Winter Cityscapes

Students in grades 4-6 created these lovely winter cityscapes as an exploration into architecture, value and shading! We began by creating a unique cityscape- drawing homes or buildings and adding detailed architectural elements. These were drawn in pencil and then traced over with sharpie. For the background, I let students choose a color of paint and then create a gradient sky. We talked about the art element of value- the lightness or darkness of a color. Adding white to a color is called a tint and adding black to a color is called a shade. Students were to mix the colors and create a minimum of 5 different values in their sky. The final step was to cut out the cityscape and attach it to the value painting. We also used oil pastels in the same color to create some shadows on the buildings and white paint to add snowflakes. 

Superhero Self-Portraits

Montessori students in grades 1-3 created these dynamic self-portraits. We began by drawing a realistic and proportional self-portrait. Once it was complete, we added some details to turn ourselves into superheroes- things like capes, masks, emblems, etc. Students then colored these with colored pencils and were encouraged to use bright and bold colors to mimic superheroes from comic books. We then created an abstract cityscape with cutout shapes in neutral colors. This was a cute twist on the self-portrait that really brought out each students personality and style.

Zentangle Cityscapes

Students in grades 7 and 8 created these fun patterned cityscapes of downtown Dallas. We began by looking at the skyline of Dallas and pointing out the most iconic buildings. Students sketched the skyline and drew out different patterns within each building. We made sure to emphasize contrast with the patterns- buildings next to each other should alternate from light to dark patterns. We then filled in the negative spaces with watercolor paint- I let the students decide which colors to use but made sure they were making good color choices. 

Street Art Cityscapes

Students in grades 4-6 created these street art cityscapes. We began by drawing out our names in bubble letters. I gave the students several different fonts for examples and also showed them how to create "wild style" letters. These were colored in with colored pencils and the students used blending to mimic the blended style of spray paint. We learned about several street artists and discussed the differences between legal street art and illegal vandalism. Street artists often are payed for their murals and create art that addresses social or political topics. The students printed a brick background in black for extra contrast and then painted a cityscape of downtown Dallas in different values of one color.

Superhero Self-Portraits

Montessori students in grades 1-3 created these dynamic self-portraits. We began by drawing a realistic and proportional self-portrait. Once it was complete, we added some details to turn ourselves into superheroes- things like capes, masks, emblems, etc. Students then colored these with colored pencils and were encouraged to use bright and bold colors to mimic superheroes from comic books. We then created an abstract cityscape with oil pastels and stencils of skylines the students created. The final step was adding a moon and night sky. This was a cute twist on the self-portrait that really brought out each students personality and style.