My Artwork: Puddle Jumping Illustrations

I have several children's books in the works that I have started writing and illustrating over the past few years- but have still not completed...one day maybe I will have more time....  Here are a couple illustrations from my collection!  In honor of this rainy weather we've been having~

Adaptive Art: Potato Print Tulips

Before class, I cut several raw potatoes in half, and cut a "v" into the top.  I had trays (recycled lean cusine/smart ones trays work best for me!) of tempera paint ready to go.  I used spring colors purple, yellow, orange, and pink, and mixed a little white in to give it a marble effect.  I had students begin by tearing the dark green paper (12x18) and gluing it onto a bright colored background.  Next we tear medium green strips for stems, and bright green strips for leaves.  The paper tends to curl when torn into little pieces.  After gluing on stems and leaves, we printed the potatoes with the paint.  These turn out really cute!!

6th Grade: Chair Sculptures

I started this lesson by showing students a powerpoint of tons of artistic chairs.  We discussed how art can be both funtional and decorative.   Then I gave students a handout (that I will soon post!) with an empty chair (front view, side views, and back view) along with a list of things like: favorite hobbies, favorite food, favorite season, etc. etc.  They had to complete the list to brainstorm ideas for their chair and then sketch a rough draft of their chair design.  Next class I gave them a template (printed on thicker cardstock) to cut out.  (Will try to post that too!).  They had to assemble their chair and then add their decorative elements.  Finally, they wrote a sensory poem about their theme...I really tried pushing students to think creatively with their poem, but it was a challenge for a few of them.  Some of the details on these chairs blew me away!

2nd Grade: Memory Quilts & Faith Ringgold

We began this lesson by reading Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold.  We discussed several things after: the life and art of Faith Ringgold, what a quilt is, how artists tell people stories in their art, and what our favorite memories were.  After reading the book the first day, students sketched out a plan for their favorite memory to be made into a quilt.  Second day, we discussed collage techniques and cut and glued the whole time.  Last day, we glued wallpaper squares (pre-cut by me) all around the border.  Finally we shared them with the class, and they had to guess what the memory was.  Fun, fun!
*For wallpaper, I just went into a Benjamin Moore shop, and asked if they had any old wallpaper books they were getting rid of.  Another idea would be to save any wrapping paper scraps throughout the year.

3rd Grade: Things 1 and 2/Tints and Shades

After talking about Things 1 and 2 from The Cat in the Hat, we learned about tints and shades.  Each student started by drawing the faces for their "things" in black marker on white paper (12x18).  They choose one paint color to start with, and I give them their color with black and white on their pallette.  They must mix white and black to create tints and shades in the hair.  I told them they could trade paint palettes with someone at their table to get a second color for Thing 2.  Once dry, they cut them out and glue onto black bacground, and write the names.  Great way to introduce tinting and shading...kids loves this!  One student (after my demo) said, "It's like we're giving them highlights!) Haha!

2nd Grade: Cat in the Hat

After reading a bit from the Cat In The Hat, we used tracers to trace and cut out the face, bowtie, and hat.  I showed a step by step process of drawing the face on my marker board, and finally they glue everything onto the background color of their choice and added some whiskers and designs on the tie.  These turn out really cute when everyone chooses a different color background!

Art Room: Mona Lisa Olympics