Birds of Winter

And we're back!

This week we returned to school. I had a work day yesterday and hung up several winter pieces that my students did before the break. Third grade created Penguin Mix Media pictures (inspired by project I saw on the Kids Artists blog) . We used the following materials and this took two forty-minute classes to complete.

Materials:
Black wrapping paper (but any old paper could do)
White scrap paper
Orange scrap paper (construction scraps)
White tempera
9 x 12" blue construction paper
Wrapping paper in all sorts of prints

Just some pointers. I used black wrapping paper because it was shiny like the body of a penguin would be. The body is an upside down U or a rainbow. We glued those down on the blue paper. Assembled the remainder of the body parts using simple shapes and then used old christmas wrapping paper for the mittens and ear muffs. Scrap wrapping paper left over from Christmas is my new favorite material to work with in collages. The second day we painted the snow with sponges on the ground then forks for the snowflakes in the sky. These always have fun results!

My fourth graders created Winter Cardinal paintings over the three weeks before we let out for the holidays. I got this idea from www.deepspacesparkle.com and really liked the way we were able to discuss the difference between positive and negative space during the course of this project.

The first day of the project we looked at a picture of a cardinal and drew out the bird and tree. I emphasized the fact that healthy tree branches grow up diagonally...not down. Otherwise something bad has happened to their tree. We then only painted the negative space (empty space) light blue. The second session students painted the positive space (objects, important things) in the art work using red, yellow, black, and brown. The last session we outlined with sharpie (brown and black can work well) and lastly painted snowflakes with the handle end of a paintbrush. I have so many with excellent results and the faculty love them!

This first week back is short so to keep all my classes on schedule we are doing some one day cartoon drawings. Next week I will begin my African unit. All three grade levels will create their own African inspired art... So Excited!!

Busy with Winter Works

Busy week in the schools. Trying to hang lots of winter artwork, much will stay up til the middle of January. I have a few examples of finished reindeer. They turned out quite nicely I must say! Students painted the snow on the ground with a sponge brush (tapping only, no rubbing) and the snowflakes using the eraser end of a pencil.

2nd Grade Reindeer. Completed in two weeks.

My 1st graders completed their penguins. They are so cute! I love them. I got this idea from the Georgetown Elementary Art Blog online. This project took two forty/thirty minute classes.
First week students created a crayon rubbing of different textures with white crayon on white paper. Then students painted over it with a watercolor wash.
The second week we constructed the penguins using ovals and squares. We used black, white, and orange construction paper. Penguins were then glued to the texture paper (I referred to it as ice).

Unfortunately the pictures don't do justice to the texture rubbings on the background, but they are most definitely there.

The expression of this penguin is my favorite!

I have two more teaching weeks with my Prek - 2nd graders so I've planned a lesson I'm calling Patterned Hot Cocoa Cups.

Teacher example

Students will fold a 9 x 12" white drawing paper into half (hamburger style), then a second time (hamburger style) to create a gride with four sections. Students then trace fold lines with a pencil. Students then trace a cocoa cup shape in each section, draw a unique pattern for each cup, then trace everything with a permanent marker.

I want students to start coloring part of their patterns and the table surface with crayon, then the following week we will paint the reminder of the picture with cake tempera (or watercolor would work fine too)

Also going to try a version of this with my fifth graders, however they will be designing the shape of their cups on their own and given specific color schemes to follow.

10 more teaching days til holiday break! :)