Winter Birch Trees

Students in grades 1-3 made these birch trees just in time for winter! We began by making the trees out of masking tape. Students then painted the entire paper blue and peeled the tape away to reveal the white birch trees underneath. Next, students stamped black lines on the trees and made birds from left over watercolor paintings. A simple project that has a great cool and wintery feel!

Klimt Scratchboards

International Academy students created these whimsical scratchboards in the style of Gustav Klimt. We began by looking at several artworks by Klimt including The Kiss, taking note of the realistic figures and the abstracted, ornate clothing and backgrounds. Students created scratchboards by coloring a piece of tagboard completely with oil pastels. We colored using stripes and the more color the better! We then painted over the pastel with a thin and even layer of black acrylic paint. Once this is dry, you can use a pin to scratch away and reveal the beautiful color underneath. We used a full figure image from a magazine and placed it on the scratchboard. After tracing the figure, we glued the skin to the board and cut the clothing away. Students then drew patterned clothing and backgrounds that showed a great amount of detail. This is a really fun project to do and yields fabulous results!

Chinese Dragons

International Academy students are focusing their study on the culture of China this semester. We learned about the various types of dragons drawn in Asian culture and those specifically in China. Students created their own dragon and incorporated many different line patterns within the dragon's body. These were then transferred onto a larger paper four times in a symmetrical way. We colored the dragons with marker and used a watercolor wash to fill in the background. These are especially great because our school mascot is a dragon!

Owl Moon

These watercolor paintings were based on the story Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. In the story, a girl and her father go owling on a moonlit winter night near the farm where they live. Owl Moon won a Caldecott Award in 1988 and features amazing artwork that adds depth to this special night time journey.

PreKinder and Kinder students began by creating a moving sky in the style of Van Gogh's Starry Night. We made bold, swirling lines to create a sense of cold wind blowing. We then painted over these lines with a watered down blue watercolor paint. We then added some owl and tree limb silhouettes and a big silvery moon made out of aluminum foil.

I always love projects that incorporate owls and this is definitely a new and successful twist on the classic story!

Hundertwasser Flowers

Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000) was a lateral thinker- in his art and architecture as well as in his ecological ideas. He was a pioneer who challenged the world around him. He wanted to make people receptive to beauty and aware of their own creative thoughts and actions.

"Our true illiteracy is our inability to act creatively."

-Friedensreich Hundertwasser

Artists in the 1-3 classes created these Hundertwasser style flowers. We painted a vibrantly warm colored sky to contrast the cool color flowers. These paintings were embellished with many details and patterns to mimic the artwork of Hundertwasser.