5th Grade - Miro Abstracts!

This lesson was a fast filler lesson that turned out great! Students were inspired by Joan Miro by viewing a slideshow with many of his works of art. Then students brainstormed on a 9x12 by drawing several overlapping freeform shapes. From there they were to break up the spaces further and could turn them into alien like creatures or just an abstract... whatever the shapes inspired! 

We worked on a cold press 9x12 watercolor paper that we had on hand. First used watercolor paint and blew it with short straw pieces. Once dry, students drew with pencil first and outlined with Big Brush PITT Pens. Last step, we colored a few of our shapes in with oil pastel. For a quick lesson, these turned out really cool!!!

6th Grade - Fall Landscapes!

These Fall Landscapes were created on 150lb Jack Richeson Watercolor paper.  The students looked at a slideshow of many different fall themes.... harvest time, spooky sky's and Halloween.  They chose the kind of fall landscape they wanted to paint.

After drawing our ideas in our sketchbooks, I encouraged students to draw very little on the watercolor paper, but rather plan and paint the sky and ground first. They could always draw more later on top of the paint. This keeps them from painting the objects first, then struggling with the space around them. Since most objects were going to be painted as a silhouette, I  was not as concerned with details on objects.

I also encouraged the use of foreground, middleground and background and how to give a sense of space with near and far.

This lesson gives lots of room for creativity! Students who looked at the handouts of the slideshow did more and had more success. They did not copy necessarily, but took good ideas from several.  I plan to have even more handout options next time!

5th & 6th Grade Core Art Sketchbooks!

My teaching partner and I have loved the thought of creating sketchbooks for all our classes. This was our first year giving it a go... and they have turned out AWesOme and have become a big part of each lesson.  Here is how we got started!

We used 12x18 white tag board for the covers. Students were given an open door to create anything they wanted!  We suggested abstract, not drawing anything at first, just paint a background. But truly did not care what direction they wanted to take it, their sketchbook! First day was just tempera cakes, second day they could splatter or drip on top of dry paint. Third day we used oil pastels for names or extra design/details. Fourth day, we folded 5 sheets of white 12x18 white paper and stapled them in with long arm staplers. DONE! They are a hit! Can't wait to take these sketchbooks to a new level!

Here are some pictures of the painting process and some finished products!