4th Grade patterned Leaves

 4th Grade Patterned Leaves

4th graders learned how important it was to consider both positive and negative spaces in art. We viewed the art of Georgia O'Keeffe, especially studying her leave paintings. Students made a large leaf of their choice on a 6" x 4 1/2" piece of scrap paper for their pattern. They cut the pattern out and then traced it four times on their divided 12" x 9" piece of multi-media paper. 

The next step was to add patterns on the positive and negative spaces with oil pastels. Lastly, they painted over them with liquid watercolors. They are perfect for a Fall lesson! Thanks to Art With Trista's blog for the idea! 

5th grade one point perspective art lesson

 5th Grade One Point Perspective Art Lesson 

I'm so proud of how well my 5th graders did on this project. I started off the lesson by introducing one point perspective and showing them examples such as Leonardo da Vinci's last supper. It's a perfect example of how he uses Christ's head as the vanishing point. Thanks to "Open Art Blog" for the great example below. 

Students were instructed on how to draw the horizon line, vanishing point and the orthogonal lines. Don't forget to stress how important it is to draw light!!! The next steps were to draw the road, sidewalk, trees and buildings. Some of the students struggled in the beginning but with help they grasped the concept. 

Once their drawings were complete they traced them with  black permanent markers, colored them with crayons and then added watercolors. 

Aboriginal dot 4th grade art lesson

 Aboriginal dot art 4th grade art lesson 

Student example (Millie's)

A while back I was blessed to go to Australia. I bought a beautiful Aboriginal painting and decided to teach about the art to my students. 

This is the painting I bought. Don't you love the colors?! 

On the first day of art class we discussed some facts about Australia and I showed them some photos of my trip (especially the one of me feeding the kangaroos!). I provided students with  a handout I found on line on some silhouettes of Australian animals  (sorry I can't remember where) and they drew their animal on a piece of 6" x 4 1/2" piece of construction paper of their choice. If they didn't want to draw an Australian animal they could do their favorite animal. The next step was to glue it on the middle of a 12" x 9" black construction paper. 

 

My 4th graders took a piece of white chalk and drew lines around their animal or they made paths of some kind radiating from it.  Students then took fine point paint bottles and squeezed dots on the paths they made. I'm not sure what would have been faster this method or the method of dipping an instrument like the end of a paint brush into paint and making dots that way. My students love using these bottles. This lesson took three class periods. I love the results! 

1st grade Clay hearts

 1st Grade Clay hearts 

This lesson is great for Mother's Day, Valentine's Day or Christmas.

 Each student was provided with a ball of clay which they rolled into a slab. I provided handouts of hearts which they then traced around with a clay sculpture tool.

Students could add textures with various tools provided such as paint combs and textured rolling pins. The last step was to carve out a hole for a string. 

These only took a few days to dry so the following week students painted their hearts. I don't have a kiln so students used Crayola air dry clay. Acrylic paint works the best for providing bright colors but it is risky with this age group. I did have some students use tempera paint but the results were dull even after I sprayed them with acrylic gloss spray. If you can, try to use the acrylic paint. I do have aprons for all the students. 

After they were dry I sprayed them outside with gloss spray. With donations of bubble wrap from parents I wrapped all of them, added a string and sent them home. Hopefully they all made it without breaking! My students were so proud of them! 

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!