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! 

Day of the Dead Masks

This idea as well as many others, was inspired by www.artprojectsforkids.org (a fantastic website for elementary art lesson plans).  We began by learning about the Mexican holiday of Day of the Dead or Dios De Los Muertos.  I explained how it was a holiday that celebrated loved ones who have passed away in a joyous manner.  We created Day of the Dead masks by first drawing the other half of a skull (I gave all students a piece of card stock with half a skull photocopied onto it).  We discussed symmetry and after the skull was drawn drew symmetrical designs on it.  We reviewed cutting skills and how to cut the eyes out by bending the paper and cutting a small slit to put a scissor blade through.  The finishing touch was a taped on popsicle stick so that they could be used as a mask.

Halloween Silhouettes

My new school was very into celebrating Halloween this year so third graders created these Halloween silhouettes.  This is a lesson I have seen on several different blogs.  We looked at images of silhouettes and discussed how they are created- objects that are lit up from behind.  Next we brainstormed different Halloween images and I did a demonstration.  We used a black crayon and 6x18 piece of orange paper.  Students began by drawing a horizon line towards the bottom of the paper and then added silhouetted details making sure to color everything in black.  I stressed the idea of just showing the shape or contour of the objects.

Pattern Pumpkins

This idea came from one of my former colleagues.  After reviewing different types of lines, second graders drew pumpkins with black crayon on orange paper and filled in the pumpkin sections with a variety of lines.  This was completed in one class.

Ezra Jack Keats at the Jewish Museum

I saw a fantastic exhibit at The Jewish Museum with a good friend of mine who is also an elementary art teacher.  There is an Ezra Jack Keats exhibit showcasing the original art work from his illustrated children's books.  This includes every page of his classic  The Snowy Day.  His paintings and collages are truly inspired.  If you are in the area check it out before January 29!

I am back!

I know it has been a while since I posted but I am back!  Things have been kind of busy over the past few months, a lot of major life changes all at once.  I am no longer living in RI and working in MA.  I have moved back to NY, Brooklyn to be exact and am now working at a charter school in Harlem.  I have been working there for about a month and a half now and feel like I am beginning to get the hang of things.  There is a very specific culture in the school that I have had to learn but I am ready to start focusing on my lessons again.  To help get my blog noticed more I have become a blog catalog member and am including a link to verify here.

Please check in for more fantastic elementary art lessons coming soon!

Musical Drawings

 

This lesson focused on the ideas of composition, balance and rhythm.  We talked about how many artists have made art works about musicians and musical instruments.  We looked at different examples and then talked about creating our composition.  Students had to include 4 items in their drawings- a keyboard, an instrument of their choice, a music note and a 4th musical object of their choice.  We drew on black paper and colored with oil pastels.  We reviewed blending oil pastels and outlined drawings with black when finished.  These were really fun, bold projects.

Recylced Book Boxes

I found the idea for this on the Dick Blick website and I had the perfect supplies thanks to the Rhode Island Recycling Center.  I had these boxes that were bright pink with gold edges.  We wanted to turn them into books that held objects instead of pages.  we drew lines around the edges to simulate pages and covered the outside of our box with torn tissue paper.  After much trial and error I found that this was the best technique to cover the designs on the box.  We then used metallic paint to decorate our boxes.  Students had the choice of painting abstract designs or images.  Next time I try this I might give them a more specific theme- some students just didn't know what to do.

Metal Tooling Mythological Creatures

We looked at different examples of mythological creatures in Eric Carle's book Dragons, Dragons.  Students drew a picture of a mythological creature that already exists or could make up their own.  We then discussed the process of metal tooling or repousse.  We made a drawing on scrap paper and then traced it onto a piece of 6x6 aluminum using a wooden stylus.  We made sure to have a piece of felt beneath our aluminum so that there would be something to press into when making our indentations.  When our relief was complete we painted over it with black india ink and immediately wiped it off with a paper towel.  This left the ink in the grooves making their drawing stand out.  The last step was to create a frame- we did this by tracing a square in the center of a 9x9 piece of black paper.  The aluminum was taped to the frame from behind.  Students could decorate the frame with oil pastels if they chose.  The students loved this project!  The results were really successful.

Hot Air Balloons

1st graders drew hot air balloons after looking at various images and discussing how they work.  We talked about how the closer hot air balloons appear larger than the hot air balloons that are further away.  We also discuseed how to draw a basket that looks three dimensional.  Students added other details in the sky, baskets and down below.  This lesson was borrowed from Mrs. Brown's website.

Frida Kahlo Inspired Self-portraits

We looked at several of Frida Kahlo's self-portraits.  We discussed how she includes backgrounds and objects that are important to her in her paintings.  Students were asked to choose their favorite place and two of their favorite things to include in their self- portraits.  We did this project in phases, first we painted our background, then we drew and colored our self-portraits with crayons and finally drew our favorite objects.  We cut and glued our self-portraits and favorite objects onto our background.

Special Needs Students

I also came across Adventures in Art which is a fantastic blog about teaching art to students with special needs.  This teacher posts great lesson ideas and material modifications.

Interactive Art Blogs

I found this great list of interactive art blogs on Mrs. Picasso's Art Room blog.  Check it out!

Cherry Blossom Prints

3rd graders made cherry blossom collage/prints inspired by Van Gogh's Cherry Blossom painting.  We discussed his composition- how he doesn't show the whole tree- just a section of branches and flowers.  Students started by drawing and cutting out a branch to glue on a light blue background- this surprisingly took an entire class for most students.  The next week we discussed printmaking and cut a flower shape out of sticky backed foam (thank you yet again Rhode Island Recycling Center) which we stuck onto a piece of cardboard to create our printing plate.  We also used this time to draw and cut out some birds to include on our brances.  The third week students misxed their own shades of pink and painted their printing plates which they used to stamp their flowers.  I saw a similar lesson on a blog where the flowers were also collaged.  My students really enjoyed the printmaking process!