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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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