3rd grade Andy Warhol oil pastel cupcakes

 3rd grade Andy Warhol cupcakes 

I started off the lesson with a brief introduction to pop art and the art of Andy Warhol especially noting his cupcake art. 

As a class I taught them how to draw a basic cupcake on a 6" x 4 1/2" piece of paper. They cut their cupcake out and then traced it on a 12" x 9" piece of multi media paper (after they folded it into fours). 

Students colored each cupcake a different flavor using oil pastels. The last step was to outline them with a black oil pastel and paint each box with watercolors. I love how they turned out! 

2nd grade Claude Monet watercolor resist

 2nd Grade Monet watercolor lilies with bridge

I showed the video  about the life of Claude Monet on YouTube. The one I used was "Claude Monet for Kids, Art History for Kids".  We discussed his life and I shared with the students various photos of his Japanese bridge with waterlily paintings. 

                                                          The Water Lily Pond, 1899 by Claude Monet

Students drew a bridge in the middle of their 9" x 12" multi media paper and lily pads with various shades of green pastels.  Quickly they covered their paper with water and brushed blue and purple liquid watercolors all over it. My 2nd graders then sprinkled salt all over their painting before it dried. The salt will soak up some of the paint and leave flakes of water glistening through the water like light. 

The last step was to glue squares of tissue paper on the lily pads. 

4th grade Gelli printing

 

4th Grade Gelli print flowers 

My fourth graders had so much fun creating these gelli print flowers. Actually their favorite part was making the prints. I'm a multi media artist and I use my gelli plate all the time to create various colored and printed papers for my art. I use acrylic paint and with my first class of fourth graders that is what I used. Clean up was not easy for these kiddos so for my next three fourth grade classes we used tempera paint. The results were fine and my sanity was saved!  

Students could use rice paper, copier paper or pages from an old dictionary that I had torn out for them. 

Each table was designated with a certain color so students had to rotate to the color they wanted. 

On day two, students made their background with blue, white and purple. They could roll the paint with a  brayer or use a paint brush. Most everyone used the brayers and some even splattered paint onto their art. Students also had time to create a couple more prints using greens for the stems and leaves to use for their flower collage

For the next couple of classes, students created their flowers. We used fine tip bottles filled with tempera paint for them to add various lines around their flowers. They loved using them!

This lesson took four, fifty minute class periods. 

Native American Plaster Mask art lesson

 5th Grade Art Lesson 

Plaster Masks

My 5th graders viewed Cherokee artists Allen Long, Billy Welch and John Henry's masks. We discussed the many materials used and the design elements of the art. Students then sketched out ideas. This took one 50 minute class period. 

 On day two of the lesson students built their mask. We used plastic face molds, water and plaster strips (Plasti-r-craft brand). For around 80 students we used approximately 3/4 of the box. They had to apply at least three layers. We covered the tables with their paint mats and I had paper towels at each table so they could wipe their hands quickly.  Each time they reached into the bin with the strips they had to wipe their hands so they didn't get the dry ones wet. They did great!  Before class, I cut all the strips on the paper cutter. Yes it was messy! Most of the students enjoyed this part. It was new and exciting! Students could add a plaster strip rim around their mask to have something to glue feathers on or other embellishments later. 

The masks took a couple days to dry. Since my students come once a week this was perfect. 

On day three of the lesson students painted their masks. On my demonstration mask I used tempera paint but it flaked off. So, I had my students use acrylic paint which worked out great. Just warn your students that it is hard to get off your clothes and to wear an apron. 

I purchased these little fine tip bottles so students could draw with the paint. They loved them! They just took me a while to fill up! 

On day 4, students added feathers, shells, beads and yarn. I bought low temperature glue guns and I monitored those who were confident in using them. I also had Elmer's All Purpose Glue All that worked fine as well. They had so much fun and they turned out great! I couldn't have done this project without the generous grant I received from the Education Foundation of Caldwell County. Thank you!