I know that these lessons have been listed under my 4th and 5th grade pages for awhile now- but I haven’t posted either of them as a NEW blog post since 2018 and 2022! AND I wanted to share all the beautiful new artwork my students created!
***I also don’t teach either of these lessons -year after year- mainly because I sometimes want to try out a new lesson during the time frame when I’d typically teach it.
ALL ARTWORK BELOW IS BY MY STUDENTS. No teacher examples.
ENLARGED FLOWER DRAWINGS inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe
Students learned about the artist Georgia O’Keeffe, and viewed examples of her flower paintings. We talked about the scale (size) of her work and that her flower paintings were so large because she thought flowers were incredibly beautiful and wanted people to notice them! She loved to create close-up paintings of flowers. I told my 4th graders that looking at her flower paintings is like looking at a flower with a magnifying glass.
We also reviewed what abstract artwork is (artwork that focuses on mainly lines, shapes and colors), which is how Georgia O’Keeffe depicted a lot of her flowers in her work. She focused on just small sections of a flower –instead of the entire flower in a lot of her work, therefore abstracting the image. (Notably, not all of her flower paintings are abstract, but many are).
DAY 1:
I showed students multiple examples of her flower paintings through a Google slideshow presentation and discussed her work and background.
Students learned some fun facts about Georgia too!
Did you know that In her 70s and 80s, she took several rafting trips down the Colorado River?
In 1959, at the age of 71, she spent three months flying around the world, visiting countries like Japan, India, and Italy. This trip inspired her series of “Sky Above Clouds” paintings!
She made over 200 flower paintings during her lifetime.
And in 1928, six of her calla lily paintings sold for $25,000, which was the largest amount ever paid at the time for a group of paintings by a living American artist.
I then showed students some photos of 4th grade students finished flower drawings from previous years, as well as my own examples.
After — I demonstrated under the doc camera how to focus in on one area of a flower by blocking out the rest, using a view finder (I made these ahead of time by cutting out black square pieces of construction paper with a small (about 2×2″ square) cut out in the middle.)
Students could choose a flower image from 6 different flower prints that I brought.
Students were instructed to select an area of their flower picture with their viewfinder, so its petals touched or ran off at least 3 sides of their viewfinder.
Students then practiced drawing and enlarging small sections of their chosen flowers on 1 sheet of 9×12” paper. They did this 3 times, each flower drawing within a different square on their paper.
They had a choice of choosing 3 different flower images OR drawing from 1 flower image but focusing in on different areas of the flower each time, or a combination of the above.
DAYS 2-3:
Students then selected 1 photo of a flower for their final drawing. They then taped their viewfinder down over their chosen flower photo so it wouldn’t move.
They observed their flower closely, and enlarged the selected viewable section of their flower on 11×11” 80# white drawing paper, making sure that their flower petals ran off or touched at least 3 of the 4 sides of their paper, while considering the composition.
Once drawn, students colored in using oil pastels. Students had a choice of coloring in their flower any colors they wanted!!
In previous years, I had students color in their flowers trying to best match their flowers colors in the photo. This time —the only rule with color I had was, was to switch to a different color when there was a transition of color in their flower photo. Also, If their was a bit of background showing in their composition, (some students selected areas of their flower that only showed the flower– without any background) they needed to color it in with any one chosen color for contrast.
I also talked about cleaning any oil pastels with a paper towel if needed. Sometimes other colors get on the oil pastels from repeated use— when overlapping colors and blending especially—and I showed them how to fold the paper towel in half twice (to make it stronger) and then after placing the oil pastel tip inside the center to twist it as you press on the tip with your other hand – to clean off any other colors. My students LOOVED that cleaning tip!
I had 3 large boxes with various colors total that I would bring on my cart for each class. Kids could go up to the boxes at the front of the classroom to select whatever colors they wanted.
DAY 4:
Final day for coloring in, and then for a final step, students created a bit of depth within their flower by adding shadows around the edges of their flowers petals with a black oil pastel, then smudging in the direction it was drawn with their finger. This creates a soft blurry line – creating a shadow effect.
Adding black for shading with oil pastels can be a pretty tricky step, as it can easily smudge into others areas where you might not want it to, but I think students did a wonderful job adding that element to their artwork!!
I absolutely LOVE these flowers!!
Learning Goals:
Students can use a viewfinder to narrow their field of vision
Students learn about the life and artwork of painter Georgia O’Keeffe and can identify her work
Students can define and identify abstract artwork
Students can use their observational drawing skills to draw an enlarged flower
Students can blend colors together using their finger
Students can create depth within artwork by drawing overlapping petals and adding shading
SPLATTERED PAINTBRUSHES -5th Grade
This lesson idea is from art teacher Lauralee Chambers —@2art.chambers on Instagram.
This is always such a fun lesson to teach my 5th graders! It takes about (3) 40 minute art classes to complete.
DAY 1
We discussed how we would be utilizing the Elements of Art; Line, Shape, Color, Texture, and Value to create these paintings.
After showing students various finished artwork by my previous students, and my own teacher examples, I gave students a double-sided sheet of various paintbrush drawings that I drew – to observe and use as a reference while drawing their paintbrushes.
***BTW- I have a link to my TpT page below that has the paintbrush sheets (PDF) for a free download!
Students then drew at least 6 large paintbrushes (they could draw up to 7) on 12×18” 80# paper with pencil.
I asked them to enlarge the paintbrushes, no tracing, and in their drawings I asked that the following be included: at least 2 of the brushes had to overlap one another, at least 2 be drawn diagonally, and at least 1 drawn so the bristles pointed downward. Students could add also their own brush details within the handles.
Once all drawn in pencil, students traced over all their pencil lines with an ultra fine point black sharpie.
I showed students how to use the straight edge of their paintbrushes handout paper to create the paintbrush bristles. We did this by putting the edge of the handout paper up against the end of their paintbrush handle (in the drawing where the bristles would come out), to protect the rest of their paint brush when going over the lines with sharpie.
DAY 2
Students finished drawing and sharpieing over all their lines if needed, then used a black oil pastel to draw a thick line along only one side of each brush. Only on all the brushes left sides -OR- only on all the brushes right sides. I explained to students we were trying to create the illusion that there was only one light source and the light projected onto their brushes was creating a shadow.
Then using one finger gently smudge the oil pastel going in the same direction it was drawn in, to blur the line and to create a soft shadow.
DAY 3
On the final day students used watercolors to create the splatter effect.
We used tempera paint brushes for this because of the stiffness of the brushes bristles. It allows the paint to be flicked better, and with more precision, as opposed to using watercolor brushes, which has a softer/flimsier bristle.
I showed them how to use a tempera brush to apply the paint only halfway up each brush, leaving a jagged edge. Then we dipped the same brush back into the same color paint, and pulled back the bristles to flick the paint close to their papers for splatter coming from each brush.
I absolutely LOVE how they all came out and students had a lot of fun creating them —-albeit a bit messy (especially being on a cart for 3 out of my 4 classes!!)
***Visit my TpT store to get your FREE COPY of the paint brushes handouts I’ve drawn below! ***
filmore (link to my TpT store)
LEARNING GOALS:
- Students can use observational drawing skills to create three dimensional looking paintbrushes
- Students can identify and define the elements of Art LiNE, SHAPE, COLOR, VALUE + TEXTURE
- Students can show overlapping and can create an interesting composition
- Students can create splatter with watercolors using various painting techniques
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Please also check out some of my previous posts below! 3 of them include YouTube tutorials as well!
Mixed Media Cake inspired by Wayne Thiebaud
Mixed Media Watercolor Self-Portraits – 5th Grade
One point Perspective Cityscapes – 5th Grade
NEW YouTube Art Tutorial! “April Showers Brings May Flowers” -2nd Grade