Owls

All of my K-6 students worked on owls this week using different mediums and focusing on different media and/or concepts.  Take a look at what my kiddos have been learning.....

GRADE 6:  We focused on REALISM.  I gave my students photographs of owls and they chose one to draw in pencil.  We talked about how to create the feathers using hatching and cross hatching with a black sharpie.  We used vine charcoal to create the gray values.  Drawing is just "seeing" and I encouraged them to really look at the lines and shapes in the photographs.  They were amazed at what they actually could see and record!

GRADE 5:  Here we talked about the concept of STYLIZING.  An image that is stylized looks like the object (an owl), but is designed using interesting ideas with shapes and lines.  We drew the contour of the owl and designed the interior of the owl.  Watercolor pencils were used over the black sharpie work, and a little water gave these that "painterly" look!

GRADE 4:  These owls were done on black paper with oil pastels.  Our focus with this lesson was layering the colors and VISUAL TEXTURE.  I challenged them to use lines to create the "feathery" look on the owl.  The layering off the oil pastels produces such a rich, yummy color!

GRADE 3:  We drew simple owls and used a texture plate in the background to create the cool patterns.  We used the educational watercolors which has 18 beautiful colors to choose from.  The colors in these were student's choice.

GRADE 2:  We used some of the painted papers we did on the first day of school for these backgrounds and students drew and cut out there owls, branches and leaves.  This mixed media project ended with a paint treatment using the end of a brush to create the white dots.

GRADE 1:  Letter Owls!  Again, we used some of the fun painted papers we made and used the letter U to make the owls body.  The letter B was for the eyes, the letter D for the wings, and the letter O for the whites of the eyes.  We used black marker to outline and construction paper crayons for the color on our dark backgrounds.  Cutting and gluing was a skill we practiced on these collages.  Collage is a french word which means to "paste".  Cute, cute, cute!!

GRADE K:  These owls were done as a directed drawing.  I asked my kindies to look and "see" all the shapes and lines that were used to build this drawing.  They did an amazing job of "seeing"!  We also worked on filling the entire page with color and I showed them how to do a little blending with colors.  They loved using the texture plates in the background!

Painted Papers

As I begin my 37th year teaching ART, I realize that this love I have of students and art is really the only life I have every known!  Each year I stretch myself by trying new projects, and new ways to inspire kiddos!  I feel like I have grown tremendously in the last 37 years!  I was fortunate enough to hear an inspiring message by our Teacher of the Year, and it really put things in perspective for me. She told us to not forget about taking care of ourselves!  We need to put ourselves first so we can be there for students.  She also said what most of us already know, but usually forget.... and that is.... kids don't remember how your room is decorated or the posters you have up.  They remember YOU.  That got me thinking about my favorite teachers and why I like them SO  much.  It was because they made a personal connection with me!    Teaching over 550 students makes that a daunting challenge to say the least!  But my goal is to get to know my students through their art and art experiences!  Making art that is personal to them is my vision for all students!  With that said, on with the planning of art lessons!

The first thing we did this year grades 1-6 was to spend a day painting papers!  What fun!!  We will have a great stash for projects this year.  I even pulled some of the papers back out to layer more paint on with the next class.

Worry Dolls

The Legend of the Worry Doll

Worry dolls are tiny handmade dolls created by the people of Guatemala as a remedy for worrying. According to Mayan legend, you tell your worry doll all your worries before bedtime and you are able to sleep peacefully at night.  The dolls take away all your worries during the night!

I found a great book called "Silly Billy" by Anthony Brown which is about the legend of the worry dolls.  I used this as a resource before watching the video demonstration.

Here are the supplies you need to create a worry doll.  This lesson would work for 2-6th graders and older!  I had fun making mine!!

1 full length pipe cleaner (any color)
1 pipe cleaner, cut in half (any color)
5-6 pieces of yarn 6" long (for the hair)
a ball of yarn about 3 yards long
wiggly eyes (optional)
fabric, felt, for clothing

Collaborative Art

Sixth graders each painted a 7" x 7" square at the end of their color unit trying to match colors as closely as possible.  They knew each square was a piece of the puzzle for Munch's "The Scream".

I cut each square out and laminated it, so it would last through the painting process.  Each card was numbered at the top so it would be easy to put together.

Here is the finished 5' x 7' art.  We plan on hanging this from our basketball headboard during our art show in May for some photo fun!  Nice job 6th graders!

Collage in the Style of Teesha Moore

Teaching students how to compose a piece of art with images and other materials can be challenging to say the least.  They usually want to apply everything to their collage.....and I do mean everything they have access to!   Being selective and giving them steps to create an interesting finished piece is the key!

I recently showed them a powerpoint I created with the work of artist Teesha Moore (with her permission of course to reproduce her images for teaching purposes).   You can check it out HERE.

I created this step by step lesson when I was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007.  After missing a half year of school with treatments, I ran across Teesha Moore on pinterest.  I loved her work and began a collage of my own.  It was truly healing!  This one was called "Faith".

I did not do much with the idea for a lesson, until I was diagnosed a second time with breast cancer.  After my double mastectomy and missing yet another half a year in 2011, I was feeling pretty low.

I began my second collage titled,  "Some Days You Just Have to Get Over It!"  Doing this piece finally got me out of my funk and looking forward. 

Not only can this lesson incorporate literacy and writing, it can also give you a chance to talk to students about why people create art and how it makes them feel.  Here is my second collage in the style of Teesha Moore.

I got a wonderful email from Teesha when I wrote to ask permission to use her images for my powerpoint!  So... I decided to create this lesson for my sixth graders.

Teesha Moore <artgirl777@aol.com>	12/29/14
to me

of course it is ok.  thanks for asking but I am thrilled to know that the creativity is being spread around.  thanks for everything you do to help these kids get more in touch with their creative sides.

Click HERE to find the pdf for the lesson plan and a document for ideas for motivational ideas.  You can also find the steps on the power point above.   You can also find this lesson on my webpage  HERE.  Look for student work to come.

Organic Color Wheels

Every year my 6th graders create color wheels using only the primary colors of red, yellow and blue.
They mix the secondary colors of orange, green and violet.  They also create the six intermediate colors.  Those are yellow-orange, yellow-green, red-violet, red-orange, blue-green, and blue-violet.

Here are the formulas and how I teach students to mix those colors.

R + Y = O
R + B = V
Y + B = G

To mix the intermediate colors you

Add a little red to the yellow to make yellow-orange.
Add a little yellow to the red to make red-orange.

Add a little blue to the red to make blue-violet
Add a little red to the blue to make red-violet.

Add a little blue to the yellow to make yellow-green.
Add a little yellow to the blue to make blue-green.

Once they have a handle on all of that, we move on to mixing tints, shades and tones.  We use the neutral colors of black, white and gray to create these.  One rule I have when mixing these is ALWAYS add the darker color to the lighter color.
.
A tint lightens a color, so add the color to the white a little at a time to create various tints.
A shade darkens a color, so add the black to the color a little at a time to create various shades.
A tone dulls a color, so add the color to the gray when mixing various tones.

Now... on to the lesson.   Every year I have had students create wheels and repeat the designs in them.  They always turn out great, but I put a different twist on the wheel this year.  Here's what I did.

1.  Draw a large organic leaf form from top to bottom on a 12 x 18 white paper.
2.  Divide the leaf in half vertically.
3.  Create six sections on each side of the leaf. (Like the veins on a leaf)  You now have 12 sections.
4.  In each of the sections create 7 areas to paint.  Students will paint two tints, two shades, two tones and the main color in each section.  I had them try to create the same design across from each other to get a symmetrical look....even though it is not truly symmetrical.  In the past the transfer process of their design always took a lot of time.   Now, they can simply freehand their design.

Here is an example of what it should look like before they start painting.  I also have them label each section with the colors so they don't accidentally paint colors in the wrong spots.  This also gives me a quick overview of who knows the color wheel order and who still needs help.

This lesson takes us 5-6 class sessions, but it is well worth it because they are learning to create 84 (12 sections x 7 different colors) colors and they have an understanding of how to mix these colors.  Here are some of the finished color wheels.  Once painted, they outlined the different colors in black marker and cut them out and glued them onto a neutral colored background.  This lesson is done before I commission them to paint a landscape.  Look for those in the near future.