Watercolor Lei's

First she reviewed the different types of watercolor painting and then we practiced those. Once that was done, we began using those techniques to create a painting of our own using 2 of the ways shown. We then cut out 24 flowers, using at least 4-5 from watercolor painting. Once they were cut out, we punched holes in the middle and put straws to separate them, creating a lei.

**An extension activity for this lesson could be used in geography.  The students would have to find out where on the Hawaiian Islands these flowers grow, and then map them on a map of the islands.

Coil Pot

This week in art class we learned how to make a coil pot.  First we started out with a lump of clay and had to knead all the air bubbles out of the clay ball.  We had to make a flat circular bottom to wrap the coils around it.  We then made the rest of the clay into long strips so we could easily roll them on top of the coil.  We then scored each piece. This includes making smalls lines to help the clay stick to the other piece of clay. We then began stacking the coil on top of each other until it was a desired height. We used water, clay tools, and our hands to smooth the inside of the pot. We then had to let the pots sit over night so they could dry before we painted them.

After the pots were dry we could paint them. We had to include one primary color and one secondary color. I chose to use yellow and blue, I added white to the blue to make it more of a pastel blue. Another requirement was including some kind of symbol that was important to us. I tried to paint a cross on my pot, but it really didn't turn out to good. This cross represents my family and faith.

**An extension activity for this could be used in social studies and incorporate it into early cave writings. They could make up their own alphabet or meanings to their drawings they carve into clay.

3-D Design

This week we read Dr. Seuss's Oh The Places You'll Go!  Then we had to create our own town/village using the illustrations of the book as inspiration.  My table was assigned to use complementary colors, so I used green, blue, and purple. We then had to name our village and  had to bend, curl, and twist paper to form a 3-D design. Finally we had to give our towns a name. My town's name is Lor-Ville, so I made the gateway into Lor-Ville.

**An extension activity for this project could be incorporated into Language Arts.  The students will have to make up their own story for the "town" they made in art.

Marbling

Today's activity was all about Marbling, and no we did not use marbles. Marbling is the designs that you find in older style books on the inside cover.  What we did was use shaving cream and squirt paint into the cream.  After that you could use your hands or other tools to create different designs you wanted.  Then we were able to use our own drawings of different landmarks in the world to press firmly down into the paint-cream.  You then pick up your drawing and scrape off the extra shaving cream.  I had the Colosseum that is located in Rome, Italy.

**An extension activity for this project could be used in science.  Students would be able to use different colors to create camouflage of animals in the wild.

Train Printmaking

This week we discussed printmaking.  We were able to design our own sheet using Styrofoam and carving utensil.  We then had to use the printmaking supplies to create a train-cart.  Our instructions were to be inspired by South Dakota designs and also to use a back ground featuring South Dakota. I used "Z" Grain for my design and my carts are hauling corn, while traveling through the countryside of South Dakota.

*An extension activity would be in the Language Arts subject.  Here teachers would talk about the printmaking process and how they used in earlier times to write letters and publish books.

Macrame Madness

This project is done to introduce students to the art of Macrame. There are many different types of Macrame. This project we made key chains out of hemp. We each were suppose to put at least three beads on the key chain and have it at least three inches long, or the length of your middle finger. 

**An extension activity for this would be doing a presentation about how Macrame has developed throughout the years for social studies. 

Warm & Cool Colors Puzzle Pieces

To start off this project the class was split into to sections, warm and cool colors. The warm colors could choose to draw a duck or fox and the cool colors could choose to draw a fish or frog. Once we drew our animal, we had to give it texture of some sort.  For the background, we either had to do lines, patterns, or shapes.
I was assigned warm colors, so I drew a duck.  For my background I drew 'lines,' so i drew all different kinds of lines. 

*An extension activity for this project could be for the subject of Science.  Since we discuss "warm and cool colors" a teacher can discuss "warm and cold-blooded" animals and their characteristics.

Plaid Bunny

 Plaid Bunny

This week we were able to work on complimentary colors---green with red, yellow with purple, and red and green.  We were able to discuss how "plaid" is made up of horizontal and vertical lines.  After our painting of our complimentary colors, vertical and horizontal lines were dried, we were able to draw out a bunny pattern out of it.  

An extension activity for this lesson could be using the bunnies to act out a reading/language arts play.  Or a classroom could use the bunnies as a counting method in math too!

Blind Contour Drawing/Bulletin Board

Contour Blind Drawings

This was my group's lesson for art.  We used white crayon/light colored oil pastel to draw flowers on the sheets of paper with blinders. After that we flicked the paper with some water, and then painted over the top of our drawings.   This art lesson was geared towards 1st graders.

An extension activity for this lesson could be in social studies.  They could use the same idea, but instead of drawing flowers, they draw hieroglyphics that mean a certain message for others to figure out.

*Our Bulletin Board*

~Spring into Drawing~

Hidden Safari

This project was done to introduce students to warm and cool colors.  This is a hidden safari picture that I did in class.  It is called "hidden" because you need special glasses to see the underlying picture.  The project is done by drawing a picture in a light cool color.  I used a light sky blue colored pencil to draw my animal and then used warm colors to draw shapes and swirls over top of my animal. We then wrote three clues to be displayed with our animals for others to guess what kind of animal it was.

An extension activity would be used in a science classroom talking about animals camouflaging themselves in their environments. Students will be able to design different animals such as butterflies, frogs, and bugs!

Eric Carle--Illustrating a story collage

This week we watched Eric Carle demonstrate his collage making skills in a short movie.  My collage is about the very hungry caterpillar.  After he finishes eating all of that food in the book, he adventures out to find a new place for food. He comes across a farm, where he finds the healthy snack of corn.

An extension activity for this lesson could be to have the students finish writing their stories. After that have them read it to a partner and then have their partner create their favorite part of the story using this format. 

Van Gogh

 Van Gogh Art

-This week's projects were inspired by Vincent Van Gogh and his style of art. 

Project 1:

• This project was to recreate movement that you would see in Van Gogh's paintings.
• I demonstrated this type of movement by cutting tissue paper and gluing them down to the paper.
• I also used oi pastels and metallic Sharpies and created more movement by drawing curvy and wispy lines on the paper.
• After that, I made a landscape of mountains to create more of a "picture" look.
• I then framed the picture in blue to represent the "sky" a little better. 

Extension Activity:

• Students need to create their own self-portrait by using tissue paper.  Students will just be able to use their hands to rip the tissue paper, and then glue it onto the paper. This would be a great introduction activity for a classroom. 

Project #2

• This project was also based on Van Gogh as well.
• Just like the first project, we were to create movement in our painting.
• Finger painting allowed more movement and individual lines that showed off this type of movement.
• We were also told to create a foreground, middle ground, and background to show depth in the picture.

•  This painting represents a view of a person laying in the grass.  They are looking through the uneven grass to view the mountain and the sky in the background.

*Extension Activity:

• A great activity would be having students be paired up and work on a painting together.  They would collaborate with each other to make a painting about their classroom.  They would have to include the same foreground, middle ground, and background as we did in the other activity.  However, everyone needs to do a different picture about their classroom.
  

5 Elements and Principles of Art

*Below are pictures that are examples of the Elements and Principles of Art.  They go in order of:
    -Shape
    -Balance
    -Contrast
    -Texture
    -Emphasis

Make sure to check out my "Art Methods" page at the top of the page!!!!