Art with Mrs Filmore

MY NEW ART ROOM AND MUCH MUCH MORE! …

January 24, 2019 No Comments

https://youtu.be/xiP_H_8B7fY

I found out late summer that I was no longer going to have to teach art off a cart, and I’d have my very own art room! Of course, as you can imagine I was thrilled with this exciting news!! I had been teaching from a cart, rolling it with art supplies for each class, down the hallways to each classroom for 4 years in the district I teach now. So since Sept. 2014!

I couldn’t wait to set up my new space and decorate all the walls! The room is awesome and has huge windows all along one wall, a sink (my other classroom at the other school I teach at doesn’t have a sink) and is pretty spacious but still cozy!

I took the video above in early December before the holidays, so that’s why you’re hearing “Christmas Time is Here” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio in the background.

I bought all my twinkly curtain lights from Amazon, which are not just up for the holidays but I am keeping them up all year round. I think it adds a nice warm, cozy, inviting (and soothing) environment.

I was so excited to show my students once I put them all up and they looved them! I had kids work with only those lights on in the room for the majority of the holiday season. With all the windows, it’s still plenty of light to be able to see while creating art!

Here are some pics of what the room looked like BEFORE below!

Here are some AFTER pics!

So here’s a re-cap snippet of SOME of the things we’ve been working on in the art room since September!

3rd-5th Monochromatic Mini Self-Portraits

Students at Amvet in 4th and 5th grade drew mini monochromatic self-portraits. Each class had their own designated color of the rainbow. At this school, I have (3) 4th grade classes and (3) 5th grade classes. At Roosevelt I had 3rd, 4th and 5th create them, since there are only 2 classes per grade level.

Students learned a variety of ways to draw different expressions and what monochromatic means. They learned how they can achieve a monochromatic look by pressing hard or light with their colored pencil to achieve various values of one color, and can create a variety of values by using various shades of a colored pencil.

Students in 1st and 2nd grade drew circles creating an abstract collaborative mural inspired by the artist Wassily Kandinsky (BELOW). They colored using a variety of colorful oil pastels, then painted around the circles filling in the remaining space of the square paper with watercolors. Once complete, I assembled them on a large sheet of black paper and hot glued into place.

1st and 2nd grade completed a Kandinsky inspired collaborative mural

Below are some art lessons we did in order by grade level so far. (These are not all of the lessons however we have finished up to this point).

1st Grade:

Hot Air Balloon Collage

To view Hot Air Balloon Collages from previous years – click on 1st Grade Art Lessons under the main menu and scroll down! Or click HERE.

Mixed-Media Alphabet Soup

This photo is from my hallway display from last year. Art will be hung up once the spoons and plastic letters are hot glued into place!! One of my favorite lessons for 1st grade!

Here are some cute pics of students working on their soups!

First graders creating their background plaid tablecloths for their alphabet soup!

To view additional mixed-media alphabet soup art from previous years, learn how it was made and what the learning goals are for the lesson, check out the 1st grade art lessons page HERE and scroll down!

2nd Grade:

Birds Eye-View Snowman Collage

To learn more about how we created these adorable snow people and what the learning goals are for the lesson, click HERE and scroll down!

Catching Snowflakes

Click HERE and scroll down to check out previous years “Catching Snowflakes” and to learn more about this lesson!

3rd Grade:

Day of the Dead Skulls

To learn more about this lesson and see additional Dia De Los Muertos Skulls – click HERE and scroll down!

3D WINTER MUGS

To learn more about this lesson and see additional mugs (using paint rather than markers) click HERE and scroll down.

4th GRADE:

Mixed Media Donuts

To view additional mixed media donuts by 4th grade, and learn how we created them, click HERE and scroll down. To view my YouTube video tutorial click HERE and select the video!

5th Grade

Falling For Foreshortening

To view additional Falling For Foreshortening artwork by 5th grade and learn how they created them, click HERE and scroll down!

Holiday Lights

Students at Roosevelt were able to complete this lesson before the holidays but unfortunately, due to time constraints classes at Amvet didn’t have time to create these. Next year I will start this lesson earlier and try to make sure everyone in 5th has a chance to do this fun lesson for the holidays!

This wonderful lesson was inspired by the amazing art teacher artwithmrsnguyen

To view additional Holiday Lights and to learn how these were created -click HERE and scroll down to the lesson!

Here are some fun pics of students creating them! Enjoy!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I’ll be posting more artwork very VERY soon!!

I promise!!!!

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GRID DRAWINGS inspired by Chuck Close! -5th GRADE

August 3, 2018 No Comments

Hello again everybody! Sorry for the long hiatus….. I meant to post this over a month ago when school was just out, but things have been pretty busy around here (and by busy I mean basically just totally chillin out and relaxing focusing on family, friends and my health—-but c’mon, can ya blame me?! It is summer break after all!

But back to the art lesson I’m posting about—-Grid drawings inspired by the amazing artist Chuck Close!

This was my last art lesson of the school year for 5^th grade. I have taught this lesson now for 5 years (4 years at the schools I’m teaching in now, and 1 year within another district). I think it’s one of the more challenging lessons for 5^th grade.

The images I print out aren’t super easy and although students have a choice on what image they want to draw, the lesson requires a lot of attention to detail and focus. Usually it takes students about 6 (sometimes even 7 (40 minute) classes to complete.

So with that in mind, I have NO IDEA why I planned on teaching it with only about 4 art classes left in the school year…. (you’d think by now I’d of realized doing so would mean kids probably wouldn’t finish. Well… that is what happened. BUT—art isn’t always about the final product. It’s about the PROCESS. Learning about new techniques, learning about different artists, creative decision-making, discovering things about yourself, learning from mistakes and persevering through challenges.

Many students did finish, and I’d say most were probably ½ way finished. I DID however, have them draw on WAY smaller paper. In previous years kids drew on 9×12” or 8×10”, but this time round, I had them draw on 5×7” to help speed things up a bit, while still keeping the same learning goals in mind.

Students worked so hard and I’m truly impressed with their beautiful drawings! Even if unfinished.

Ok, sorry….that was a lot of text to read… so here’s the artwork!! 🙂

Students selected one black and white photo of an animal. They could choose from about 15 different pictures.

I looked for images on Google that had a variety of value changes, were challenging enough in that they had some nice details, but tried to find ones with a simple background. Then I printed each of them as a 5×7” on 8.5” x11” printer paper.

When making a selection, I laid out each image in stacks of about 10 along a long table, then called groups of kids up (5 or 6 kids at a time) to make a choice.

Students used a 1” strip of cardboard to create their grids. I’ve had them use actual rulers before, but it proved to be too tricky getting accurate measurements and straight lines.

They drew a grid on their chosen black and white animal picture, then numbered each square, then drew the same exact grid on a piece of 5×7” drawing paper and numbered that grid as well.

Here’s some pics of students doing just that!

I explained to draw very lightly on the white drawing paper (so later on the grid lines and numbers wouldn’t show as much) but they could draw pressing much harder on their black and white animal pic in order to see the grid lines and numbers better.

To help students draw with a lighter touch, I showed them how to hold the pencil so their fingers gripped near the eraser rather than towards the pencils tip. The closer your fingers are towards the tip of the pencil, the more likely it is you will draw darker lines.

Once their grids were drawn and numbered, they drew just the contour lines of their animal, while observing just one box at a time. Like so…..

Once all the contour lines are complete, we reviewed what VALUE meant and after doing a demo under the doc camera, they started shading using various drawing pencils. I had them use just 2B, 3B, 4B and 6B.

I also had small handouts to refer to on a value scale with references on what pencil would probably work best for each value within their picture.

We also reviewed how you can change the value of the pencil marks by simply pressing harder or lighter as well.

Students also learned how to use a TORTILLION or aka a blending stump to soften/blur lines and create lighter values.

You can see the tortillion (not tortilla! Tortillion I joked with the kids) on this students picture of a giraffe.

Kids were amazed at how much detail they acheived and how accurate they could draw what they were seeing—-just by simply slowing down, and really paying attention to all the little details and nuances within each and every square!!

To view a great video and interview with Chuck Close himself– click on the video below!!

And another if you like!….

To view additional Grid drawings by my 5th graders in the past—- go HERE and then scroll down until you see it! This is also where you can view the learning goals of my lesson.

Thanks for stopping by!! I will be posting again within the next week or so—so Stay Tuned!! 🙂

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2nd Grade “Thinking of Summer Self-Portraits” and 1st Grade “Dream Houses”

June 28, 2018 No Comments

2ND GRADE- “THINKING OF SUMMER” SELF-PORTRAITS!

Every year, near the end of the school year, I’ve had my students do this quick, fun lesson!

We draw just a portion of our heads large along the bottom of a 12×18″ 80# sheet of drawing paper. I demonstrate on how to draw a “rainbow line” along the bottom and then add eyes and eyebrows.

We talk about different facial expressions and how our eyebrows go up when we get excited!

We went around the room and shared a variety of ideas! They then drew images on what things they wanted to do over summer break within a large thought bubble. They could incorporate words too, but I told them to focus more on drawing than writing.

I demonstrated on how to draw a few ideas (one being a pair of sunglasses that looked three-dimensional, which kids loved drawing and did a fantastic job!)

Once complete in pencil, they outline all lines with a black sharpie then colored and painted!

One year I had students create a cut out version of themselves. After drawing, they cut out the entire head and neck and then cut the top portion of their heads off and glued it onto separate 12×18″ paper hinged open with the thoughts/images coming out.

AND NOW FOR SOME CUTE PICS OF KIDS CREATING THEIR ART! ….

I LOVED her t-shirt so much I had to take a pic!

1ST GRADE- “DREAM HOUSES”

On the first day of this lesson, I read the book “The Big Orange Splot” by Daniel Pinkwater.

I LOVE this book!! If you haven’t read it to your child, or students you should!

It’s about a man, Mr. Plumbean, who paints his house to “look like all his dreams”. In the beginning of the story, a big orange splot of paint falls on his house. Instead of getting rid of it, he adds to the splot, and paints his home with a ton of bright, vivid colors, and pictures of fun, random things. His neighbors get upset at him and want all the houses to look the same. Neighbors one by one, try to have a talk with him to change it back, but…. instead… each neighbor gets inspired, and ends up changing all their houses to look like their own dreams!

After reading the story, we discussed how it’s important to be yourself and to not be afraid to stand out. I showed students examples of previous 1st graders dream home drawings, as well as a few of my own, then kids got started!

I had no rules for this art lesson except to add a pattern somewhere within their work! Kids could draw whatever kind of house they wanted! It didn’t have to be rectangular or square like most houses—it could be any shape! It could be a slice of cake, a puppy, a cookie, a robot, a spaceship, a boat, a unicorn, slides coming from the roof to a pool in the yard….you get the idea!

I just wish I took more photos of their artwork….It was on their last art class that they finished them up and time just escaped me!!

Below these kids pics, I posted some other dream houses created by my 1st graders from last year to make up for that!

LOVE THIS STUDENTS T-SHIRT!!! AND FUN MULTI-COLORED HAIR!

SOME PICS FROM LAST YEAR….

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!!

TUNE IN SOON FOR 5TH GRADERS SUPER AWESOME GRID DRAWINGS!!!! ……

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SNAILS, FLOWERS AND BUTTERFLIES OH MY!

June 27, 2018 No Comments

In the last few art classes, before summer break, my special ed students made these lovely creations!

These snails were a cinch to make! We used model magic air dry modeling clay, liquid tempera paint, pipe cleaners, and large googley eyes!

It was a 2 day process since the clay needs more than 24 hours to dry before painting.

I demonstrated how to roll out the clay like a snake, then rolled one end on top of itself to create a large spiral for the shell.

We rolled out another “snake” for the body with another piece. We then curled up one end of the body creating a hook shape for the head, and wrapped it around a pipe cleaner that was made into two spirals on either end for the eyes. Students watched me demonstrate first and then we did it together as I demonstrated again.

The snail shell (large spiral) was then attached, by just pressing onto the body.

I love model magic since it’s so soft to work with AND STICKY! which adheres instantly to itself. Great for so many art lessons! —-A little pricey to to buy in large quantities if you ask me, but when you need small amounts per student or for small classes like this, it’s perfect!

I let them dry on tinfoil sheets on a paper plate, until the following class when they painted them. Kids could pick whatever colors they wanted. For a final touch, I hot glued the eyes on after they painted them!

These flowers came from Pinterest. I’ve seen many varieties on this easy paper strip flower and thought we’d give it a try! All it took was pre-cut strips of paper, punched out construction paper circles for the centers, and glue sticks. I thought it was a great lesson to strengthen students fine motor skills. They did a fantastic job! I wish I had more photos of kids art and of kids working on them- but at least there’s 1!

These butterfly beauties were all created with just cut up tissue paper and watered down white school glue!

I did a similar lesson with students using this method on fall pumpkins (these can be viewed here (then scroll down to see them) which I LOVE. I just love how the colors all bleed into one another. The centers were done with just smaller strips of black tissue.

Students each received a 9×12″ 80# sheet of drawing paper with a pre-drawn butterfly in black sharpie.

They used pre-cut warm colors and did the gluing themselves, overlapping colors as they glued.

On a separate sheet of 9×12″ they used pre-cut cool colors (just various blues really) to glue on the entire paper for the sky background while overlapping shades of blue.

It was okay to go beyond the black outline since they would be cut out later. Same with the blue background– they could go beyond the papers edges, since the edges would be trimmed off later as well.

*** …I DID cut out the butterfly for students and attached to the blue background to save a step (and save time!) for one special ed class, but for my other special education classes in my other school, we had more time, so students cut them out and glued them themselves. However…. I completely forgot to take photos of them before they snatched them up and took them home!!

For our FINAL art class before the break- they created a quick construction paper ice cream cone!

I had pre-drawn ice cream scoops on various colored papers as well as pre-drawn cones that kids cut out themselves, and assembled together. They added sprinkles and texture for the cones with crayons.

They also decorated their own cute white cotton baseball caps! I got these at Michaels art supply store. They used fabric markers for decorating whatever they wanted!

Thanks so much for visiting today! 🙂

Be sure to check back sometime tomorrow to see 1st-2nd grade final art lessons of the year as well as 5th graders AH–MAAA-ZING Grid drawings!!

HAPPY SUMMER EVERYBODY !!!! Especially to you art teacher friends out there!!! Woo-Hoo!!!

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ANIMAL DRAWINGS – 4TH GRADE

June 23, 2018 No Comments

I had JUUuuust enough time to squeeze in one more art lesson before the last day of art for 4th graders at Roosevelt—–so they created these wonderful animal drawings!! Students at Roosevelt had 4 (40 minute) art classes to work on them.

The goal for this lesson was to draw at least 1 animal within it’s natural habitat (kids could choose their own animal to draw), and draw them either in the foreground or middle ground, with objects drawn in all 3 areas- showing an understanding of the elements of art –space, and value, as well as foreground, middle ground and background.

I had a variety of “step-by-step” how to draw handouts on various animals (deer, sloths, pigs, horses, rabbits, foxes, owls, among others etc. ) for students to refer to, as well as packets of images of animals to refer to when drawing.

Students drew on 12×18″ drawing paper, and could draw on it vertically or horizontally.

I showed them my examples as well as students drawings from previous years on a powerpoint, and we reviewed foreground, middle ground and background. We discussed how objects in the foreground appear to be the largest, and are drawn large and along the bottom of the paper, things in the middle ground appear a bit smaller to show they are further away, and are drawn smaller and near the middle of the paper, and things in the background are the smallest to show they are the furthest away and are drawn smallest near the top of the paper—which creates the illusion of space!

After students finished drawing, they began coloring in everything with colored pencils.

Before coloring though, I went over the element of art VALUE and we talked about how when we see things in real life, objects that are CLOSEST to us, tend to look darker and have more detail and contrast than objects that are further away. Particularly things that are very far away. Those objects tend to look lighter in value, have very little detail, and appear blurry.

The goal for coloring their drawings was to color in the foreground with darker values, and show detail and texture, and students colored in the middle ground and background the colors should be lighter in value.

I showed them photos of animals in their habitat that depicted this to help them understand better, then we reviewed how we could change the value within artwork using colored pencils. In a previous lesson on Victorian Architecture (these can be viewed under “4th grade art lessons” under the drop down menu) students learned about “value” and created a monochromatic house with colored pencils. We reviewed how to change the value by simply pressing hard while coloring the color would appear darker in value. By pressing with a lighter touch while coloring- the color would be lighter in value. Another way to change the value is to select a variety of shades of one color (say dark forest green, a medium green, and lighter lime colored green).

Students did a great job! Take a look below!

I hope you enjoyed reading this post! Check back again very soon for 5th grade Grid drawings, 2nd grade “thinking of summer” drawings, and 1st grade “dream houses”!! Plus more!!….

Thanks for checking out my blog!

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KINETIC ARTWORK BY 3RD GRADE!

June 17, 2018 No Comments

This was my 3rd graders last art lesson of the year before summer break! Kinetic Piranhas (OR…. any other creature really!) In previous years I had students draw only piranhas, but decided to open the lesson up to anything the students wanted to draw! They came up with some fantastic and creative ideas!

Students learned that kinetic artwork is art that moves and depends on motion from someone or something to make it move, in order to reach it’s full effect. This could be from a bunch of rotating gears, a computer, batteries, the wind, solar power, water etc. or in our case—hands to open and close the folded paper!!

Students looked at kinetic artwork by artists Theo Jansen, Arthur Ganson, Anthony Howe, and Mark Nixon before they began their drawings. Below the photos of students artwork, is a video of Theo Jansen’s “Strandbeests” kinetic creatures– watch the video! It’s incredibly amazing!

Doesn’t the one above remind you of something from Monty Python?! Or is that just me?

Here are a couple videos on artist Theo Jansen and his AMAZING kinetic Strandbeests…..

Hope you enjoyed this post! Be sure to check back in a few days to see 1st grade “Dream Houses”, 2nd Grade “Thinking of Summer Self-portraits”, 4th Grade “Animal Drawings”, and 5th Grade “Grid Drawings”!! I will be posting these throughout the week!

If interested in checking out artwork by grade level, click on the grade level under the drop down menu!

Thanks for stopping by!

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NEON POP OUT SELF-PORTRAITS – 4TH GRADE!

May 22, 2018 No Comments

They’re done!! (Well… most of my classes anyhow!) I LOVE them so much! It’s a new lesson I started this year and I think it’s a keeper! Read below the pics to see how these were created!

This lesson took (4) 40 minute art classes to finish.

This lesson focuses on The Elements Of Art: (Line, Shape, and Color) and the Principles of Design: (Balance, Emphasis, Variety, Movement, Contrast and Pattern) as well as enhancing knowledge on drawing facial details and proportion.

I don’t think this self-portrait would be the same without the POP OUT 3D element! It makes it SO much more fun!

Plus, If you’ve been following my blog or Instagram account this year, you’ve probably noticed a lot more 3D artwork in the mix. I’ve made it a goal to incorporate more 3D elements in different art lessons for each grade level, since we don’t have a kiln for firing clay pieces at either school I teach in. This was definitely a fun lesson to teach and students seemed to really enjoy it!!

DAY 1:

On the first day of the lesson students drew their self-portrait large on a sheet of 12×18″ neon construction paper. Students had a choice of pink, lime, orange, yellow, or green.

I demonstrated under the document camera to start drawing the head a little bit more than halfway up the paper, and we reviewed ways to draw facial features. I also said they could draw their eyes closed or open, or winking! They were also encouraged to draw a pattern on their shirt for added detail.

Once drawn in pencil, they went over all their lines with a black sharpie to define them and make them stand out.

I absolutely LOVE the texture and movement of this student’s hair!

Check out the pattern on this student’s shirt! Loving the detail!!!

DAY 2 – 3

The following art class students finished drawing and outlining if needed, then carefully cut out their self-portrait leaving a little neon color all the way around the edges.

They then traced their cut out self-portrait along the bottom of a piece of 12×18″ black construction paper, vertically with a pencil.

After that- they set the cut out one aside, and wrote positive attributes in pencil all around their traced self-portrait. We talked about VARIETY and BALANCE and to write some words larger than others and some diagonally, sideways, and straight across.

I had a printed list of adjectives that each student could refer to for suggestions if they needed it. Kids could write other things as well of course if it wasn’t on the list, as long as it was positive.

Then they went over their words with a white colored pencil, making sure to make some brighter and more bold than others. The bright white lettering adds CONTRAST against the black paper.

DAY 4:

On the final day, students then traced a variety of colored chalk pastels all along the traced outline on the black paper. We went over the color wheel beforehand and reviewed primary, secondary, warm, cool, complementary, and analogous.

They applied the chalk pastels in short, thick lines and then using their finger- smudged the chalk going outward and away from their outlined self-portrait to create a glowing affect.

Students washed their hands (or used baby wipes) after using the chalk pastels, then took their neon cut out self-portrait again and traced it once more but this time, onto a sheet of 12×18″ white 80# drawing paper. Then went over those pencil lines with black sharpie.

Then carefully cut that one out –leaving a bit of white paper showing all around the edges. Then glued it into place on the black paper using a glue stick.

Then later on I attached their NEON cut out to go over the white one. I originally thought it would be a good idea to hot glue strips of cut cardboard to mount between the two in order for the neon one to pop out.

HAha…. That proved to be waaaay to time consuming cutting cardboard into strips. Plus I’d have to layer more than two strips to achieve the thickness I wanted.

SOOOoooo…. scrap THAT idea!

Then I tried bending strips of cardboard (from the neon paper packaging) into an accordian fold and hot-gluing those in between the two. Like so…

That DID work….however….. it too was VERY very time consuming (and kinda hurt my hands after awhile folding back the cardboard over and over and over).

I knew it wasn’t a very good method, but went on with it anyways. I wanted to get what I could done, since I planned on working on them that afternoon, and only had those materials on hand to make the pop out portion work. I think I got through 20 pieces of artwork.

THEN…. had the idea of using SPONGES!!! I went to Dollar Tree the next day and basically bought out the store of ALL of their sponges!! They sold them in packs of two, for just a buck and I only needed 1 sponge per students art.

I also cut each one up into smaller pieces to help spread and distribute the needed pop out support. Cutting them with scissors was super easy, thank goodness!!! It went SUPER quick and worked out perfectly with the hot glue!

YAY! (insert happy dance)

TA-DA!!!

Would LOVE to hear what you all think! I hung up a bunch so far at both schools, (I have a total of (5) 4th grade classes doing this project) and will be adding everyone else’s SOON!! 🙂

To view other artwork by 4th grade from this year (and previous years) click on “4TH GRADE ART LESSONS” under the drop down menu!

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my blog! Join/Subscribe to my blog and submit your email to get up to date notifications!

Be sure to check back SOON for more amazing artwork! Take care and be kind everybody! 🙂

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BUBBLE BLOWING SELF-PORTRAITS- 1ST GRADE!

May 20, 2018 No Comments

This was a really fun lesson where first-graders learned the difference between a self-portrait and a portrait! This lesson took (3) 40 minute art classes to finish.

I just love this artist’s winking self-portrait! So cute!

DAY 1

Students looked at different self-portraits by famous artists and then learned how to draw the head by drawing an upside down egg shape. They learned how to draw facial features in correct proportion and learned that eyes are drawn like the shape of almonds/footballs or lemons and ways to draw the nose, mouth, ears and eyebrows through a demonstration under the document camera.

Once they finished their self-portrait, students added a pattern of circles in the background, then traced over all their lines with a thick black sharpie.

DAYS 2-3

On the second day of the lesson I read them a story called The Colors of Us, by Karen Katz. I absolutely LOVE this story because it talks about appreciating each others differences and to notice the variety of skin colors we all have and that they are ALL beautiful!! We talked about how weird and boring the world would be if we were all the same skin color!

Students then found a crayon that best matched their own unique skin color, eye color and hair color and colored in their self-portraits. I demonstrated that they could combine and layer colors to create the colors they needed. I encouraged students to press hard when coloring and to try to color in completely so no white paper showed through.

For a final step, I poked holes in their papers using a pencil and a pre-tied balloon was attached to their self-portrait using tape on the back!

Students did a fantastic job creating their self-portraits! (*Some students are still finishing coloring and I will be adding more photos later on!)

Now a beautiful and colorful hallway!! 🙂

Thanks so much for dropping by!! Read below to check out yesterday’s post on 2nd grade artwork!

If interested– sign up for new blog post updates via email, (to the right, or scroll all the way down on a cell phone) 🙂

I will be blogging again tomorrow night on NEW 4th grade artwork (Neon Pop-Out Self-portraits!) Stay tuned!…

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SPRINGTIME BUNNIES AND BEAR CUBS- 2ND GRADE!

May 19, 2018 No Comments

How adorable are these?!? My 2nd graders did such a fantastic job creating them!

This lesson took (3) 40 minute art classes to finish and incorporates the Elements of Art- Line, Shape, Color, Value and Texture! We also used overlapping, contrast and pattern in our work! Students could choose between creating a bunny or a bear cub. Read below the photos of students artwork to see how they were created!

Sorry, there are A LOT of photos!! I couldn’t help myself–they are ALL too cute!

TEACHERS – You can get a free downloadable BEAR CUB template on my TPT page HERE!

These are currently up on display!

I couldn’t decide which image to post –so I decided on showing both panoramic and regular!

DAY 1

Students drew flowers all over their 9×12″ 80# drawing paper using markers and crayons. They were encouraged to draw the flower heads LARGE and draw LOTS!! Especially along the top and sides since later on the bunny or bear would be placed over their painting.

I demonstrated a bunch of different ways to create the flowers first, but students could draw them any way they wanted! I also encouraged them to use bright colors. If they drew flower heads with a circle center, they colored in the circles with crayon, pressing hard. Once their paper was filled they drew green stems from each flower head going all the way to the bottom, using a green crayon as well as a green marker for each one.

DAY 2

Students finished up creating their flower heads and stems if needed (they really took their time with this step and loved created intricate flowers!!) then using just water on a paintbrush, they went over each flower with water.

This turns the marker into almost a watercolor consistency, which kids LOVED!! I showed them how to just do one flower at a time then rinse their brush before moving onto the next so the colors wouldn’t get muddy.

Then students went over all their stems with water. The crayon part of the stems would remain a solid line since crayons resist water.

We talked about the Element of Art “Value” and how the colors of the flowers would get softer and lighter in value once water was applied.

I absolutely LOVE this flower painting below!! Particularly the way the yellow flowers came out! So lovely!!

The wet flower paintings were left to dry until the following class. Students then either chose a bunny or bear cub template to start drawing lines with sharpie to add TEXTURE!

I downloaded and printed the bunny template from a website for teachers called Teachstarter (free template) and then created the bear one myself and made copies for kids.

I demonstrated how to draw straight lines close together in between each section using sharpie. Students could leave the eye area as it was, or go over the lashes and create longer lines. We discussed how the lines created fur- like texture. We also discussed how the black & white vs. the colorful flower background would create CONTRAST.

DAYS 2-3

Students continued drawing lines if needed, then carefully cut out their animals and glued onto their flower background! I just LOVE how simple yet beautiful this lesson is! Plus- kids continue to understand how they are applying the elements of art while creating!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog! I hope you enjoyed viewing their beautiful artwork 🙂

To view additional 2nd grade artwork, and other art lessons, click on “2nd Grade Art Lessons” under the drop down menu! Follow me on Instagram for more work too!

Be sure to stop on by again tomorrow (SUNDAY!) to view NEW artwork by 1st Grade —then Monday night for NEW artwork by 4th grade!!!

Have a great weekend everybody! Take care and be kind 🙂

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COMPLEMENTARY CREATURE PRINTS! – 3RD GRADE

May 13, 2018 No Comments

3rd graders finished up their prints! They did such a fantastic job!! Take a look below!

(Read more below the pics to find out how they were created, and to view my YouTube tutorial on this lesson!)

(haha don’t mind the “Dirty Water Bucket” in the background ….I don’t have a sink in my art room and use a water bucket system to dump out old water between art classes. I’ll probably blog about how I go about that for lessons involving paint at a later time. If you’re an art teacher and don’t have a sink in your room, please share what methods you use!)

A panoramic picture of the 3rd grade prints –up now on display!! I love all the bright colors!

And then a pic of the same display… only non-panoramic because sometimes I can’t decide which way to post it!

This lesson took about 4 (40 min.) art classes to finish, and students created three prints of one drawing total. We used markers and styrofoam printing plates to create our prints!

DAYS 1-2

On the first day of the lesson I read students the book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak for inspiration. We discussed what printmaking was and I showed them students prints from previous years as well as my own teacher examples. They also watched the first few minutes of my video tutorial before they began drawing their own creatures.

Kids then got to work drawing their own made up creature on 8.5″ x 11″ regular printer/copy paper with pencil. The goal was to create a unique creature, large on the paper, with simple lines and details. I explained their creature could consist of a combination of animals, aliens, monsters, inanimate objects, people, sea creatures, food, fantastical creatures….whatever they wanted! Something that was from their own imagination.

(I didn’t get a chance to snap pics of kids doing this step so this pic and the next few with the pink background are ones I created for my video tutorial)

Once drawn, students then taped their drawing to a sheet of styrofoam (the printing plate). They only taped it to the top in two areas so the paper wouldn’t move on them while tracing.

Then using a dull colored pencil (not to sharp–if its too sharp, it could tear or puncture the styrofoam) they traced over all their lines to transfer their image to the printing plate underneath. I have them use a colored pencil so they can see clearly where they’ve already traced.

Here you can see the image has transferred to the styrofoam plate

Once that’s done, students trace over all the lines indented in the styrofoam plate once more. They used a colored pencil for this step as well. They trace twice so the indentations are deep enough for printing a crisp, clear image of their drawing.

DAYS 3-4

Students learn what complementary colors are, (colors opposite one another on the color wheel and consist of a primary color and a secondary color–red + green, blue + orange, yellow + purple). They learned that when used next to one another in artwork it makes an image pop and really stand out.

They colored their creature (on the styrofoam printing plate) with one set of complementary colors, and then their background with a different set, using markers. I saved and set aside a large box of markers for just this lesson to ensure we’d have juicy markers!

Students were creative and made some cool unique creatures!!

After completely colored, they took off their taped on drawing (if they haven’t already) and dampened a sheet of 9×12″ 80# drawing paper using water from a spray bottle and damp sponges –(For the spray bottles, I just use empty spray cleaner bottles after thoroughly rinsing out).

They sprayed the paper 6 times- two on top, two in the middle and two along the bottom on either side of the paper.

Then using a damp sponge, they hold down the paper along the bottom, and wipe going away from their fingers in one direction to help spread the water evenly all over the paper.

They then lay their colored styrofoam color side down onto the wet paper. They press all over the back of their printing plate using the flat of their hands to help transfer their image to the dampened paper. After pressing for a few seconds, they used a brayer to roll over the back of their printing plate to help further transfer their image. I explain to students it’s very important to always have one hand holding down the styrofoam plate so they don’t smudge their print.

Students roll the brayer over the entire backside of their plate for at least 15 seconds, then while holding down a corner with one hand, lift the opposite corner with the other hand to check if there are any bald spots. If so, they roll over that area again and/or use their fingers to press into any smaller detailed areas where needed. Once they check again, they lift off the styrofoam plate to reveal their print!

I have students watch the printmaking portion of my video tutorial in the beginning of the first couple of art classes where they print, just to help them remember all those steps!

So glad I decided to make that video for this lesson! It’s such a time saver…. I don’t have to waste paper or marker ink each time as I would in a demonstration for the kids…. and since it’s recorded- I don’t ever have to worry about forgetting something while explaining!! I wish I had started make youtube tutorials a long time ago for those reasons!

Also— if I must be completely honest, students are way more engaged and STAY silent throughout the ENTIRE time watching my video— rather than when I am demonstrating in person under the doc camera! What’s up with that kids?!??!

As you can see in the photo above I have printing supplies (pre-dampened sponges, spray bottles, brayers, 9×12″ paper, and box of fresh new markers) along my extra “supply” table. Kids get their needed supplies and bring them back to their seats and print there. Water bottles, sponges and brayers are shared so I don’t need a ton of each.

Once they print their first print, they repeat the process of coloring their printing plates and wetting their papers to print etc. to create 3 prints of the same image total. This way, students have some practice with printing and have the opportunity to create a good, clear, colorful print!

Click HERE to view my video tutorial on this lesson!

Hope you enjoyed reading this blog post! If interested, you can get email updates on when I blog next by signing up with your email over on the right hand side of the top of this page!

I’ll be posting again REAL SOON on new 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 4th grade artwork!! STAY TUNED!!!……

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