Pink Flamingos

Students in grades 1-3 created these fun collage paintings of pink flamingos. We began by painting a gradient sunrise/sunset for the background with watercolor paint. During the next class, students created texture paintings in pink and green which were later used to cut up and create the flamingo and grass. Students loved creating and learning about flamingos during this fun project!

Narrative Comics

Middle School students recently created comic strips. We learned about the art of comic and cartoon making. Students looked at all different forms- from traditional comic strips, cartoons, anime and fan art. Students then created original characters and created a 3-4 panel story. The narrative needed to be clear and understandable and the layout needed to employ good use of the design principles. This project kept students more engaged than any other lesson I have ever taught. I displayed these outside my classroom and have seen groups of students admiring them consistently all day!

Alphabet Soup

The alphabet experts in PreK and Kinder created these wonderful mixed media table settings of alphabet soup. We began by looking at several alphabet visuals before tracing a large circle and filling it with every letter in the alphabet. I made sure to demo how to turn the paper and do a variety of different colors and sizes. These were then painted over with a yellow and gold mixed watercolor paint. The second class was when students used markers to create a table cloth in a mock flannel style. We went over the lines with a wet brush to blend the colors together. The final class everything gets put together- we cut out the soup and add it to the place setting with a napkin and foil cutout spoon. I showed the students how to use a black oil pastel to shade under the bowl and napkin to create a 3D effect. This is a great project to apply literacy along with mixed media to create a fun work of art!