Fall Pumpkins

This is a great project for teaching watercolor painting, color blending and how to use space in an artwork. We began by doing sketches of pumpkins. I made sure students used contour lines while drawing and focused on details like vines and leaves. Once students were comfortable sketching the pumpkins, they then transferred that drawing onto a large piece of paper. The students had to be very comfortable with the drawing because the large drawing had to be done with black glue. Once the glue was dry, students used oil pastels to create three-dimensional pumpkins. The final step was to paint the background and add a texture.

These paintings were very fun to do and extremely successful! I received many compliments and they made for a great autumn display.

Scratchboard Portraits

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!

Self-Portraits Chuck Close Style

Students in middle school created these self-portraits in the style of American artist Chuck Close. We began by working from a photograph- students drew a 1/2 inch grid over the photo and a 1 and 1/2 inch grid over a 12x18 sheet of drawing paper. We then transferred the information over so the portrait was accurate and proportional. Next, students chose a color and created a value scale in that color from light to dark. The drawing was then filled in with different values that matched the black and white photograph. Students had to become comfortable with blending and creating many values within the portrait. I do this project every year and the results are always incredible!