Art + Nature

In this art workshop series children found inspiration in nature.  Using natural materials to create art works we explored painting, collaging and sculpting with sticks, leaves, flowers, berries, rocks and shells avocado pits and more.

 

 

For the past year and a half I have worked as a visual arts educator at Little Missioary's Day Nursery where my focus has been on exploring materials and processes with my 2-4 year old students.  We were able to hold a student at show at the James Fuentes Gallery.  See the results below!

Brooklyn Bridge Silhouettes

2nd graders drew Brooklyn Bridge silhouettes after looking at Walker Evan's Brooklyn Bridge photograph.  We discussed perspective and what it would look like if you were standing on the bridge looking at the towers.  Students were instructed how to draw the image and then colored their drawings with black crayon.  The last step was to add a sunset using colored pencils.  The results were stunning!

Brooklyn Bridge Drawings

 

2nd grade is learning all about the Brooklyn Bridge.  After their field trip we discussed what the Brooklyn Bridge looks like and what all the different components are called- towers, deck, cable, hangers, anchors, etc.  After looking at some photos 2nd graders were instructed how to draw the Brooklyn Bridge.  They added details and textures to make it more realistic.  When we were done drawing we outlined our lines with black sharpie and erased our left over pencil marks.  They came out great!

Hot Air Balloons

This is an image from a first grade bulletin board that I hung.  We made hot air balloon drawings.  I gave students a blue paper with four different sized circles on them.  We looked at images of hot air balloons and discussed what shapes we needed to complete our drawings.  Students used different designs, lines and shapes to decorate their balloons.

Me and My Shadow

1st graders drew self-portraits with shadows.  We began by reading Dr. Seuss' The Shape of Me.  We talked about what a silhouette was and how it looks like a shadow.  Students were given a long narrow piece of paper with a lightly photocopied person image on the top half.  The folded the paper in half so that the persons feet were touching the fold.  They then decorated their person to look like themselves using marker.  The next step was to cut them out keeping the paper folded in half.  When they opened it up they had a mirror reflection of their self-portrait which they colored black with a crayon.  They really enjoyed this project and couldn't wait to take them home!

The Lorax

In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2nd and the opening of the Lorax movie, 1st graders drew their own version of the Lorax.  We began with a read aloud and then a demonstration of how to draw the Lorax by breaking it down into simple shapes.  I also gave students a How To Draw paper showing them the steps one by one.  The drawings came out great!