Emphasis Designs

International Academy students created these designs to learn about the principles of emphasis and contrast. We drew out grids in the background and filled them with detailed patterns. Students needed to create a variety of patterns that showed a range of different values. The overlying figures were colored in with markers or colored pencils. Students needed to have one letter or number that was the emphasis. This figure needed to be made the emphasis through size, placement and color. 

Kinder Self-Portraits

PreK and Kinder classes began the year with a self-portrait project. We began the first class of the year by completing a crayon drawing. These were then mounted onto a large yellow paper. We used different shapes to create a self-portrait and drew the faces using simple lines. During the final class, students attached yarn for hair and filled some of the negative space with colorful stamps. We also attached a crayon to the hand to commemorate their drawing from the first week of school!

Contour Line Self-Portraits

Students in middle school began the semester with some drawing activities. One of my favorite lessons is blind contour drawing. It teaches the artist to become more observant and focused while quickly improving their drawing skills. We spent a day doing blind contour drawings of hands before using mirrors and drawing our faces. Once these were finished, students traced them to the back of the paper to complete multiple transfers in any way or style they wanted. These were then traced with sharpie and colored in using a split complementary color scheme. These turned out great and the artist's personality definitely shines through in each one!

Mexican Amate Designs

Students created these designs in the style of authentic Mexican Amate paintings. We began by sketching out ideas using patterns and animal symbols from traditional Mexican designs. Once the sketch was finished, students stained a paper brown and it was crumbled to mimic the texture of Amate paper. Students then added the designs and animals while adding color and fluorescent paints. Students learned about the culture of Mexico while exploring the use of line, color and patterns in artwork.

Texture Lions

Students in grades PreK and Kinder created these texture lions last spring. We began by drawing out the lions face using simple shapes in pencil. Once it was complete, students drew over the pencil lines with a black or brown crayon to make the features stand out. During the next class, students were given orange, yellow and brown paints and asked to create a line pattern around the lions head to create a pattern. This teaches pattern but can also incorporate movement depending on the type of line the student paints. The final step was adding texture with yarn. We drew lines of glue over the painted pattern and placed strips of yarn on them to add the texture. This was a fun project for practicing some fine motor skills and learning art concepts like line, pattern and texture.

Watercolor Peacocks

Students in grades 1-3 created these realistic watercolor peacocks! We began by drawing out the peacock in pencil step by step. Once the drawing was complete, we outlined the drawing with cool colors (blue, green and purple). We looked at pictures of real peacocks in nature to see the colors and textures of all the feathers. We then painted the peacocks using cool colors, however students could choose to paint the eyes of the tail feathers with a warm color. Last, we stamped lines in the back feathers to recreate the texture of a real peacock.

Skeleton Drawings

These skeletons started as a practice in drawing positive and negative space. Students had to carefully examine the spaces in between (the negative space) as well as the bones (the positive space). After two classes, students began to add detail and value to the bones. To fill in the background space, I demonstrated how to use watercolor paints for a crayon resist. I let the artists decide how they wanted to paint the background. This is a great drawing project to teach the principles of positive and negative space as well as value.