paint, the kids are immediately intriguied!  These repousse tribal masks by my 5th graders turned out great!  We used heavy alluminum for the mask - watch out for those sharp edges!  And we used colored Sharpies to fill in.  Sorry for the bad pictures!





In the Art Room - Pop Art

This is a favorite for my seventh graders!  They are always surprised at how easy it is to draw the cartoon characters.  First we define Pop Art.  Then we look at what images have remained popular over a period of time and what images were only popular to a certain time.  Each kid chooses a cartoon character to paint for their final project.  They bring a print out of their character from home and spend several classes breaking down the shapes and sketching.

  

 

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!