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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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,...

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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...

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