Art Lessons

I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold – Elementary Art Lesson on Charles DeMuth

I have taught lessons on Charles Demuth three times now as part of our school’s fifth grade art program. This project was the most successful for the kids. Despite students constantly asking if they can alter this or that about each and every project I teach (and why shouldn’t they, art is supposed to allow them to explore their creativity, right?), I find that sometimes giving them strict(ish) parameters ensures good outcomes. And good outcomes build confidence often as much as exploring creativity.

This lesson is also great because the kids get to practice color mixing to create tints and shades. Mixing paints is just plain fun. So they quickly get over their disgruntlement that they “have” to paint a number 5 (as opposed to a 73 or 24) once they get mixing.

So here’s the project:

Begin with a large sheet of paper (the thicker the better and at least 9X12), egg cartons for paint mixing. Several colors of tempera paint plus plenty of black and white to make tints and shades.

Draw a number 5 that fills the page.
Using a ruler, draw several intersecting lines across your paper.
Erase all the lines within the number 5.
Select a color of paint and use it to fill in several sections.
Mix in white paint to achieve a lighter tint and use that to fill in several more sections.
Add more white and mix in to attain an even lighter tint. Use this tint to fill in a few more sections.
Mix your original color with a bit of black to get a darker shade. Fill in the remaining sections (minus the number 5) with this shade.
Use gold paint to fill in the number 5.
Feel free to use the following Powerpoint that explains the project in your classroom.Download

In the style of M.C. Escher – Tesselation Print

Fifth-graders at the elementary school in which I teach art lessons study M.C. Escher as part of their art curriculum. M.C. Escher, though most famous for his tesselations was particularly notable for his prints. This year I got a little ambitious and decided to combine the two.

Here’s how it went down:

First, I gave each student a 3.5 by 3.5 square of cardstock. One side of the cardstock was textured, which made it easy to tell them apart. This becomes important later in the lesson. (One alternative to textured cardstock is to use a lined index card).

Using the cardstock, they designed a unique shape for their tesselation, using the following steps:

  • Draw a shape on the left edge of the card stock.
  • Cut it out and tape it to the opposite side. Be precise in your alignment.
  • Turn the card 90 degrees to the left, and draw a design on the left side.
  • Cut out and tape on the opposite side.

Once this step was complete, the students traced their tessellation onto a 9X12 sheet of paper as shown below:

Line up the tessellation design at the top left corner of the page and work to the right and down until it goes off the paper.
Color in entire page with colored pencil, lightly enough that the tessellation pencil lines are still visible.

Next, using styrofoam, students created a block print pattern.

  • Trace your tessellation design onto styrofoam.
  • Cut out with scissors.
  • Use a wooden stylus to etch designs onto the side you will use to print.
Warning: make sure you etch the design onto the side that lines up with your tessellation. You will be applying ink to it and pressing it face down onto the tessellation so it must match up. This will make more sense as you begin the next step.
  • Roll out an even layer of ink with a brayer.
  • Apply it to foam.
  • Line it up with every other section of your tessellation and press evenly.

A few recommendations:

  1. Have as many adults helping out as you can recruit. The last step is messy and it will be more successful with adult supervision.
  2. As can be expected in a large classroom (we had 30 students), there was some bottle-necking during the print-making process. To alleviate this, make sure you have several separate stations (with adults helping out at each, ideally). We had 5 brayers, 5 cookie sheets, and 5 tubes of ink. We only had one adult, though, which guaranteed complete chaos. Lesson learned – recruit more help! The kids will feel more successful when they are carefully guided through the print-making process.

Materials used: Speedball Block Printing ink, soft rubber brayers, Scratch Art scratch foam, Scratch Art wooden stylus, colored pencils, cardstock.

Difficulty: Moderate to hard for 5th graders. But totally doable with enough help in the classroom.

Below is the Powerpoint I used to instruct the students visually. Feel free to use as needed.

MC-Escher-Block-Print-TessellationDownload

Leonardo Da Vinci One-Point Perspective – Elementary Art Lesson

Teaching about Leonardo Da Vinci to fourth-graders presents the perfect opportunity to practice portraits (Mona Lisa?). However, since I am one of three teachers in my daughter’s fourth grade class, and between the three of us we have done a combined total of three portrait lessons so far this academic year, I figured I would forego another one in favor of a lesson on linear perspective.

Da Vinci’s Last Supper provides a perfect example of one-point perspective, so naturally we studied it as our guide. My only problem came in deciding on a project they could tackle (and be proud of) in just under an hour. Tall order.

This was my first drawing. I threw in the towel after realizing that there was no way a bunch of ten-year-olds could complete any semblance of what had taken me half an hour to create (and it was unfinished, not to mention).

My second. Slightly easier. But only slightly.

So I settled on the field of tulips. Easy in terms of drawing. Plus, they got to add color. Definite win.

We first read Mike Venezia’s book on Leonardo Da Vinci.

  • Using a ruler, mark the edges of your paper at each inch.
  • Draw a horizon line somewhere in the top third.
  • Draw lines from your vanishing point to several marks along the edge of your page (below the horizon line)
  • Draw objects (houses, trees, windmills, etc.) along your horizon line.
  • Color the objects in with black sharpie.
  • Use watercolor pencils to draw tulips in each section.
  • Shade lightly over each section of tulips in the same color.
  • Use water and a brush to blend the pencil on the page.

Here’s a Powerpoint explaining the lesson in detail:

Leonardo Da Vinci One Point PerspectiveDownload

Elementary Art Night 2019

Art Night has kind of been a big deal every year for the last nine in our family. I would describe my relationship with Art Night as a love/hate one.

I can remember one year-it was the year all four of my daughters attended elementary school and I taught art in each of their classes. I spent pretty much every waking hour at the school, draping the walls with black gallery wrap, mounting, labeling and then hanging every stinkin’ piece of artwork. (Can you sense the fatigue?)

I arrived home that Friday night, sick (literally) and tired. I sent my husband out the door with the kiddos so they could revel in pride over their masterpieces. Without me. I’d seen enough.

I’m sure most art teachers at our school feel similarly. We love our kids so we volunteer to teach art in their classes (which is the fun part, of course). Then Art Night rolls around and the prep is so exhausting we end up cursing the day we ever agreed to such a thing.

Except…the children. Our beloved children. Art Night is the single event at our school that highlights the work of every single student at the elementary. That’s pretty darn awesome.

So I keep going back for more. Year after year. After blasted year.

In fact, this year I enjoyed the added pleasure of being in charge of the whole thing. Lucky me!

Truly, it was a joy. And here’s why:

  1. I had an amazing team of volunteers. I simply gave them individual assignments and they ran with them.
  2. I maintain an attitude that if people want to complain about how I run things, they can do it next time. I don’t get paid a dime for what I do, which doesn’t mean I do a crappy job, but it does take a lot of the pressure off of everything having to be perfect, you know?
  3. The school have us the red light on a couple of “traditions” that, in the past, characterized Art Night. (Wrapping the hallways in black paper and serving food). This was a bit of a downer for some, BUT, it freed up a lot of time to do other things to spice up Art Night.

So what went well? The Doodle Wall was a big hit, student music performances generated a lot of participation, the art auction earned a healthy chunk of cash.

We also had a photo op (using Munch’s “The Scream”), lined the walls with posters of works by the masters and quotes by other famous artists, and each member of the Art Night “committee” wore awesome aprons so everyone knew of whom they could ask questions.

We also have the most amazing art teachers a school could ask for. Our kids are getting regular art instruction from some of the very best.

What went wrong? Well, Tim ended up having to travel to Michigan for the weekend for his grandpa’s funeral. It was, of course a wonderful occasion for him to visit with family, but it definitely made an already busy/stressful weekend into a one-woman show.

Even that turned out to be a blessing because without my slave labor, all my friends kicked it up a notch and saved the day by supporting me every step of the way.

Sea life print – Elementary Art Lesson

Printmaking is such a fun medium to teach to elementary students. I try to do at least one lesson in block printing per year and it typically ends up being the favorite/most memorable for the kids.

I thought I’d go out on a limb with the fourth-graders and teach them how to do a reduction print of a sea animal. Before we began, however, I demonstrated the concept of a mirror image by having one of the students stand facing me and mirror my movements. We discussed how when I move my right hand, the student moved her left hand and vice versa. The point I tried to make was that when carving a block for printmaking (in our case, styrofoam), the resulting print will be a mirror image of that carving.

Here’s a brief explanation of the project:

  • Carve simple outline of sea creature.
  • Apply ink evenly using a brayer.
  • Press foam sheet face down on paper to make a print.
  • Carve details into foam and cut out sea creature.
  • Apply black ink to foam and place carefully face down on original print.
  • Press, remove and voila! Reduction print.

Below is the slideshow (Powerpoint) I used to introduce the project to the students. Feel free to use and adjust it to meet the needs of your classroom.

Sea Life Print PowerpointDownload

Paul Gauguin Watercolor Landscape

Paul Gauguin is such a downer to teach elementary students.  They love success.  They want to hear about artists who made a name for themselves while still living.  

No such luck when studying Gauguin.  He died sad and penniless, with nary a credit to his name.  Well, he’s certainly made his mark now.  Definitely an artist worth studying – and plenty of fodder for elementary art projects to boot.

I thought the fourth-graders would enjoy a stint using liquid watercolors.  In my mind, the vibrancy of color they provide most closely matches the colors used in Gauguin’s paintings.  

As always, I wanted to include an art principle, so despite the flatness and minimal perspective used in Gauguin’s works, I taught them about fore, middle and background, loosely using his Tahitian Landscape as a model.

  • Draw a simple background lightly in pencil.
  • Add a few things in the middle ground.
  • Draw at least one large object in the foreground.
  • Outline your entire drawing in black sharpie.
  • Add liquid watercolor to all white space, using colors one would not expect.

Here’s the slideshow I used to instruct the class on Paul Gauguin and to explain the steps of the project:

Gauguin – Watercolor Landscape (fore, middle and background)Download

Grandma Moses Watercolor – Elementary Art Lesson

At the beginning of each art lesson, I ask the students to venture a guess as to where the artist was from, based on the sound of their name.  Consequently, they’re learning that many of the “masters” originated in France (and Italy, and the Netherlands).  They are also discovering that the French drop the sounds of consonants at the end of their words, that Italian might be the easiest foreign language to pronounce, and that artists from the United States are multi-cultural (as one would expect in a pluralistic culture such as ours).

When I posited the question during this lesson on Grandma Moses, I got my favorite response of all time:  “I’m thinking she might have been from Egypt.”  After all, Moses was from Egypt.  Classic.  But no, I had to inform this worthy guesser that Grandma Moses was, in fact, from the United States.  Laughed out loud.

Sixth-graders are a great bunch to teach.  Most of them have dubbed themselves as either artists or non-artists by this point.  So the trick is to reel them in through art history, and/or use a medium with which they have little to no experience so they know they can chalk up any perceived failures to it being their first time.  In this lesson, we did both.

First, we read this book.  I’m a big fan of Mike Venezia’s series.  I especially enjoyed that he mentioned that Grandma Moses’ depictions of the simple life resulted from the lack of availability of modern technology.  Like movies, TV, and CD players.  No mention of handheld devices.  I checked the publication date: 2003.  Ancient history by now.

Second, I breezed through this powerpoint, giving a additional background on Grandma Moses, introducing a few art principles (horizon line, foreground, middle ground, and background), and explaining the project step-by-step.  Here it is, in a nutshell:

It worked out well.  In the assignment, kids were expected to include objects one might have found in a typical Grandma Moses scene.  Trees, fields, people, buildings, animals, a path or stream.  It kept them engaged and there was little to no mess, as a bonus.

Materials used: Watercolor pencils, watercolor paper (9X12)

Difficulty: Easy.  Sixth-graders were encouraged to take their time.  Most used up the full hour and a half they were given.  Instruction took about 30 minutes.

Op art weaving project.

I try to incorporate a wide variety of mediums into my art classes each year.  Though one wouldn’t initially think of weaving to teach op art, this project turned out to be fun.  Not to mention, the kids practiced a lesser-known skill.  I was a bit surprised by how foreign it was to several of the fifth-graders in the class I taught.

We began by learning about Victor Vasarely and studied a few of his works to identify the various components of op art.  This powerpoint presentation taught a few principles of op art and outlined the steps of the project.

It basically went like this:

I also created this printable, which I printed onto neon paper.  Each student selected his/her own shade of neon and was able to cut along the lines to obtain the correct size of paper strips to complete the project.

Stuart Davis Landscape – Elementary Art Lesson

This past week I taught the third-graders about Stuart Davis, considered somewhat of a pioneer in 20th century American art.  You can’t talk about Stuart Davis without mentioning the influence jazz music had on his art.  So, naturally, one must play jazz music while the students create.

I started with a brief biographical sketch about Stuart Davis.  We defined “urban landscape”, and discussed some of the features one might find in the city.  We then talked about the characteristics of jazz music-the way it takes original melodies and tweaks the chords and rhythms just so to create a distinctive sound.  I invited them to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” with me (in its original form) and then played a jazz version of it to give the kids a better idea of jazz.

Understanding jazz helped them better see how Stuart Davis depicted real-life objects/places in abstract ways.

I instructed the students to think of a familiar place: their childhood home, a grandparent’s house, a place they’ve visited.  I then asked them to think of a few notable characteristics of that place and list them on a piece of paper.  They then used paper to create a landscape of their chosen subject.

We used Yellowstone as an example.  Those familiar with Yellowstone listed the following things they could depict in a “Yellowstone landscape”: bison, geysers, mountains, rivers, a fox, tents, cameras.

I created the following  Powerpoint as a guideline for the lesson.

Elementary Art Lesson – Edward Hopper Lighthouse Watercolor

The fifth grade course of study in our school introduces the students to American realism, as exemplified by Edward Hopper.  In this lesson, we first read through * Mike Venezia’s biography on Edward Hopper.  Once the students experienced a healthy cross-section of the various subjects Hopper painted, we mimicked his style by using watercolor to create our own lighthouse painting.

The basics were as follows:

It’s a rather simple project, though having to draw something as realistically as possible proves to be a challenge for some students.  The subject of a lighthouse provides fifth-graders (or younger) a perfect opportunity to practice drawing three-dimensionally.  I created the following powerpoint presentation to instruct the students on each step of the art project:  Edward Hopper Lighthouse Watercolor Powerpoint

Materials used:* watercolor pencils, watercolor paper (9X12), black sharpie, pencil.

Difficulty: Easy to moderate.  Suitable for 4th-6th graders.

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