3D Gesture Drawings

This is a fun one day project, and a great way to engage your sports enthusiasts. Each artist created a figure in motion out of aluminum foil. We used a template I found online to make it easier to create a realistic figure. Then each student either laid the figure down on paper and traced an outline, or stood the figure up and traced its shadow. Once the shadow was filled in with sharpie, we hot glued the figure onto the paper. (I suggest using quality foil for this project). This was fun for everyone, and we followed up this project with a day of gesture drawing each other.

Solar Prints

What better way to welcome the first warm days of summer than making solar prints? 

My kindergarten artists were thrilled to be outside, and were mesmerized by the

magic of light. After a thorough demonstration, artists picked subjects from materials we had gathered outside and brought from our classrooms. They carefully arranged their items on clipboards so that they could work quickly once they got their light sensitive paper. After creating interesting compositions, we let our prints develop in the sun and soak in a cool water bath. It did feel like

magic watching the paper change color in the sun and then again in the water bath.

    

Color Wheel Fun!!

After a long Pacific Northwest winter, we are all excited to see color. This project definitely lifted our spirits! After talking about the color wheel, artists created their own Color Wheel Flowers. We worked together to make sure our primary and secondary colors were in the correct spots. I also put up this display to help. Finally, I challenged each artist to be a detective and find scrapbook paper petals to complete their color wheel. By the end of this project, everyone had a good grasp of color and color mixing. It also was a great way to decorate the hallways for the arrival of Spring!

 

Lois Ehlert's Collage Birds

I borrowed this amazing project from Deep Space Sparkle. I know that there are tons of great art teacher blogs out there, and I am excited to get better acquainted with more this year. I have to say that Mrs. Knight's Smartest Artists and Deep Space Sparkle always leave me inspired and excited for my next project. Thank you Hope and Patty!

This project was a huge hit. We started by designing our collage paper, and then created the winter trees background. I made some templates of bird's heads, bodies, feathers, and tails that I put out on each table, but also encouraged artists to create their own birds. The final pieces are gorgeous, and remind me of my favorite Maine woods:)

Bird Nests!

I saw this project online, and I wish I could remember where so I could give this art teacher credit!

My Kindergarten artists LOVED this project. It was a perfect mid-winter project, and a great way 

to introduce the principle of emphasis. I also used it as an opportunity to weave in some math practice. The students had to count out all of the materials they needed to create these amazing nests.

Watercolor and Silhouette Winter Scenes

This is a great lesson for 5th graders! I love how unique each piece is, and how beautiful the silhouettes look against the colorful backgrounds. After a quick review of how to apply salt to watercolor to create texture, and how to create a landscape space for their silhouettes, the class got right to work designing backgrounds. I showed them how to tape off the edges with masking tape, so that the final piece would have a nice clean border. I also had the artists sketch out the silhouettes on black paper, and then cut them out. It was challenging to get to all those great negative spaces, and I think I will buy a few special collage scissors to have on hand for next year. Finally, we discussed how to best place the shapes on the background to create an interesting composition. I think they turned out great!!

Jacob Lawrence Unit

JACOB LAWRENCE UNIT

Jacob Lawrence is one of my all time favorites. I had a blast creating this unit, and my Studio Superstars jumped into the projects with two feet. I have to admit that I love art history, so I really try to find engaging ways to relay a lot of information about the life of the artist to my students. For this unit, we started by checking out the interactive Jacob Lawrence site created by the Phillips Foundation, and a Jacob Lawrence "kit" full of posters, information, and activities that I borrowed from a local museum. After learning about Lawrence's life and work, we got busy creating. 

The Kindergarten and 1st grade artists used what they had learned about Lawrence's style and his love of Harlem to create their own city mural together. Each artist picked a background color and used bubble wrap, plastic cups, sponges, and cardboard shapes to create buildings, houses, hospitals, schools, etc. The artists loved this process! We let our designs dry, and then cut them out and modge podged them to a pre-painted background. I have included a view snapshots from our mural below.

In the above photo you can see all the great posters I was able to use from the teaching "kit." I also made a bunch of small color copies of Lawrence's work that I split up into envelopes. I put up a few questions about Lawrence's work and style, and then passed out an envelope to each student. Together we discovered the answer to each question by sorting the contents in the envelopes correctly. The final result was a great review, and an interesting wall of Lawrence work and color to enjoy while creating.

The third grade artist were inspired to create their own mini series. Each series told either a migration or a hero story, and the drawings were created by applying one color over the three pieces before moving on to the next color.

The fifth graders used Twistees to recreate some of the subjects of 

Lawrence's famous paintings. It was fascinating to see which subjects students were drawn too, 

and it gave each student a unique opportunity to get to know a famous work of art.

Welcome Back Fall 2013

WELCOME BACK!!! Let's Make Art!!!

I had a great summer playing with my girls at the beach, seeing friends and family, making art, hiking, and eating ice cream! I spent the last few weeks of summer taking an incredible class through The Art of Ed. This group is amazing, and offers online professional development classes geared just for art teachers. 

I took the "Managing the Art Room" course, and am thrilled I took it right before the start of school. The course gave me so many great ideas and insights on how to better manage a busy art room. I created this new Classroom Management Plan, which is working well so far.

I also finished organizing my supplies, and put up a bunch of new visual aides to help brighten the space. My goal is to create a unique space where the artists are comfortable, inspired, and excited to create.

I finished color coding everything which I hope will make 

getting supplies and clean up a lot more efficient.

These are some of the new posters I created to help with clean up.

I had fun creating a scavenger hunt for art supplies along 

with a Prezi about rules, expectations, etc. for the first day of classes. 

This year, I am starting with a unit on Van Gogh. 

I saw this great idea on pinterest to create an artist facebook bulletin board. 

It has been a great way to grab students' attention, and I love how it creates such an easy 

platform to share a lot of background information about an artist.

I am ready for another amazing year with 

Ms. London's Studio Superstars!!! 

Check back to see how our Van Gogh projects turn out!