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!

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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Ceramic Halloween Pumpkins

This project comes from Ellen at Clayworks Studio. It's basically making two pinch pots and blending them together. My kids grade 3-5 loved making these and the success rate was very high!

1. Give each student a piece of clay about the size of a small apple. Instruct them to remove a small piece for the stem and set aside. The rest of the clay is to be split into 2 sections.
2. After warming and softening the clay with their hands, each of the 2 sections needs to be turned into a ball and then into a smooth pinch pot. The goal is to have 2 bowls that roughly match each other in size.
3. Discuss how any time clay pieces are to be blended together, they need to be scored (scratched) and "puttied" together with slip (clay mud). Roughen up the edges of each bowl with a fork, wet with slip, and gently push the two bowls together. Use clay tool to blend together and hide seam.
4. A small stem is to be formed from the last piece of clay. It also gets scored and slipped on what is determined to be the top of the ball. Encourage extra blending on stem base as they are prone to fall off otherwise.
5. The students then hold the pumpkin in their hands and use a round tube, such as a jumbo-size pencil to push in ridges. If they rock the pencil from the stem to the bottom, rotate, and press again, they will form what look like the ridges of the pumpkin. Names may then be scored onto the bottom.
6. The next day, I had students draw lightly on the clay what they wanted their faces to look like. I kept it simple with only allowing circles, triangles or squares (no teeth!). It takes a sharp knife to cut out the faces, so I did it for them with an xacto knife.
7. When the clay is no longer cool to the touch, do a bisque firing with all the pumpkins. Have the students paint the pumpkins with glaze, and fire again.

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Abstract Winter Trees

A simple illustration I came across in a website inspired this project.

1. Give the students 2 different sizes of narrow triangle cardboard templates, and ask them to draw 3 triangles (trees) across the middle of a sheet of paper.
2. Instruct the students to draw a curvy ground line, and then connect the ground with the trees in a straight line to make the trunks. "V" shapes may be added in the trees to look like branches.
3. Show the students how to divide the background into 3 sections.
4. Ask the students to trace all their pencil lines with a crayon.
5. Give the students watercoler to paint in all the shapes they have created.
6. Use a hole punch to create lots of small white circles. With dots of white glue, add the white circles to the painted pictures.
CA Visual Art Standard: Creative Expression, Grade Five
2.4 Create an expressive abstract composition based on real objects.

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