Chris Uphues Inspired Hearts

These fun and colorful works of art were created by the students in grades one through three. We began by learning about street artist Chris Uphues and his eye-catching cartoon heart faces. We began by tracing different shaped hearts and drawing fun cartoon style faces on them. During the next class, students either painted in the hearts with one color or practiced blending two colors together. During the final class, we added some fun painted confetti to the background. Students had a blast drawing these wonderfully expressive faces and blending colors. 

Street Art Hearts

These adorable heart works of art were inspired by James Goldcrown. We began by tracing heart shapes and painting them in different colors of watercolor paint. We then used paper towel rolls in the shapes of hearts to stamp fluorescent colored hearts all over a black piece of construction paper. The final step was to cut out our watercolor hearts and glue them on top of our printed hearts. This is a very easy and fun Valentines Day themed lesson that gives every student an opportunity for success!

Winter Landscapes

In this winter tree inspired project, students studied the art element of color. They reviewed the color families of primary and secondary colors and then learned about the intermediate colors. They learned that intermediate colors are made by mixing one primary and one secondary color together. For example: yellow plus green equals yellow green. Students practiced using watercolors to create all the colors they needed for their painting and learned how to blend them together to make gradual color changes. When they were done with the watercolors they used black paint to carefully add the silhouette of evergreen trees to their painting. Then, since it is a winter inspired painting they splattered paint it snow on their artwork.

A Magical Forest

I love the outdoors, so bringing landscapes into my classroom is always a great joy for me. The first thing my little artists created were the painted paper trees. We divided the paper into sections and drew patterns with crayons. Students then painted over these patterns with different shades of green. Day two consisted of setting up the landscape. We created the ground with construction paper, an orange sun and some clouds. We talked about the secondary colors (orange, violet and green) because they made up most of our beautiful landscapes. In the end, we added some texture with sponges and cut out different sized trees with added white paint branches. This is an easy and fun project that is abstract just enough so all students felt confident and created a masterpiece!

Watercolor Shoes

International Academy students continued the year with a different type of self-portrait. We did some detailed contour line drawings of our shoes in class. These drawings were then transferred onto a large paper and then traced over with a sharpie. Students extended the lines of the shoes out into the background and finished it off with some watercolor paint. These paintings are great because they show a great deal of the students personality, both in the style of shoe and the way it was painted.

Mondrian with a Twist

These new takes on the paintings of Piet Mondrian were made by the amazing artists of PreK and Kindergarten. We began with a review of the three primary colors and how they can be used to create all the other colors on the color wheel. Students then cut out squares and rectangles in the primary colors and glued them onto a paper. During the next class, we learned about Mondrian and used cardboard and black paint to create lines all over the paper. I let students choose which lines to use in their artwork. We could use horizontal, vertical or diagonal lines. These lines could be parallel or intersect. This lesson results in a modern and simple artwork that incorporates lessons about primary colors, lines and shapes for young artists.

Ice cream Snowmen

Students in PreK and Kinder created these delightful mashups of snowmen and triple scooped ice cream cones! We began by painting the backgrounds with a pattern of the three cool colors- purple, blue and green. Next, I had students construct the ice cream and cone and showed them how to add all the necessary details to turn it into a snowman. We even used cool colored oil pastels to smudge a little shadow along the side to make it appear more three-dimensional. This turned into a perfect winter project just in time for snow to fall!

Original Comics!

Middle School students recently created comic strips. We began by learning 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 of art. 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!

Identity in Art

Students in middle school art created these artworks to explore identity. We began by creating sketches to explore images that we feel define us. Students could choose animals, characters or any type of object that they feel a connection with. These were then carved into a styrofoam block and printed in a variety of colors. Students then altered the prints or arranged them in a way that fully expresses who they are as an individual. This lesson is great for exploring relief printmaking and also letting students begin to create art that defines who they are as an artist!