Sailboat Reflections

Kindergarten and first graders made these adorable sailboat paintings using liquid tempera paints. Students were given a 12x18 sheet of paper that was folded in half "hot dog" style. I demonstrated how to draw a simple sailboat and stressed the importance of making sure the bottom of the boat did not go too far past the fold line (otherwise the paint would transfer onto the sails once folded). Students then used a light blue tempera paint for the sky and a teal for the water. Once dry, students painted details on the sails and added black for the pole and bottom of their boats. Next, students folded the paper along the original fold line and rubbed on the back so that the wet paint would transfer onto the bottom half of the page creating a reflection in the water! This technique creates a very fuzzy, impressionistic look!

Klee Castles

These drawings were inspired by Paul Klee's Castle and Sun. Students used a ruler to create several large rectangles and squares for buildings on black paper. Students then used their rulers to make diagonal, horizontal and vertical lines inside of each building creating a variety of shapes. A sun or moon was added to the sky. Students then traced all pencil lines with white colored pencil and colored each shape a different, bright color.

Paper Weaving

Second and third grade students created these paper weavings using recycled painted paper strips and fuzzy wire. We first made a simple loom from a 9x12 sheet of colored construction paper then wove the painted strips "over and under" until the loom was full. Next we wove more painted strips and wire in the opposite direction and cut fringe on the edges.

Monet's Waterlilies

These mixed media works were made by kindergarten and first grade students using crayon, watercolor and construction paper. We drew our inspiration from Monet's Waterlily masterpieces. Students first drew lily pads with green crayon then drew wavy and spiral lines with white crayon. Next, we painted with green, blue, teal and purple watercolor paint for the water. The white lines showed up like magic through the watercolor paint (simple resist technique)! Lastly we used construction paper to make the flowers. So pretty!

Calder Wire Fish

This lesson was inspired by the artist Alexander Calder. Students used an assortment of twist wire, pipe cleaners, beads and sequins to complete their sculptures. They have lots of personality!!!

Starry Night Quilling

This is a lesson for fourth and fifth graders inspired by Van Gogh's Starry Night. Students were instructed to draw a large tree similar to Van Gogh's and several small buildings and color with colored pencil. For the sky we used a basic quilling technique in various shades of blue for the swirls/wind and yellow for the moon and stars.

Another Jasper Johns!

This is one of my all time favorite lessons. The results are always so colorful and dramatic! For this lesson, I made a simple line drawing of the United States map for students to trace. Once their map was drawn students then traced over the pencil lines with a black sharpie and erased any stray marks. Next, we used white crayon to trace just inside of each state's shape(this created a kind of reverse shadow once painted with watercolor). The students were instructed to choose either two warm colors or two cool colors to paint the area around the map and then a variety of colors inside of the map.