My Favorite Art Supplies

I’ve often been asked what my favorite art supplies are, so I thought this might be a good time to make a list. For now, these are some of the supplies I use over and over again. I’ve included the brand names just because they seem to make a difference for me.Ticonderoga Pencils Cheap pencils are not worth it. They tend to be too light and lopsided so they never sharpen correctly. Staples brand in particular tend to have a large percentage that have to be trashed simply because they were not made with the lead in the center. Such a waste! Black Sharpie Markers You can draw, color or paint over them and they never bleed. Sweet. Sharpie Multi...

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Dubuffet Cow Drawing

Jean Dubuffet painted “The Cow with a Subtile Nose” in 1954, and I’ve always wanted to see how close I could get to the look with a good old crayon and watercolor resist. I do recommend that you have your students use a light color for the cow, and a dark watercolor to get the most contrast for their wrinkles.1. To draw the cow, first start with a large square with rounded corners. Older students may be able to follow the placement on the paper.2. The feet and udder are added below.3. A neck is extended from the body and a long head is added. Ears are drawn on the side.4. Eyes and nose are added to the face.5. The tail is drawn on the back....

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Mini Floral Mural Set

This Mini Mural Set consists of three smaller versions of my popular floral murals. They are: a still life by Bosschaert, “Irises” by Van Gogh, and an O’Keeffe-inspired Poppy Flower. My mini murals are great for small groups, ambitious individuals or family fun. Click on this image to view the templates and finished dimensions of all three murals.You can purchase my pdf file with instructions for $5. Click the “Add to Cart” button below to make your payment and receive download instructions....

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Monogrammed Stationary

I saw this idea in an old library book, and thought it was a really nice application of your basic crayon rubbing project.1. I started with a lettersize piece of chipboard, but any heavy paper would do. I drew my initials in block form, and cut them out of the heaviest paper I could find. Card stock works well to make a definite edge.2. Glue the letters down with a glue stick.3. Place a regular sheet of paper on top and rub away with one or more crayons. Rotating the direction of the rubbing helps to make all the edges really appear.4. Write a nice old-fashioned letter to someone you care about. Thank you notes are always appreciat...

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Rousseau Tiger Mural

Henri Rousseau (1844–1910) was a French Post-Impressionist painter who worked in what was referred to as a “Primitive” manner. Rousseau was often teased by other artists because he never received any formal art education. He eventually came to be recognized as a self-taught genius whose works are of high artistic quality. Click HERE to see Rousseau’s original painting, “Tiger in Tropical Storm”. My pdf file is made up of a 28 pages and measures 48" x 36" 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 instructio...

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City Block One-Point Perspective Drawing

One of the CA Arts Standards for 5th graders is one-point perspective drawing. To be honest, I’ve struggled with covering this concept in the past with just one 50-minute class. After discussing what it means to have a “vanishing point” in their drawing, I once had students make their own guidelines to follow, only to have much of the class not get past this point. And I once tried pre-printed guides, only to find they get confusing and end up being too much information that can’t be erased. This year I’m going to try starting with this series of squares, which you can download here. I think it will give students the angles they can see to follow...

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Cezanne Meets Matisse Mural

Paul Cezanne was a French artist whom Matisse and others considered the father of post-Impressionism. This mural honors both artists by combining Cezanne’s subject matter with Matisse’s vivid color palette.This mural has 24 pages to color and is 42" by 35" 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 instructio...

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Andy Warhol Soup Cans

Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Can painting has come to symbolize the pop art movement.WEEK 1: Give the students a 9" x 12" sheet of paper, along with a 5" wide oval template that is the shape of the top of a can (in perspective). Show them how to trace one oval at near the top of the paper, slide the oval down about 7" and trace again. Connect the outside edges, erase the curve that will not show, and add the same curve to the middle of the can. After this, it is helpful for them to look at a Campbell's label to add details in their own style. I encouraged students to make up their own “flavor” and to cover all their pencil lines with a thin...

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Another Popsicle House

I’m still loving these little popsicle sticks, and made a variation of my other house project I posted here. This one has a more vertical, paneled look instead of the horizontal, log cabin look.1. These little popsicle sticks I found at JoAnn Fabric’s, and are about 2 1/2" long. I started by lining up six sticks, and cut the ends off of two more so they could be glued to the back without showing as shown in diagram 1.2. The roof starts with a frame as shown in diagram 2. Let dry.3. Cut progressive ends off three more sticks so they can fill in the roof as shown. Let dry.4. Glue and attach roof to house as shown and let d...

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Dubuffet Self Portrait

Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) was a French painter and sculptor who preferred what he called “raw art”. This came from non-professionals who worked in very primitive ways. He routinely added sand, tar and straw to his paintings to give them an unusual texture. His playful style is fun to imitate and can encourage some very creative portraiture.1. Start by sketching a large simple drawing of yourself on a sturdy piece of paper. No tiny details, just outline of hair, eyes, nose, shoulders, etc. Draw a few horizontal and vertical lines on the body, hair and face to divide up the areas into smaller parts. Keep in mind that the lines will be traced with...

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Recycled Mosaic Picture Frame

I love the look of stone mosaic art, but it is expensive and not really practical for young kids. I thought I’d try a variation of this idea I saw online using old plastic cards instead. Between gift cards, rebate cards, and club cards, it’s pretty easy to collect these without really even trying.1. I started with 8 jumbo popsicle sticks, and glued them together with white glue as shown. Let dry.2. Cut several plastic cards with a scissors into strips that are just a bit thinner than the width of the stick. Cut across the strips to make the most even and equal-sided squares that you can. Glue these onto the frame with white glue, leaving a small...

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Drawing Practice

When students have a photo to refer to, I think they are often pleasantly surprised at what they can draw. This is one of my “Finish the Picture” templates, where the students are asked to fill in, shading and all, the missing half of a photographed face. I’m happy to share my wolf template with everyone HERE.1. The students first practice their shading by matching the values of the grays at the top of the paper. The goal is to have them see they can make not only dark and light pencil shades, but medium light and medium dark as well.2. The drawing starts with finding and drawing as many edges of the face as possible. The eyes and nose are pretty...

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U.S.A. Map Mural

Here’s a little more of a practical application for creating a large mural for a classroom. Many elementary students study the US states and their capitals, so I thought that a large map might make a good aid for all kinds of classes, be it art or geography. It could be colored as a diagram, or with mountains and trees to show some topography, lots of possibilities.My 30-page pdf file creates a mural that measures 60" wide by 38" tall when complete. Click HERE to see a preview of the blank template. 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 instr...

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Popsicle Stick Log Cabins

These new little popsicle sticks (they’re 2 1/2" long) that I found at Michael’s remind me of my parent’s log cabin in Tennessee. Here’s one way to make little houses that could serve well as colorful refrigerator magnets. Or add some snow and a string for a holiday decoration? Let your imagination see what it can come up with.1. Follow the steps shown in my small diagram above. I like using Aleene’s Tacky Glue to connect all the sticks as it is thicker and seems to set up faster. Start by gluing 6 sticks onto two, and try to make the bottom edge flush and the top with a bit of stick still showing.2. Cut three pieces at an angle as shown, and...

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Mosaic CD Coaster

I found this great idea over at Mini Matisse, who got it from an organization called ArtStart. I love how the plastic case makes a nice sturdy frame to work with, and the clear closure lets you just admire the colorful beans when you are done.1. Several varieties of dried beans are needed, just test them first to see they are not thicker than the CD case before you start to glue. With a standard CD case open and the tray removed, I used a flat brush to spread a generous line of Mod Podge around the outside edge of the case. I lined up one row of beans on this, pushing them against the lip to make a straight line. The 1/2" or so where the spine...

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Bandage Halloween Head

Halloween can offer lots of creative drawing opportunities, some even with valuable art principals. I got this drawing idea from a piece of clip art, and found that it helped to teach students how to make a round head look more dimensional, simply by adding curves instead of flat straight lines.1. I made cardboard head templates to help my students get started. After they traced it in the middle of their paper, they drew one large eye, two circle dots for the nose, and a mouth. For the bandages, they made several curvy lines across the face. I demonstrated on the board how curvy lines would add roundness to the head, and how straight ones would...

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Oil Pastel Klee Portrait

Paul Klee was a Swiss artist from the early 1900’s who liked to turn things into simple geometric shapes. This sample is based on his “Head of A Man” a classic example of his philosophy. 1. Make a 7" round cardboard template for the students to trace in pencil in the center of a brown or tan 9" x 12" paper. Then have them add the neck and shoulders using straight lines and angles, only.2. To draw evenly spaced eyes that touch, I often have the students first draw three evenly spaced dots that they connect with curves. Circles are added inside. Using a ruler, show the students how to draw about 5 intersecting lines across the face that “jump”...

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Masterpiece Coloring Book 3

My “Masterpiece Coloring Book 3” includes ten pages in simple line form for coloring with room to add personal touches. Students can color the pages to look like the original painting (left), or they can have fun adding modern touches (right). A game of “What Doesn’t Belong?” could be played after coloring. The beach ball and checkered blanket are easy to spot, but what about the wristwatch on the woman’s hand? Lots of possibilities.As in books 1 and 2, I have continued to scale these drawings to fit on 8" x 10" canvas, if desired. Click HERE for mounting instructions. Click HERE to preview all ten pages of Coloring Book 3. Top row, left to right:...

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My Summer Self Portrait

I'd been exploring ideas for a back-to-school project combining art with story telling much like a popular art journal technique, in larger scale. This project which combines a self portrait with a composition about the students summer experience has become wildly popular with the kids and their teachers as a great kick-off to the school year.1. Click HERE to download a blank letter-size body template. If you can Xerox on tabloid paper, copy the template at 125%. The larger sized paper is always easier for students to work with. 2. Have the students add all of their personal details including facial features, hair and clothing and their names,...

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Watercolor Collage

I love what torn edges do for a project, even though most students seem resistant to it. I think it maybe just takes time to trust that “happy accidents” sometimes happen with this process.1. Give each student two sheets (I used 9" x 12") of watercolor paper and watercolors. One sheet is to be filled with one color, leaving a border around the edge (I used blue). The other sheet is painted with lots of large patterns and colors of paint. Let dry.2. Have the students take their patterned painting and tear it into different size pieces of squares and rectangles and strips. Arrange them on the solid paper in a pleasing way and glue them in place...

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New Butterfly Mural

My New Butterfly Mural combines a few of my favorite ideas. The butterfly theme is my most popular, so I decided to scale this new version to fit on stretched canvas, as shown in permanent marker (left.) Oil pastels on paper (right) is always a quick and easy option.My pdf file includes a 15 page version to fit a 36" x 24" canvas and a 28 page version to fit a 48" x 36" canvas. These are standard sizes and easy to obtain, should you choose to go that route. Click HERE to see a preview of both templates. My file includes illustrated, step-by-step instructions on how to fuse a permanent marker drawing to canvas. You can purchase my pdf file with...

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Watercolor Resist Patterns

Kindergarteners learn about patterning, and this is a colorful way of reinforcing the concept.1. I recommend watercolor paper be used, if possible, as it really does make a difference in the color brightness. Prep 9" x 12" sheets by drawing marks on the top and bottom every 2 inches across. Ask the student to connect the marks with a pencil so that they have 5 panels on their page. Trade the pencil for a crayon and ask them to trace the pencil lines.2. Show some examples of line drawing patterns that they can choose from (circles, squares, hearts, stars, etc.) The students are to choose one type of pattern for each panel, and then draw each directly...

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Birch Trees

Variations of this project are often posted on Artsonia.com, but I like the subtle colors that come out in this version by painting with a toothbrush.1. Each student starts with a 9" x 12" sheet of watercolor or heavy paper. They are to tear off six strips of 1 1/2" wide painter's masking tape at various lengths from 6" to 7" long. Then, carefully tear each piece of tape down the middle and attach each joining the straight edges so that the outer edges are rough. Note: Overlapping the shorter lengths will create narrower trees for enhanced depth of field, as shown. Place the pairs randomly on the watercolor paper with top ends touching the...

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Masterpiece Coloring Book 2

My “Masterpiece Coloring Book 2” includes ten pages in simple line form for coloring with room to add personal touches. Also included is a new feature. Each is scaled to fit on an 8" x 10" canvas, if desired. This post includes detailed instructions for mounting. Click HERE to preview all ten pages.Top row, left to right: Chinese painting by an unknown artist, “The Birthday” by Chagall, “The Wave” by Hokusai. Middle: “Portrait of Jeanne Hebuterne” by Modigliani, “Color Studies” by Kandinsky, “Sunflowers” by Van Gogh and “Little Dancer” by Degas. Bottom: “The Creation of Adam” detail by Michelangelo, “The Birth of Venus” detail by Botticelli and...

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