Second Grade: Agates

Second graders just learned about rocks in their classroom, including agates. I was asked to incorporate a rock lesson into my class and I chose agates because first- they're stunning, and painting all those skinny layers (of liquid deposits, I learned) encourages focus and sensitivity with the brush.  I first read them the gorgeous book, A Rock is Lively, and then students drew an organic shape on their watercolor paper and another organic shape inside for their crystal. They chose multiple liquid watercolors and started off by painting around the outer inside edge of their agate. They completed one lap with one color before switching to a different color and painted right underneath the first line and so forth. I told the students to be cautious about using too much water because the colors could bleed, which is a beautiful effect, but too much and the layers get all mixed up. Still looks beautiful though! I had students stop when they reached their crystal so the paint could dry before moving on. For the next class, students painted inside their crystal and immediately lay saran wrap on top and scrunched it to get that jagged crystallized effect. Students can also paint another layer of glitter paint so it sparkles like crystals, but it requires another drying time. 

Third through Fifth: My Neighbor Totoro

I used this movie poster for a lesson on tinting and shading to create atmospheric perspective. It doesn't hurt that it's adorable and fantastical so the students connected right away. They chose their own colors and practiced by making a value chart first before they painted on their final. They look a little scary, but I love how they turned out.

Preschool: Purple Mountains Majesty

I was inspired by a lesson that I found on Color and Collage but made my own version to teach preschool students. For the mountains they painted a sheet of watercolor paper with liquid watercolor and lay saran wrap on top, scrunching it around to make texture. For the night sky, they just painted a sheet in black and blue and flicked silver paint to mimic stars. I helped with the cutting and gluing. Now that I've discovered saran wrap as a texture tool, I'm using it for all my lessons!

First grade- Birch Trees in Autumn

I came across Simon Fairless' Silver Birch in Autumn painting and had to make a lesson out of it. It's so stinkin' beautiful! and perfect for Fall even though it doesn't actually start feeling crisp until January here in SoCal. This lesson was great for elements of art terms such as: repetition, lines, and space. We discussed how Fairless made some of the trees appear to be farther back by painting them darker and how the dark background contrasts nicely with the white trees.  After our discussion, students drew pairs of vertical lines across their page with short marks to distinguish the birch from the background. Then they mixed a dark gray and painted between the trees.  For the second class, students painted a few of the trees a light gray to push it back into the space. Once they were dried, they painted black dash marks on the bark. The leaves were created by dabbing a corner of a sponge in warm Fall colors. I love how they turned out.

Although I'm happy with them, it could have taken less time. This lesson took four classes, but I think it could have easily taken three at the most if I had given students colored sulphite paper. However, the background wouldn't have been as interesting.

Kindergarten- Fall Trees

Kindergarteners are starting off the year learning about color.  After reading them a fun book called Color Dance, students learned about primary colors and warm and cool colors (secondary colors will come later, starting off simple for now!). For the first part of the lesson, students painted circular clouds  of warm Fall colored leaves for their tree. Once that was dry, I dropped a tiny blob of ink at the bottom of their paper and they blew the ink through a straw for the trunk and spread it out into branches. It helps to tilt the paper down so the ink can flow better, and we don't want purple faced kinders! For the second class, students used cool colors to paint the sky. 

This is a favorite lesson of mine because students have so much fun mixing colors, especially seeing the water turn into a delicious "pink lemonade" or purple "Gatorade". It's a magical process. Plus, they get to blow ink through a straw and that is always a hit. 

2nd Grade: Positive and Negative Leaf Prints

                                                               

Positive and Negative prints

I borrowed this fantastic idea from the fantastic Cassie Stephens! It's a great lesson- completely student lead and very successful and so satisfying; lifting up that sheet with the printed image never gets old! The night before the lesson I made gelatin (for the first time! Yay!) and by morning it was nice and firm and ready to go.

In the above photo, a student first inked the gelatin with black water soluble printing ink and then arranged her plants on top. 

When she was done, she placed a sheet of paper on top and rubbed it with her hands. We used drawing paper. 

Here she's gently pulling the paper off the gelatin. The gelatin is rubbery so the paper picks up the ink really well leaving a perfect silhouette of the plants. 

Making the negative print was already cool, but Cassie Stephens  had the awesome idea to make a positive image of the leaves as well! As you can see, when the students lifted off the leaves, there was a delightfully beautiful and detailed print of it. 

So purty!!

Other lovely examples.

Students also printed with flowers by pressing them face down on the ink and stamping them onto their paper. 

Fourth and Fifth: Chinese Bamboo Paintings

I love doing this lesson as it forces students to work sloooowly, methodically, and of course, learn about a different culture. In the Chinese culture, because bamboos can bend during storms, but are not easily broken, they symbolize strength and integrity.  Students first mixed black sumi ink and green paint to create a dark green color for their bamboo. Beginning from the bottom of the paper, they painted upward in calm, confident strokes, lifting up their brush to make thin gaps for the bamboo nodes. For the delicate stems, students used just the tips of their round brush to create the thinnest lines possible. I told them this part needed to be fast or else their lines will be bumpy and "nervous". One of the funnest steps to this project was making a chop of their names. After coming up with an interesting  signature that fit inside a tiny square, they carved it in reverse on a styrofoam square. Then they glued the styrofoam onto a wooden block and stamped it on their painting. Finished!

Second and Third: Saguaro Paintings

As I drove home a little later than usual from work, I noticed the gorgeous sunset and the striking contrast made by the shadowed trees in the foreground. I had to make a lesson out of this as it is a picture that students see everyday.  Students learned the wet-on-wet technique in which they sprayed their paper with water and painted on the paper with watercolor.  This created really cool effects and the students loved watching the colors branch out and move around. Once their sky dried, they painted their foreground black and the middle ground a lighter color since it's farther away. Since we're living in a desert, I thought it was appropriate that students painted saguaros and palm trees! 

First grade: Sky above Clouds III

               

Sky above Clouds III, 1963

I saw a great lesson at Painted Paper on this beautiful cloudscape painting by Georgia O'Keeffe and thought it would be a good example on perspective, tinting, and shading color. I first showed students other examples of her artwork, including her famous flowers, and then had students guess what this painting was capturing. I heard very interesting interpretations (icebergs on water, lily pads, rocks, etc) until a student finally guessed they were clouds. Then I had them think about how it was even possible for Georgia to see a cloudscape from that high and it didn't take long before they guessed a plane.  It's always fun pulling students into the artwork, to relate to them, and to the artist. They also remember the paintings much better this way as opposed to just telling them facts and dates, although that is very important also! 

For the execution part, students first sketched a horizon line at the top and painted the background starting from shades of blue by mixing with black. As they painted towards the top, they mixed tints of blue by adding white. The key was to blend the colors so they didn't just look like stripes. Once the background dried, we talked about how objects that are closest to you are big and objects that are farther back are small.  Students sketched their clouds with white chalk pastel (so if they need to change something, they can just rub it off or use an eraser) and gradually made their clouds smaller. This was challenging as they also had to retain the same shape for the clouds so the whole image would look organized. Overall, I thought they did a successful job!