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!

Winter Penguins

We began this project as our one winter art project of the year, even though we haven't had snow in Texas for several years. The first step was a discussion about lines in art and how they can be used to show movement. I told the students this was for a cold weather artwork so we would be using the cool colors- blue, green and violet. Students created a variety of swirls to show a cold and windy sky. I showed students how to hold and angle the brush so they could do thick or thin swirls. For the second class, we watched the intro to Happy Feet so students could have a little fun but also examine the shapes and colors of a penguin. I then led a guided drawing of a penguin which was painted over in black. The final class we added a light violet ground, a shining aluminum foil moon and the penguins. We used oil pastels to blend a shadow on the penguin and also under the penguin to add a bit of depth. The result: adorable winter penguins! 

Fall Leaves that POP!

Students in grades 4 through 6 created these autumn inspired paintings to learn about color contrast. We began by painting an abstract cool color background as the sky. Students used white crayons to create a sense of movement in the background. During the next class, students used styrofoam to print leaves. We drew detailed contour line drawings of leaves and carved them into styrofoam. We then colored the foam with warm color markers making sure to blend the colors together. The final class was used to create textured tree branches and add the leaves in a way that fills the space for an interesting composition.

Abstract Sailboats

We began this project by learning about abstract art. We learned about Jackson Pollock and how abstract artists usually use color, shapes and/or lines to express a feeling or emotion. We then used crayons, texture plates and watercolor paint in cool colors to create an abstract painting. During the second class, artists learned about American painter Winslow Homer and viewed many of his different seascapes. We then created a blend of warm color paints- from red to orange to yellow to create a sunrise or sunset sky. The abstract painting from the previous week was torn up to create many layers of waves. The final class was used to create sailboats out of corrugated cardboard and white paper. This project was a lot of fun and covered many aspects of the curriculum-warm/cool colors, space and depth, Abstract art, seascapes and texture.

Penguins!

PreK and Kinder students created these adorable penguin collages just in time for the cold weather! We began by painting a line pattern with cool colors for the background. During the next class, students used orange, black and white paper to create their penguins. Except for the nose, all the parts of the penguins were made with circles or half-circles. To complete the artwork, students cut a triangle border with white triangles to look like ice and dabbed some white in the back for snow. 

Autumn Aboriginal

Students in grades 4-6 created these enlarged leaves in a traditional Aboriginal style from Australia. We began by drawing a very large leaf form observation. Students needed to make sure the drawing came within one inch of all four sides of the composition. Next, students chose two complementary colors to paint the leaf and background- the warm color was to be the leaf and the cool color was for the background. 

For the second class, students painted a strong black outline around the leaf and some type of veins as well. We watched Aborigines from Australia painting and learned about this style of art before adding our own dotted patterns to our paintings. We stuck with warm colors in the leaf and cool colors for the background. 

This project focused on color contrast, patterns and learning about the art of another culture. Students were very successful and enjoyed decorating these fun fall paintings! 

Autumn Leaves in a Van Gogh Sky

This is a great lesson for teaching observational drawing, color contrast, watercolor techniques and art history. And the best part: almost all students succeeded  in creating a beautiful painting! 

I taught this lesson to first through third grades. We began by completing observational drawings of leaves. These were then outlined with a black glue(Elmer's glue mixed with black tempera paint). During the next class, we painted in the leaves with warm colors. I showed students how to blend the watercolor paints to create intermediate colors. For the final class, students learned about Starry Night and created lines in the background that demonstrated movement. We also discussed how cool colors are opposite warm colors on the color wheel and how placing them next to each other creates contrast. 

This is a great seasonal project that introduces so many important design principles in an easy and fun way!

Monet and Water Lilies

Students in 4-6 learned about French Impressionist painter Claude Monet and created these watercolor paintings in his style. We started by drawing out a series of water lilies and lily pads. Students learned about foreground, middleground and background and were required to include this in the drawing to create depth. Next, the drawing was outlined in black for contrast and lines were added to imply movement. The final step was using watercolor paints in the three cool colors- blue, green and violet. 

Monet Style Autumn Leaves

Students in grades 4-6 created these autumn collages in the style of French Impressionist painter Claude Monet. We began by creating a watercolor painting using the three cool colors- blue, green and violet. We discussed using gentle curving lines to create the movement of water and break up the background space. To create the leaves, students used styrofoam to carve out a leaf. These were then colored in with marker and pressed onto a slightly damp piece of paper to create a relief print. When placing the leaves on the pond, we looked at some of Claude Monet's paintings and examined his use of color contrast. 

Glitter Fish

Students in grades 1-3 created these fun artworks to learn about seascapes. During the first class, we looked at The Goldfish by Paul Klee. We discussed the use of lines and symbols in his seascape and also how he shows EMPHASIS and MOVEMENT. Students then used cool color crayons to create their oceans- using symbols and lines to show the movement they see in the water. The next class we read the book Pattern Fish and compared the many different patterns in the book. Students looked at pictures of many different types of fish and then drew their own using lines and patterns. We painted the fish with warm colors to create a contrast with the cool colored seascapes and help with emphasizing the fish and making them stand out. The final touch was finger stamping some small fish into the background and adding a little glitter to help the fish stand out. This is a highly effective lesson to teach about warm/cool colors, emphasis, movement and patterns!

Warm and Cool Autumn Trees

Montessori students in grades 4-6 created these vibrantly styled Autumn trees! We began by making a simple grid and drawing a simple tree. Students learned about pattern and contrast by creating many different designs in each square within the tree. The leaves and background were then filled in using colored pencils and/or crayons. Students needed to identify the two color schemes(warm and cool) used in the artwork to create additional contrast. This project served as a great introduction to patterns and color schemes but also introduced the art style of Cubism, which we focused on more deeply in our current mixed media project.