Happy New Year’s Card

I’ve collected a variety of decorative letters from clipartETC.com and arranged them on a jpeg file that you can print and hand color for a quick but fancy Happy New Year sign.

1. Click on the image above to download my prepared jpeg file. Print on a sheet of heavy 8.5" x 11" paper with the landscape setting and all footers removed.
2. Use ultra fine point markers or pencils to fill in the letters and surrounding shapes.

Read more »

Kandinsky Circles Mural

Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian artist from the late 1800s, was inspired by the loose painting style of the Impressionists and ended up pioneering the abstract art movement. This mural is a copy of one of his most popular paintings, and can easily be adapted for larger or smaller classrooms.
This mural contains 12 pages and measures 35"x 23" when complete. For larger classrooms, just print extra pages and add another row. You can purchase my pdf file with instructions for just $5. Click the “Add to Cart” button below to make your payment and receive download instructions.

Read more »

Pop Art Wreath Mural

This wreath mural is full of simple graphic shapes, and just the right size to fit on any standard door. I've included 3 versions: square, with and without background patterns and circlular. (Click on image to see examples.)

Each wreath mural has nine pages and measures 23"x 23" when complete. You can purchase my pdf file with instructions for just $5. Click the “Add to Cart” button below to make your payment and receive download instructions.

Read more »

Tissue Paper Poinsettias

Tearing shapes from tissue paper can create some very organic shapes, and end up looking pretty similar to poinsettia leaves.
1. Give each student some rectangles of red, green and yellow tissue paper (the craft kind, NOT any that says ‘bleeding paper‘). Show them that there is a grain to the paper which makes it easier to tear in one direction than the other. They are to tear petals, leaves and a center for 3 flowers.
2. After all the shapes are torn, give each student a brush and 50/50 water+glue solution. They need to cover a white sheet of paper with the glue, and then arrange their flowers on top of it. When complete, another layer of the glue goes over the entire paper to seal the shapes down to the paper. Let dry for a few hours.
3. With an oil pastel, color around all of the torn shapes, leaving a bit of white edge around the tissue for a more dramatic effect. I like the Portfolio pastels for this because they are so smooth to color with, and make a nice contrast to the bumpy leaves.

Read more »

Paper Mache Piggy Bank

This was my third after-school paper mache project this year, and I must say that I learned a LOT from doing this with 20 students, mostly grades kinder and 1st. These pigs took 5 class sessions to complete.
1. The first class was just about having each student cover a 12" balloon with a couple of layers of newspaper and paper mache. My favorite recipe is posted here. One thing I learned was to tie the balloon really tight, as it was best if it stayed inflated through the 2nd class. Students that had only one layer of newspaper in the first class (and popped balloons) had shapes that collapsed in the second.
2. The students covered their balloons with a second layer of newspaper. In hindsight, I would have asked them to place their strips in a different direction so that they could see their progress more easily.
3. To smooth out the body and cover up the darkness of the newspaper, the students covered their ballon with a layer of mache covered paper towel strips.
4. To prep the pigs for the students, I used small white styrofoam cups (the 2" tall type from Smart & Final) and glued them with Tacky glue to the bottom for feet, and over the knot of the balloon for the snout. A curved section of the cups was also cut and glued for the ears. This was done a day before class to make sure the glue would dry. During class, time the students made one more paper towel mache covering, making sure they covered the ears, nose and feet of their pig.
5. At last, paint day! I limited the students to one acrylic color (pink) for budget reasons, but let them add any decorations they wished. After the paint dried, I cut the coin slots with a razor knife and sprayed the entire pig with a shiny varnish.

Read more »

Abstract Shape Drawing

I’m finding that almost anything looks good when drawn on black paper, and colored heavily with oil pastels. This is more of an exercise, but can look like a cool abstract drawing when complete.
1. Give each student a sheet of black construction paper, and ask them to draw one circle, one square and one triangle, with space in between. They may fill the page with more of these shapes, with some of them overlapping. When the page is filled, they need to decide which of the overlapping shapes are in front, and erase all the lines that are inside it. Lastly, they add at least two lines that divide up the background. The lines may “jump” over any objects in front.
2. When the pencil drawing is complete, all the lines are traced with a black pastel.
3. All the enclosed shapes are filled in with pastel, along with all the background areas.

Read more »

Ceramic Snowman

Sometimes the simplest of projects can turn out to be anything but. My students loved making these snowman, but they did turn out to be a challenge in making clay pieces connect to each other. Whether it was a nose or hat or head, we all learned a lot about what it takes to keep clay shapes from falling apart.

1. The students got a handful of clay, warmed and softened it up with water and formed the small, medium and large balls of their snowman. To connect the shapes, they needed to score (scratch with a fork) the sides of the balls that would touch each other. After securely pressing the scored edges to each other, they could add decorations as desired: carrot noses, buttons, hats, etc. What turned out to be key in making connections was having very soft and damp clay, very defined scratches, and literally “screwing” the shapes into each other. Clay shrinks as it dries so smooth edges just seem to pop apart. Pipe cleaners were stuck into the sides for temporary arms.
2. After drying for several days in the sun, the pipe cleaner arms were removed and the clay was fired in a kiln.
3. The pipe cleaners were placed back in the arm holes, and the students painted the snowman with glaze.
4. The pipe cleaners were removed, and the snowmen were fired for the last time. When cooled, small twigs were placed in the arm holes.

Read more »

Pastel Penguin

Penguins are a very popular subject matter. Looking at some large photos before beginning will give students a chance to see colors and detail they may not have noticed before.

1. I first gave the students oval cardboard templates about 5" tall by 3" wide to trace the body on colored construction paper. They then drew the head, wings and feet. Circle eyes and a triangle beak completed the face. A horizon line was added to the background along with sky details.
2. The students then outlined their drawings with a thin black marker and colored in the shapes with oil pastel. Because this image has so much white, it's fun to do on almost any colored paper so that the white can be colored in.

CA Visual Art Standard: Creative Expression, Grade Kindergarten
2.6 Use geometric shapes/forms (circle, triangle, square) in a work of art.

Read more »

Homemade Holiday Gift Box

I admit I get an urge to make more crafty things this time of year. But when I am looking for a good gift project, I tend to end up more in that camp. But hey, it’s all creative, which is the bottom line for me.
1. I found a box pattern online that I adapted to fill a standard letter paper. You can download my template here. I recommend that you copy it on at least cover, if not card stock paper.
2. After cutting out the top and bottom, it really helps to score the fold lines. This can be done by taking a ruler and semi-sharp edge like that of a butter knife, and running it several times over each fold line. Try to make a ridge, but not any tears.
3. After all 8 dashed lines have been scored, make the 4 cuts on the solid black lines. Fold on all the dashed lines in towards the middle of the box. See diagram for illustration on how the ends need to stand up like “C” shaped walls, and then the long sides go up and over, and then get tucked inside. These edges may be glued in place once you see that they fit.
4. The sleeve is easy as you just need to score 4 lines, and then wrap around the box bottom, overlap one side, and glue or tape in place. Once you see where the fold lines occur, the sleeve sides can all be colored in and decorated. Now you just have to decide what special goody to put in your homemade match box!

Read more »

Warhol Style Christmas Tree Mural

 Andy Warhol (1923-1987) was one of the 20th century’s most creative artists who defined a decade with his groundbreaking Pop Art. His commercial art background must have influenced him when he created this Christmas Tree print in 1958.
Note: I love a new coloring product that I discovered and used on my sample, Crayola Twistable Slick Stix. I like the set of twelve which include a pretty gold and silver, and are super smooth to color with. They are much cleaner to work with than regular oil pastels and seem to leave little to no residue on the paper.

My mural has 24 pages measures 37" by 50" when complete. You can purchase my pdf file with instructions for just $5. Click the “Add to Cart” button below to make your payment and receive download instructions.

Read more »

Nutcracker Painting

One way to have students draw LARGE is to instruct them that their art must touch the top and the bottom of a piece of paper.
1. This project requires 10" x 18" paper, tempera paints, black sharpie marker and a gold opaque metallic marker. Have the students fold the 10" x 18" paper in half, crease, and open.
2. Show them how to draw in pencil a nutcracker that has a hat that touches the top edge, a belt that is on the fold, and shoes that are sitting on the bottom edge. Fill in the nutcracker with details such as boots, shirt button detail and face. The shoulders should nearly touch the sides of the paper.
3. Paint the nutcracker with tempera paints. Lots of red and black make for festive holiday colors.
4. Once the paint is dry, trace over the pencil lines with a black sharpie marker.
5. Use a gold opaque poster marker to fill in detail such as the buttons and cuffs.

Read more »

Crayon Resist Snowflakes

If you go to the holiday decoration section at Michael’s, you can find these amazing laser-cut wood snowflake decorations that are cheap (about three for $1) and perfect for making crayon rubbings. These are the same snowflakes I used for the Plaster Paperweight project.

1. I made this picture with a white crayon, but younger students could use bright colors they could see more easily. I placed the snowflake under my paper, and rubbed over it with the side of a large crayon, going back and forth in many directions.
2. Liquid watercolor was painted over all the picture, and dabbed with a paper towel to soak up the paint on the crayon.

Read more »

How to Draw a Winter Tree

Winter brings bare trees, and the to chance study and draw them without any worries about leaves. I’ve posted my favorite method of drawing "Y Trees” before (click here) but this time it’s with a winter theme.
1. I drew a large “Y” just using a black oil pastel. Then I added more “Y”s on the branches until it was filled.
2. I made the trunk and middle branches thicker, ending with just points at the tips of all the branches.
3. I drew a horizon line with a blue pastel, and filled in the sky as solid as I could. The darker, the better.
4. After mixing up some watery white tempera paint, I used a brush to shake drops all over my picture. No flinging, just shaking up and down. Let dry flat before you pick up your masterpiece.

Read more »

Watercolor Resist Snowflakes

Here's a simple crayon and watercolor painting idea that was inspired by an illustration on a stock art website.
1. As the students will first need to draw with a white crayon on white paper, I've found it helpful to trace 9 large circles very lightly in pencil to use as a guide. As a starting point, I encouraged the students to make an "X" in the middle of each circle, and then a horizontal line through the middle so their flake will have 6 legs. After that, they may add dots or arrows to each, but they must press very hard and draw slowly to leave a lot of crayon on the paper.
2. Once you are certain that there is a snoflake drawn in the middle of each circle, pass out lots of liquid watercolors. When the students fill in each pencil circle with paint, the snowflake will "magically" appear. A simple project with beautiful results, I think.

Read more »

Stained Glass Nativity Mural

I am proud to unveil my newest stained glass mural design, a nativity manger scene. I love the way the colors stand out against the heavy black edges. Just click on the image if you want to see how the template looks before coloring.

This mural has 30 pages to color and is 36" by 60" when complete. It also contains a single page color copy of this sample posted. Students could refer to it if you would like your final mural to look somewhat like mine.

You can purchase my pdf file with instructions for just $5. Click the “Add to Cart” button below to make your payment and receive your download instructions.

Read more »

Line Art Leaves

I tried something new with this project. I told my students that contrary to the popular belief, there was not going to be a prize for finishing first, but rather this time there would actually be a prize for the student who finished last. (Their homeroom teachers usually had some kind of reward system already set up.) It actually worked out well as I saw a lot of slow and careful work being done, especially from those that always seemed to rush.

1. I had large tabloid paper and large cardboard stencils of three different kinds of leaves (oak, beech and sassafras.) Each student was asked to trace at least two of their favorite leaves, and then draw the veins inside. The veins should divide the leaf up into large sections.
2. When they were happy with their drawing, they switched to Sharpie markers and traced all their lines. Within each leaf shape, they were asked to draw a pattern of lines or shapes, changing whenever they got to a new section. Both leaves were to be entirely filled in.
3. When complete with the inside, they were to trace what I call “energy lines” around the outside until the paper was filled. I emphasized throughout the project that nothing was to be filled in. I think it made the student’s think more. . . and made my markers last longer too.

Read more »

Acrylic Dry Brush Landscape Painting

This lesson was to show young students how to layer color when painting with opaque paints, such as acrylic or tempera. Their tendency is to mix and mix and mix, which only creates a muddy palette. If you put some restrictions in place, the outcome is much cleaner and brighter.
1. I had the students paint the bottom third of a horizontal paper white. (This example was done with acrylic, but tempera would work fine too.) Then they chose a main cool color for the sky, as this was to be a winter scene. All the paint needs to be spread thin so that it starts to dry pretty quickly.
2. Next, an accent color was added to the sky as small dots of paint that were brushed with just a few quick strokes. Another accent color was chosen for the ground, and also smoothed with just a few strokes. (This student chose pink for the sky and green for the ground.)
3. After the sky and ground are dry, or even mostly dry, a black fence is painted in with thin horizontal and vertical lines.
4. Snow is added with white paint in the sky, on the fence and on the tree.

Read more »

Turkey Coloring Page

Need a quick activity for class or family get-together? Here’s a turkey that I drew (inspired by a stock art illustration again) that can be customized in many ways. Click on the image to get the blank page to print. Happy coloring!

Read more »

One More Turkey Drawing

I’ve found a lot of great drawing ideas over at www.fotosearch.com. If you ever get stuck for new ways of drawing common items, try searching their clip art to see what comes up.
1. I started by drawing my turkey on black paper with a pencil. If you want to see the steps, follow the project I have posted here and then add some more details and patterns to the feathers and body.
2. Trace all your pencil lines with a white Marvy Opaque Stix. The white is really fun to draw with as the line first seems clear, and then turns bright white after a few seconds.

Read more »

Watercolor Still Life

When it comes to painting, most children need to practice looking at subtle changes in color. The skilled student may already see this, but others may have not been asked to think about it before. In this case, they are challenged to make as many values as they can with just one color and a little water.

1. On a chalk board, draw three simple still life shapes: the coffee cup, the wine glass and a bowl. Ask the students to draw all three in pencil on a 9" x 12" watercolor paper, but note that the items MUST all overlap in some fashion. Add a table edge line somewhere in the middle.
2. Give each student a single dark crayon for them to trace all their pencil lines.
3. Give each student a watercolor set, brush, water, and mixing tray. Tell them they are to use only ONE of the colors in the tray. With this color, they may add water to make different values, for example, very dark red, medium dark red, light red and very light red. As they mix the colors, they should paint in each section of their drawing. The goal is to not have any similar values next to each other.

Read more »

Turkey Scratch Art Drawing

This scratchy-looking technique is called “sgraffito”, and it works well with drawing something like a turkey with all it’s lines and feathers.
1. I made a simple line drawing of a turkey for the students (that you can download here) as they are a rather unusual and complex shape. Have the students trace the lines with a black Sharpie marker to thicken the lines.
2. The turkeys are to be colored in with oil pastels. Important: this layer needs to be thick and it really helps to use some very soft oil pastels like the Portfolio brand. I’m not sure that the less expensive ones will work very well as they tend to be harder and not as easy to get really good coverage with.
3. With a black pastel, the entire picture is colored over, pressing hard to cover as much of the color as possible.
4. With a wooden stylus or other sharp object like an embroidery needle, scratch away the black pastel to reveal the color underneath. Encourage the students to think about and change the direction of the scratching often to give their shapes more separation and dimension.

Read more »

Tempera Turkey Painting

This project uses the same drawing technique that I posted about here, but is drawn in a large format (about 12" x 18") and painted with tempera paint.

I let the students finish the feathers in whatever manner they wished – either realistic or with fun patterns. My goal was to have them practice their radial drawing with the feather lines that went out from the body. I compared it to the lines that radiate out from the sun, which most students seemed to grasp, even the 1st graders.

Read more »

Paper Mache Bowls

My after-school paper mache class just finished their bowl project, and I love how they turned out. The key is to just not take any shortcuts. This bowl is made from four mache sessions: two with newspaper and two with paper towels.

1. I have posted the steps to this project before, which you can see by clicking here. I had previously instructed students to do just three layers of mache, but you can see the difference that is made by adding one more layer. I love how thick and strong this one is. It stands about 12" high. This bowl was made by a talented kinder (with a little help from his mom).

Read more »

Tissue Paper Collage

This is really good for young kids (age 5 and 6) who may not have used a paint brush before. The only catch is finding liquid starch, which I have only found at the Von’s grocery store chain in LA.

1. You can tell the students that they will be making a collage with just warm colors: red, yellow and orange. Give them a few dozen tissue paper squares in these colors, approx. 2" in size.
2. I used a parchment-type paper (wax paper would work too) for the base, and gave the students all a cup of starch and brush. The starch works well because it is thick and not too sticky. Show the students how to brush a little starch on their base paper, and then place a tissue square on top. They need to repeat this, overlapping as much as possible, until the paper is filled.
3. The last step is to brush a final layer of starch over all the tissue so that everything is wet. Any dry spots will not have the shiny, finished look to them. Let dry for a day. When dry, one option is to draw a large leaf shape, cut out and hang it in your window for a beautiful fall decoration.

Read more »

Friendship Bracelets

This project was a hit not only with girls but with boys as well. I think they are just “surfer” looking enough to work for both.

1. I read somewhere that these bracelets are made with 6 colors, one for each letter in the word F-R-I-E-N-D. I cut about a yard of each color and taped them to the back of a piece of 8.5" x 11" chip board. I then taped the top down with the yarn lying smooth and placed a clip at the bottom. Keeping the yarn snuggly in place while working produces more consistent knots.
2. The process of making the bracelet is releasing one yarn at a time from the clip, wrapping a double knot around each successive yarn, and then securing it to the board again with the clip. Here are some good instructions with 4-lines, but the process is the same.
3. I've found after working with many 20+ classrooms that some students will learn the steps by seeing a large example done on a board, some may be able to work from a printout, and some will just need to see the steps one-on-one. Whatever the case, it just takes patience to get through the initial “I need help” phase.
4. When the bracelet gets to be about 6" long, I had the students tie a large knot at both ends, and then tie them together. Softer yarn works best for this so it doesn't get too bulky. This project takes a bit of prep time, but every year I am so happy I did it because of all the students that proudly wear their bracelets all around school!
CA Visual Art Standard: Creative Expression, Grade Four
2.4 Use fibers or other materials to create a simple weaving.

Read more »

Lots of Logs Painting

I was inspired by a print at “Geninne’s Art Blog” and turned it into a study using neutral colors.

In third grade, students can start to learn about colors that are not on the basic color wheel, like the neutral colors brown, black, white and gray. I like to associate them with nature, so this log painting helps to make that connection.
1. Give the students a square piece of paper. They are to draw a square frame near the edge, and lots of circles that fit inside. The goal is to have lots of different sizes, and all of the spaces used up. Tip: the younger the student, the larger the paper should be.
2. Using brown, gray and black and white crayons, they may draw rings inside their logs. Some of the rings could be filled in with gray, if they wish. When finished, all of the space between the logs needs to be colored in heavily with a dark brown or black.
3. To keep things simple, give the students just strong brown watercolor paint and water. They should use the darkest brown first to paint some rings, let them dry for a few minutes, and then paint the rest carefully with diluted brown. If they rush it the edges will just run together, so patience is required.

CA Visual Art Standard: Creative Expression, Grade Three
2.2 Mix and apply...paints to create tints, shades, and neutral colors.

Read more »

Rousseau Tiger Drawing

Henri Rousseau was a French artist that lived in the late 1800s. He tried to paint in the schooled manner of the traditional artists, but it was the innocence and charm of his work that won him the admiration of many avant-garde artists such as Paul Klee.
1. If possible, show a poster of Rousseau's “Surprised! Storm in the Forest” painting to the students. Impress upon them that it was Rousseau's loving attention to detail that made him an exceptional artist. Encourage them to do the same.
2. Give each student a 9" x 12" piece of paper and a 6" cardboard circle template. Have them trace the circle in the center of the paper.
3. Show the students how to draw a simple tiger face, starting with two eyes, two lines going down the center, a upside down triangle nose and two circles drawn to the sides. Whiskers are added, then ears, body and tail. Lastly, triangles may be drawn all around the edges for a tiger look.
4. After the tiger is drawn, ask the students to draw lots of leaves, some that are in the back of the tiger and some are in front. This is important to make the tiger look like he is hiding in the leaves, like in Rousseau's painting.
5. When the drawing is complete, the students should trace all the lines with a black marker and then color everything in with oil pastels.

Read more »

Paul Klee Mural

Paul Klee was a Swiss artist (1879–1940) who experimented and eventually mastered color theory. This mural of his famous “Castle and Sun” painting may be colored to match the original as shown here, or just filled in with your student’s favorite colors.

My mural has 24 pages to color and measures 43" x 40" when complete.You can purchase my pdf file with instructions for just $5. Click the “Add to Cart” button below to make your payment and receive download instructions.

Read more »

M.C. Escher Tessellations

A tessellation is created when a shape is repeated over and over again covering a plane without any gaps or overlaps. I learned the hard way how easily triangles can get flopped and rotated, so I came up with a numbering process that eliminated that problem.

1. Give each student a 3" (or larger) square of heavy card stock paper, scissors, tape, and drawing paper.
2. Make a diagram on a board that follows the steps illustrated to the right.
a. Number the corners as shown.
b. Cut the bottom two corners off and move up to the top. With edges "kissing" and not overlapping, tape in place. The numbers should stay right reading.
c. The students are to draw a triangle on the back side, label "H" for head, and move to the right top and tape in place to make a bird shape.
3. Using the bird as a tracing template, they are to align it with the side of a drawing paper, and trace one stacking column. Then, if they move the bird to the right and interlock the head shapes, they can make another column that interlocks with the first. Continue tracing columns until the paper is filled.
4. Lastly, pencil lines are traced with a marker and the shapes are colored in. This artwork uses crayon, but painting would look very nice too.

Read more »

Snowman on Skis

I sometimes look at stock illustrations on websites like gettyone.com for inspiration. I found a simple drawing of a snowman on skis that I really liked, and remade with my glue and pastel technique.

1. Drawing lightly on black paper, make three overlapping circles, each getting a bit smaller as they go up.
2. Draw simple stick arms, a face and buttons.
3. Add stick ski poles attached to the hands, and a hat that sits on top of the head. Stripes are nice as they allow for extra color.
4. Draw two skis below the bottom circle, and then a curved horizon line. Trace all lines with a thin line of white glue and let dry for 6 hours or so.
5. When dry, color in all the areas with pastel. I used Art Stix for this picture, which are a kind of new-fangled stick that don't have all the chalky-ness of the chalk pastels. They aren't cheap, but they are clean and sturdy and seem to last forever.

Read more »

Close Crop Snowman

Drawing closeup and cropping out what is unnecessary can make just about any artwork more interesting. The tendency is for students to draw small with lots of extra space. If you are trying for dynamic images for special uses like greeting cards, this approach will make a big difference.

1. I started with a 9" x 12" sheet of black paper, and traced a ruler width in pencil around the outside to give the artwork a frame.
2. I used an old CD to trace the bottom circle, purposely placing it so that it would go off the page on one side. The smaller head circle came from centering a smaller cup above the CD circle. I drew in the face, hat, scarf, arms and buttons. A horizon line was added in the background.
3. I took a black pastel, and traced the all the pencil lines, pressing hard so that the line was easily visible. All the shapes were filled in with pastels, and lastly I added some snow on top of the sky.

Read more »

Oil Pastel Snowman

This is a little twist (literally) on the usual snowman drawing. It asks students to think about circles can become spheres and have a 3-dimensional shape to them.
1. I started by giving studets a large black paper (12" x 17") and a cardboard circle template (5" diam.) They used the template for drawing the bottom circle, and then had to draw the middle and top circle themselves, in pencil.
2. Next, they were to choose to draw their snowman as turned to either the right or the left, just not head-on as they probably have done in the past.
3. After the pencil drawing was done, the lines were to be traced heavily with a black pastel. Finally, the snowman and background are colored in.
4. I wanted to find an easy way to display the artwork, and found that some leftover white packing boxes were the perfect solution. I taped them shut and spray mounted the art to the smooth side. Voila! A poor man’s self-standing canvas!

Read more »

Positive / Negative Pumpkin

One last Halloween project. This is short and sweet but makes a very graphic image.

1. Give each student a square piece of black paper and an orange that is half the width of the black. With the orange lying on top of the right side of the black, they are to imagine the center line as the middle of a pumpkin.
2. Starting on the middle line, they need to draw half of a pumpkin. Next, one eye and one half of a mouth are drawn. When complete, the eye and mouth are cut out, all as complete shapes, not bits and pieces. I show them how to cheat with the eye by cutting a line over to it and then cutting around to get the triangle out. The little slice will seal itself back up when glued.
3. The newly cut shapes are to be flopped from their cut out positions, and then glued down with a glue stick. Voila, a positive/negative and symmetrical pumpkin face!

Read more »

Batik Crayon Pumpkins

Batik is a resist-dyeing process that originated in Indonesia. Children can simulate the look with crayons and watercolor.

1. Show the students how to draw overlapping circles to start their pumpkin picture. Stems are added near the top, and lines that radiate out curve down to the bottom. When complete, the drawing is traced with a permanent black marker.
2. The pumpkins and background need to be heavily colored in with crayons. More advanced students can try to make a highlight spot on each pumpkin by coloring it with a lighter orange. Remind them that any highlight spots should pretty much be in the same position on each pumpkin (a quick light-source talk could be added).
3. This is the fun part as students are usually shocked to see how they need to take their carefully colored picture and just crumble it into a little ball like trash. Open the balls and recrunch about 3 to 4 times until the paper starts to soften.
4. I've tried both black and dark blue liquid watercolor, which are brushed slowly over the entire paper. They students will be able to see the cracks in the paper, which absorb most of the watercolor. Smooth out and let dry.

Read more »

Make a Paper Pumpkin

This project turned out to be a very quick and easy way to make a 3D shape out of strips of paper.

1. I used orange construction paper in the standard 9"x12" size, and then used a paper cutter to make a pile of orange strips that were 1" wide by 12" tall. The students were given 10 strips of paper, a push pin and two paper fasteners. They were to stack the strips and use the push pin to help make a hole in each end through all the layers.
2. The pin is removed and replaced by the paper fastener. It's best to push it through just a couple of layers at a time.
3. The paper fastener legs are opened and the strips are adjusted around each pin until they are equally spaced apart and a globe shape takes place.
4. Black eyes and mouth are cut out and glued on with a glue stick. A string of yarn may be tied to one end.

Read more »

Symbols of the Season Drawing

There are seasonal symbols that work not only for Halloween, but fall and Thanksgiving as well. I’m planning to have students divide their paper into a grid, and draw and color symbols that will proportionally fit each rectangle.

1. I find that I tend to divide areas into thirds a lot when I am trying to draw grids. In this case, I will ask students to first draw a border in pencil near the outside edge. If they mark the top line into thirds, they need to draw a vertical line down on their the left on the right mark.
2. Next they will look at the larger rectangle they made, and draw one horizontal line to divide it into thirds. The same is done for the narrower side, with a horizontal line drawn across it somewhere to mark off a third. What is left should be a grid with a large space, two medium, and one smaller square. More or less. It is, after all, still elementary school!
3. You could talk about all the symbols that are out and about for all the seasons coming up. If faces are left off of pumpkins, artwork can easily turn into Thanksgiving art. I drew a few fall items that fit my grid, traced them in black and colored with oil pastels. I’d like to try this idea as a crayon and watercolor resist too.

Read more »

Fine Line Marker Leaves

I find a lot of inspiration at stock art sites like gettyone.com and istock.com. This came from a leaf illustration, which is simpler than it looks if you pencil yourself some guidelines first.

1. I started by drawing the center veins of each leaf, which kind of looked like a long main line with an "X” through it. Sketch lightly with a pencil. Continue drawing these until the paper is full.
2. Still using your pencil, draw the outside curved edge of each leaf as shown in the small corner diagram.
3. Using a fine tip marker such as this Stabilo set, draw parallel lines inside each leaf, taking care to start at the center vein and end at the pencil edge. Continue until the leaves are all filled in.
4. If large spaces are left, parts of a leaf could be added, coming in from the edge of the paper. When all are traced, erase the pencil guidelines around the leaf edges.

CA Visual Arts Standard: Grade Three, Creative Expression
2.1 Explore ideas for art in a personal sketchbook.

Read more »

Pumpkin Tissue Paper Painting

Some tissue paper has an amazing ability to bleed when it is mixed with water. Cut-up squares can be used to control the color and make an easy way to paint...without the paint. Word of advice: not all tissue paper bleeds. My impression is that the cheaper variety from Michael's works best, but it is something you need to test before starting.

1. Older students can draw their own pumpkin, younger ones may need a template to trace. A horizon line is added. After the drawing is done in pencil, the lines should be traced with a permanent black marker.
2. My favorite is to get 2 values of orange, green and purple tissue paper. For instance, I cut up dark orange and light orange paper into 2 inch squares, along with dark and light green, and dark and light purple. The students are to wet their drawing with a brush, and then place the tissue paper on the spots they want to color. Working in sections, they should gradually cover their entire paper with colored tissue paper squares.
3. When finished, the tissue paper can be removed to reveal the color that has bled below. Beware, stained fingers seem to be unavoidable, unless gloves are used.

Read more »

Masking Tape Letter

I tried this masking tape and marker project today with some kinders and they really enjoyed it. The students were given full permission to scribble, and actually had time to do both their initials in about an hour.
Note: I recommend testing your tape on your paper first to see if it comes off without tearing. I used blue painter’s masking tape on some donated coated paper. I’d say some paper came off with the tape maybe 10% of the time, so I’m going to experiment next week with maybe reducing the stickiness of the tape somehow.
1. I began by writing block letters on the board. I had hopes of the student’s tearing their own strips of tape to make their letters, but saw that maybe could happen in late kinder, but not right now. So two other teachers and I tore the tape to quickly lay down the letters for each student.
2. I handed out my well-worn collection of Sharpie markers and let each student go to town. They were encouraged to just scribble over the entire paper with lots of colors. When a teacher said they had colored enough, they peeled off the tape. Voila! A perfect white letter. I’m thinking this could have other applications too, like writing out small words.

Read more »

How to Draw A Haunted House

I love all the creative possibilities of Halloween. You can have your students practice their architectural drawing while changing just a few elements to make their houses "spooky".

1. If you Google "haunted house paintings" you will get some really cool images to show your students. You could begin with a discussion of what the houses have in common: they are usually old, have lots of add-ons, have broken windows, and the sky is often looks like it is nightime.
2. Give each student a paper and pencil, and have them draw a house that fits the above description. I usually show them how they could draw a front entry, and then add on lots of sections with boarded up windows and crooked doors. The landscape also should be trees and bushes without many leaves on them.
3. After the drawing is complete, they need to trace all the lines with a thin black marker.
4. Lastly, the drawing is to be colored in with pencil crayons using lots of dark and dreary colors. Spooky!

Read more »

Finish-the-Spider Drawing

I’m thinking of adapting some of my black and white projects to Halloween themes, and this one I think might work well for some creepy, but symmetrical drawing practice.
1. If you google “Clip Art ETC” you will find this amazing collection of black and white art that is collected mainly for educational use. Search for “spiders” and you may have trouble deciding which one to download. I chose the highest resolution of a fuzzy one, and cropped it in my computer to print just half an image. The low tech approach would be to print out the whole image, cut it in half, and xerox your copies.
2. I plan to give each student a spider print, along with a soft dark pencil such an HB grade. Tell the students that spiders are very symmetrical and all the information you need to draw on the missing side, is on the printed side. I recommend that they start with the outside edges until they think the shapes match, and then fill the inside to match. Dark shading will be necessary to match the printed side of the spider.

Read more »

Paul Klee Portrait

Paul Klee was a Swiss artist from the early 1900's who liked to turn things he saw into simple geometric shapes. His “Head of A Man” is a classic example of his philosophy.

1. In the center of a 9" x 12" sheet of paper, have the students draw a 6" circle, using a cardboard template. Below that the neck and shoulders can be drawn, but only using straight lines and angles.
2. The face may be drawn in pencil, but again only using very simple lines. Trace all with a dark crayon, pressing firmly.
3. Cut up various sheets of tissue paper, in about 3" squares. With a cup of water and a paint brush, the students are to dampen the white paper, and place up pieces of tissue on top in a grid-like format. Once the paper is covered, the tissue may be picked up and thrown away. The student will find that the tissue color has bled to the paper in irregular shapes. It is wise to test tissue paper with water first as some bleed more than others.

Read more »

Paper Mache Masks

This week I had a lot of students finish their paper mache masks in my first after-school class. I love the big, bold results! One of the joys of working with little kids is watching how they can paint without hesitation. No regrets, no worries... they just paint.

Note: There is a fair amount of prep work for this, but it was all made from recycled products so it was cheap. I started by cutting the largest matching ovals I could from the two flat sides of a pizza box, approx: 17" x 14". This large size is important as it allows little ones to paint with big fat brushes and still get a clear face. Using box cutters, I cut out the eyes from one oval, traced them onto the other and cut again. You will need some kind of spacers to glue the two cardboard faces together, with about an inch of space between. I stacked about 5 layers of cardboard strips together on the chin, cheeks and forehead and glued them together with a tacky white glue. Let dry. With 2" wide masking tape, run a strip all around the outside to seal the edge. With thinner tape, also tape closed the inside of the eyes. This has to be repeated for each student.
1. Week One: Have the students paper mache the large areas of the face with 5" squares of paper towel. They should try to get near all the edges to make what looks like a generally white face.
2. Week Two: The students now work with narrower strips of paper towel, about 2" wide, and concentrate on wrapping the strips around the outside edge and the inside of the eyes. The mask should now be completely covered with towel, and there should be no tape showing anywhere.
3. Week Three: I had a lot of premixed acrylic paint from Michael’s, their store brand actually, and first limited the kids to one background color of paint. When the face was completely covered, they were allowed to choose their own colors to paint details. Let dry. Spray with a glossy spray sealer when complete.

This mask was made by a talented first grader, Sophie Haaland. Thanks Sophie!

Read more »

Tree Silhouette

I was inspired for this project by a stock art illustration. I really like how it turned out as it lets students focus on how detailed tree shapes can be. And it makes a good Halloween project too.
1. Give the students a 9" x 12" piece of watercolor paper, and some yellow and blue watercolor paint. Ask them to paint one large yellow moon circle in the middle of the paper, and then a blue sky all the way around it. Let the paint dry.
2. With wide, medium and thin-tipped Sharpie permanent markers, demonstrate how the students can draw thick tree trunks from the top to the bottom, and gradually add branches growing up and out from both sides, using lots of variation in line weight.

Read more »