Delaunay Mural

Robert Delaunay, a French painter, printmaker and writer, used Cubism as one of his points of departure. By the 1930s his work was a study of geometric forms and vibrant color. Delaunay also wrote extensively until the end of his life, leaving a legacy of important essays on the development of abstract art.
This mural has 24 pages to color and measures 44" by 40" when complete. This mural includes color callouts to keep continuous color in the large circles. 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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Draw a Hand Tree

I saw this idea on Artsonia.com, and love showing kids how lines can give dimension to their art.

1. The students first trace their hand on a piece of paper. When finished, they should make the tops of their fingers very pointy.
2. Vertical lines are drawn as shown. The more irregular they are, the better. When complete, the lines can be traced with a marker.
3. Demonstrate to the students how they can place their marker on a vertical line and "jump", or make an arch to the next line. It's best to start at the bottom and work upwards. When they reach a finger, the lines become just single "jumps".
4. Leaves may be added around the tree, and grass in the background.
5. Color with crayons or colored pencils. Note: This can make a spooky Halloween drawing if done on black paper with white pencil crayons.

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Picasso Pastel Portraits

Pablo Picasso was one of the most prolific artists ever, and one of his contributions was cubism, the idea of looking at something from different angles. A good way to demonstrate this idea is to draw a portrait with both a front and profile view.
1. With a 9" x 12" piece of black construction paper, show the students how to draw a profile down the middle of the paper. Start at the top center, draw a forehead straight down a couple of inches, then comes a nose that ends in the center of the paper, lips below, and chin that curves up and goes off the paper. Finally, add a neck to the bottom.
2. Complete the profile face with a profile eye, and chin line that matches the opposite side.
3. Complete the front view face with an eye that looks directly out, along with a mouth and chin.
4. Add hair and any other desired detail.
5. Trace the drawing with a black oil pastel. Press hard to make a dark line.
6. Fill in all of the drawing with oil pastels, leaving no paper to show. Encourage unusual colors, as many abstract artists do.

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Abstract Fish Drawing

One art concept even young students can embrace is the idea of making an abstract work of art. I like to describe it as coloring just for fun, and not worrying if something looks real or not. A fish is a good shape to work with as students can draw a spine and then add some “bone” lines.

1. Starting with the body, show the students how to draw a large football shape that is open on one side, which will be closed by drawing a V-shaped mouth. A curve is added to frame the head, a tail and fins and eyes. Lastly, a spine may be drawn across the body and then angled lines to imitate the bones.
2. Have the students trace all the fish lines with a thin black marker.
3. This fish was colored with Crayola Construction crayons, which look great on construction paper. If enough pressure is used, they rival the look of more expensive (and messy) oil pastels.

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Paul Klee Doodle Drawing

One way to appreciate the masters is to try to copy them. A famous painting of Paul Klee’s titled “The Grooms Arrival” looks like one simple doodle drawing filled with different colors, which I thought my students would enjoy imitating.

1. I studied “The Grooms Arrival” to come up with a continuous line drawing for the ‘body’ that would pretty closely resemble the original. Using the board in my room, I had the students follow along with me as I drew my doodle example very slowly. They drew in pencil on some new paper I found – Staples® Bristol Board. (It comes in some very nice colors and is fade resistant too). The goal was to have them draw a large doodle with several crossover lines. When the ‘body’ was done, they could add arms and feet that also crossed over the body in some fashion. A hat, eyes and mouth were added.
2. With the drawing complete, the lines were traced with a fat black marker. Staples came through again with their own fat chisel-tip permanent markers that were much less expensive than Sharpies.
3. All of the closed shapes were colored in with colored pencils. My students used my Dick Blick pencils, which work well on colored paper. Construction Crayons would be good too, I’m sure.

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Pom Pom Yarn Balls

I’m in love with these pom poms! Save all those scraps of yarn – you can make these large or small with tons of different colors. I always thought I needed to buy a gadget to make them, but just found out (thank you internet!) that’s not true.

1. I used a square of matte board that was about 4" wide to make about a 2" ball. Wind yarn around it as shown in diagram 1.
2. Continue winding with either the same color or other yarn until it is a fairly thick band as shown in diagram 2. Bend the matte board to slide the yarn off the board.
3. Cut a long yarn for the string, place on a table, and center the band of yarn on top as in diagram 3.
4. Tie a knot that is very tight, and knot again. Cut all the loops as shown in diagram 4.
5. Give the yarn ball a fairly generous “haircut” to shape the ball. Then, use it to decorate whatever you want – or use as a really killer cat toy!

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Special Needs Art Project

I’ve been asked in the past about art lessons for those with special needs, and just recently found this idea to work pretty well. I see a class every week that has mild to severely autistic kids, and it can be a struggle to find projects that cover the range of abilities. It seems their needs are more about adding creativity to things that are already familiar to them or at least, that is the approach I am taking for now.

1. I used 9" x 4" strips of watercolor paper for the students to write on in crayon. They could write the letters, words or numbers if they knew them, or trace them with the help of an aid.
2. Each student got a watercolor tray and water, and were shown how to wet the tablet and then spread the paint over each letter in just a simple circular motion. Those that finished the “A B C” strip got to go on to "D E F’ and so on. Very simple, but the watercolor paper makes it very pretty.

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Jasper Johns Numbers

Jasper Johns, a master American artist, was the first to use everyday objects as his subject matter. One of his most famous paintings was just a grid with many numbers. Some math teachers find this art project helpful to have students practice lining up columns of numbers.

1. I printed up sheets of paper that were already divided into three columns of three squares. Ask the students to write single digit numbers only from the top left to the bottom right square in pencil.
2. The students are to trace all the numbers with a thick black marker.
3. Pass out lots of oil pastels and instruct students to color in each square, adding details as they desire.

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Abstract Watercolor Still Life

This is my project for my afterschool watercolor class tomorrow. My main goal is to have the mostly kinders and 1st graders practice painting simple shapes (no extra patterns allowed!) and to leave white space around the painting. I love the painterly look it creates, and think this will be a nice change from painting to the edge, which we almost always do.

1. I’m first cutting out four template shapes from cardboard: a coffee cup, bowl, wine glass and plate. The students will be asked to overlap these shapes on their watercolor paper, trace them in pencil, and then in crayon. The more they press down with the crayon, the better the divider edge they make to keep the paint from running together.
2. Using watercolor trays, they will paint in all the different shapes different colors. I’m going to remind them many, many times “do not paint to the edge, leave some white space”.

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Watercolor Butterflies

I plan to do this painting with my afterschool watercolor class tomorrow. For the first time in a long while, I painted directly with the Crayola watercolors from the tray, and found I liked the results much more than I anticipated.

1. I have a lot of students in 1st and 2nd grade, so I thought painting butterflies would be a good way to reinforce their school lessons on symmetry. To keep them from laboring over their shapes, I plan to give them templates for just one side of the butterfly, so they will need to trace them, flop them over, and trace the other side. They'll do this in pencil on heavy watercolor paper. When the paper is filled with outlines of butterflies, they will trace them heavily in crayon, and add symmetrical shapes to the wings. If time permits, I may show them how to do some “wet-on-wet” painting by adding some paint spots to their wet butterflies.
2. Students will get their own watercolor tray and cup of water. I'll have them get the tablets fairly wet before they color in their butterflies.
3. When the butterflies are done, they'll use liquid watercolors to get better coverage for their backgrounds. I’m going to recommend that they leave a little white space around the butterflies to brighten the art up, and more importantly, keep the colors from running together.

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Art Journaling 123; Draw a Textured Castle

I tried this drawing out about a week ago in my after school journal class and was really happy with the results. The boys got into the designing of their castle, and some girls went in the princess direction. Either way, doing a follow-along drawing and adding texture kept them focused and engaged for the entire class.
1. I found directions for drawing a castle here, and had the students follow as I drew it on the board. I encouraged them to draw large enough to fill the paper. They started in pencil and then traced the edges with a thin black marker.

2. I passed out sheets of small white gum labels that I found at the drug store for about $5. The kids were instructed to apply the labels in a staggered manner to look like stone blocks.
3. They then colored in their castles with colored pencils or crayons, rubbing over the labels. The labels were a fun and easy way to add texture to their drawings. Lastly, they colored in the sky and ground and added their ever-important dates and titles.

CA Visual Arts Standard: Creative Expression, Grade One
2.1 Use texture in two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of art.

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Mini Abstract Mural Set #2

I am happy to offer my Mini Abstract Mural Set 2 (each 9–12 pages) consisting of Klee and Kandinsky and my own Butterfly design. My Mini Abstract Murals are great for smaller groups, ambitious individuals or family fun. Click on the image to view the blank templates.

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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Paul Klee Oil Pastel Landscape

I love the way oil pastels look on a sheet of acetate, backed with a nice black piece of construction paper.

1. Create or buy grid paper and show students how to draw a simplified city skyline with lots of squares, rectangles and triangles.
2. Have the students tape a piece of acetate to the front of their grid drawing and show them how to trace their drawing to the acetate with a black Sharpie marker.
3. The students are to color in the building shapes with oil pastels on the back side of acetate.
4. Lastly, the acetate drawing is placed in front of a piece of black paper to be displayed and enjoyed!

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Kandinsky Colorweaver

Wassily Kandinsky made a beautiful painting called "Color Studies" back in the early 1900's that is fun to imitate with oil pastels instead of watercolor.
1. Distribute 9" x 12" pieces of art paper to students. Give them rulers to measure and draw pencil lines across the middle of the paper in both directions.
2. Ask the students to start in the center and with an oil pastel, draw an angle and fill in the triangle that is created. Continue around the center with drawing triangles, only changing colors each time.
3. Once a diamond is created, add bands of color around the diamond, always changing color on the pencil lines. Continue until the paper is filled with color.
This picture was made by a kindergartener in an afterschool class.

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Recycled Paper Heart Valentine

This heart is made from just newspaper, white glue, string and some pretty sparkle paint.
1. Tear about 8 sheets of newspaper (lengthwise will be the easiest direction) into 1" strips. Cut those strips into little 1/2" bits and place in a large bowl. Cover with hot water and let soak for 24 hours.
2. The paper will start to look like a pulp. Work it through your fingers, tearing up any large lumps so that it looks like gray oatmeal. When the lumps are gone, take a large handful of pulp and squeeze out all the extra water.
3. Working the pulp in your hands, add white glue to the mixture at about a ratio of about 1 unit of glue to 4 units of pulp. Form a ball, place it on wax paper and press to form a flat heart that is at least 1" thick. Let dry for several hours or until it starts to harden. When you can pick up the heart, wrap it with a length of string, pulling firmly to make indentations. Tuck the ends into the back.
5. When the heart is dry, paint the entire shape with a thick layer of white acrylic paint. Let dry and then paint with a thick layer of red paint. Let dry and have fun experimenting with smudges that emphasis the texture of your heart. I added some glitter paint for a final touch. A spray of a glossy sealer would be a good idea to finish off your project.

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“Focal Point” Valentine

This is an exercise to have students think about how they can make their art have a focal point by using different colors, patterns, values, etc. Many masters such as Cezanne used it in paintings like this one to make the warm fruit stand out from the cool background.
1. Give each student a piece of paper, pencil and cardboard heart to trace. The students are to trace lots of hearts, either in a row or randomly spaced. If you are desperate, I've linked my sample template here.
2. The hearts are then traced with a black marker. Ask the students to choose one heart that is to be the focal point of their picture. When coloring, that heart needs to be different from all the others. It could be that one uses warm colors and the rest are cool, or the colors are all similar but one has stripes in it. Or as my students had just learned about making 3D shapes, one could have dimension added and the rest are flat. I personally like colored pencils for this project, and if you can afford them, the Prismacolor brands are the best. It’s a simple but good exercise, I think, and you also have an interesting Valentine card when you’re done.

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Sticker Art Trading Cards

Sometimes kid’s creativity just blows me away. I brought round colored stickers to my Art Trading Card class today, thinking that everyone could make art with just circles. Then one very clever boy started cutting up the stickers to make these amazing cards, including this tiger and electric guitar.
1. I passed out 2.5" x 3.5" white cards, sheets of .75" colored stickers, and thin markers to each student. They were to use their imagination to see how many different things they could make with circles, i.e. flowers, balloons, vehicles, etc.
2. When complete, each card got a plastic trading card sleeve, which cost about a penny each.
Thanks to Luc, a talented 1st grader, for letting me share his trading card art.

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Murals on Canvas

If you're looking for a way to mount my murals or any drawing project on canvas at a modest cost, here’s your answer. This is my Kandinsky Circles Mural fused to a 36" x 24" pre-stretched canvas ($15), using dry wax paper ($15 per 1,000), white glue and lots of Sharpie Permanent Markers.

1. I printed my templates on plain paper and taped a sheet of dry wax paper to each. Dry wax paper is transparent and great for tracing. Using the template as my guide I colored in each circle with Sharpie Permanent Markers, working from the center out to avoid palm smudges.

2. While taped to the template, I trimmed each sheet along the outer guides. I use a rotary cutter to get a precision cut. If you're using scissors, don't worry. Some waivering that results in overlapping hardly detracts.
3. I mixed a 50/50 solution of white glue and water. Using a 1" flat paintbrush I generously coated the mounting area and the back of the first page. The dry wax paper is remarkably sturdy when wet so don't worry too much about tearing as you maneuver the page into place. I then brushed my glue solution over the top to minimize air bubbles and wrinkles. A slight bubbles and wrinkles will shrink away when dry and don't worry about saturation as it all dries to a clear matte finish. Also, some of the darker Sharpie pigments may bleed a little, especially reds. Any runoff onto the canvas can be covered with white paint.

4. Repeat step 3 for each page, meeting the edges as closely as possible. It's better to overlap than to leave gaps. When dry, the drawings are fused to the canvas and appear to be painted on. You can’t even feel the edges. Sweet.

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