It's a Small World Mural - Time-Lapse Video - 3rd, 4th, & 5th

Mary Blair and Joey Chou are the inspiration behind these murals. I loved Mary Blair's original work for Disney. All of her amazing illustrations remind me of my childhood. Joey Chou was hired to modernize her It's a Small World illustrations. He did an amazing job and is now a big source of inspiration of mine.

I pre-drew several versions of the city on paper before I grabbed my chalk and drew on the black paper. But when I start, I like it to flow, I do not stick to the drawing. It is more a guideline and source of ideas. 

Once the whole drawing is complete, I go mix my paint. MIX PAINT BEFORE NUMBERING! You need to know how many numbers you need. I like to mix a lot of intermediate colors, trying to stretch the color wheel. 

Once colors are mixed,  I number and create a chart for myself. Additionally, I set up a paint cart and get it labeled and numbered. 

Once the paint is mixed, I number the painting! usually 20-26 colors... depending on the subject. 

When students start painting, they are instructed to OUTLINE each shape before painting it in. They get one color, I hand them the cup. They look for their number only. For the most part, they all do it perfectly. I do not worry if there is a spot painted with the wrong number.

Once we got most the mural painted in, I added the black and white ribbon in the background and the tile look at the bottom. It needed a break in color. Then to fill in the back ground, we printed with large sponges on sticks, gold tempera paint. It finished it off!

6th Grade Abstract Landscapes!

This lesson has become a staple for my 6th grade Core Art Class.  Landscape is a great subject, very broad subject.  Then choosing several artists with interesting, painterly techniques to inspire composition, approach to colors and mixing... you have a great lesson!

We look closely at Mandy Budan, a current Canadian Artist, and Vincent Van Gogh.  Students create smaller thumbnail sketches in their sketchbook, (4x6), and practice painting with both artists techniques.  Once they decide their own style, inspired by the two artists, we draw on a larger 16x14 paper.  Students are required to have foreground, middle ground and background.  Once drawn, sky and background are painted first, then middleground, followed by foreground. Each quarter, the students manage to create very different looking landscapes! No two are alike!