Using mixedmedia to convey a message

The junior high group took on a different kind of a project in November. I had them create a 3D collage. They first created their own background papers using colored pencils. My direction was that they needed four different sizes of paper one to include a shape. 

They were assigned to one of three groups of the traits that they are currently using this year at school. The traits were compassion respect and responsibility. We used pages of quotes from the program for them to be able to select something to put on their largest piece of paper. 

When they were done with the text and designs, they affixed it to the blue background so that it had a 3-D appearance. Lastly we frame them and put them on the wall in the lobby.

Learning pastels

When I told the kids we were going to begin our drawing with crayons they were not too pleased with me. I drew along with them and drew this rooster. Once they had all of the elements of the rooster drawn then we took out the pastels and began to add color. I worked with them on different ways to spread the color and blend it. We have not previously used oil pastels and the color is fabulous. The roosters were done by the third grade class.

The fourth and fifth grade class were told that they could draw what they wanted to draw for this project and then experiment with using the oil pastels. Subjects ranged from a picture of themselves to penguins and tanks. A couple of them added lots of stars or other design elements. We used both oil and alcohol to promote blending of the pastels. The still think that the alcohol works better for blending.

Paper sculpture projects let students learn new skills

Combining paper and sculpture is a favorite of mine and some of the projects are ones that I have done before so know what will generally work but there are always surprises.

 I assume that kindergartners know what a tree looks like but judging from the pictures they made, the view from their height may influence their ideas. We used long paper strips from the shredder, colored paper shred, and colored paper punch to let them create a fall tree. I had an example and even drew one on the board but they do their own thing. Every tree has a trunk and branches but wow what a variety!

The 1st and 2nd graders did twisted paper bag trees. This one takes some measuring skill, cutting practice and mastering twisting 2 paper strands together before they get to the "fun" part of putting the leaves on the trees. The 1st grade ones are on display in the school lobby.






 The 2nd grade got really excited to find white tissue in the bag I brought and created many trees with snow on their fall leaves. 

The 3rd grade 3-D fish did not get photographed and made a rapid trip home. 

I tried out a challenging project on the 4th-5th class to replicate a sculpture of the type by Louise Nevelson, noted 20th century artist who used found objects in her sculptures. They had to measure the sides and draw lines to create their own boxes. This seems to create no small amount of confusion on what is 1/2" on the ruler. Everyone got a box done then created an item to fit inside the box that was personal for them. I showed my bicycle example and her found examples. After each student completed his 2" piece they were all mounted on a large piece of tag board and the resulting sculpture is on display in the school lobby. 
  

Learning calligraphy and Eid Mubarak

As part of the plan this year during Islamic art month grades 2nd - 8th practiced on creating calligraphy. We started with just simple lines and the direction of the pen but tracing a design gave us the best results. Most of the kids had never used the 2 dimensional pens so it was a bit hard for some. We will keep working on this skill every month until the pens totally give out. The 1st and Kindergarten used a wax resist then painted their letters in. They were excited to making a special message. 

Our last  project was to make sheep for the party on the last day of school. The 3rd grade shows off the design. 

Creating pictures of mosques

 The 4th-5th grade classes used an example of a multi-turreted mosque and drew their own then incorporated a variety of lines and other designs into each section. 

Lastly they used their choice of markers or colored pencils to complete the designs. 

The Kindergarten and 1st grade painted their pictures using metallic tempera and created a pretty great set of pictures too. 

Doing the basics in September

September is a good time to hit some of the basics and see how well and comfortably the students draw. I also get to assess how well they work with basic supplies like glue and scissors at all grade levels.  Most of the grades did a name based project and  projects using types of lines to create designs. The 3rd grade spirals were a lot of fun and quite popular.  The  kindergarten names went well with the paper plate faces and hand prints from the week before. Lots of the artwork made it onto the walls in the hall or the classrooms. 

We also did projects identifying textures and shaping them which is very popular. students brought items from home to add to my offerings to have a "touch table" then used the items to create the designs. The picture at left is from the 2nd grade class.






The 4-5 grade did an interpretive mixed media picture using yarns, tissue and drawing based on the story of Moby Dick. Great depictions of whales with its blow hole and other detail of a wily whale that had survived many hunts. One of the students added the boat and little speech bubbles. 

Our lines and curves drawing day turned out so much better than the examples I brought. 2nd grade did scarecrow complete with crows and  the 3rd grade is abstract blocks. 




This year our 6-8th grade students are all participating in art instead of signing up for an optional group after school  I had them draw the Spanish buildings then paint them in watercolors. Watercolors are a bit of a challenge to get just the right amount of wet into everything but by the end they did a great job and some went on to do a 2nd picture. 

Art mini-camp photo slideshows

Art Mini- camp slideshow Summer is in full swing and camp has kids busy painting and using clay and other art mediums. Thought that it would be simpler to share the weblink as we post each day's pictures over the 8 weeks of camp in June and July.