Finishing up some projects

Now that I have a lil free time, there are so many little projects I want to work on, but my space is a mess.  I did finish these for a friend.  We saw these bottles at the flea market and some shells as well, I just need to find some sand to go inside.  Then move on to another project, feeling creative.

Concentric Cardboard Circles

It's been a busy day in the art room but I still had to post this project my 6th graders are working on.  It's corigated cardboard rolled and glued and then painted.  I love the texture, can't wait to hang them.

Christmas is Coming

Christmas is coming so I hope you have trimmed your tree.  We did these in after school art programming with the 4-8th graders.  We painted the checker board borders first then drew and colored and cut out the trees then attached a black paper background to the border paper, then the cut out tree.  Easy, fun holiday project.

Mistletoe Mall

It's that time of year again, crafters get your ware ready spending countless hours on homemade things that you put your heart into, only to sell for pennies.  All for the love of creativity.  

Art Words Wall

Here is my latest bulletin board, I thought it would be a good idea to post art words  in the art room to help facilitate artful discussions.  I let the students illustrate them, it's a good extension activity for those who finish early or for those who want art homework.

Artistic Perception

Artists use value to create depth and emphasis.  M.C. Escher, in the above illustration used value to emphasize the subject matter to make it stand out.  He also used value, (degrees of lights and darks) to balance out his composition.  Notice how the black birds become the black sky and the white sky becomes the white fish.  He created illusions of space and depth with simple use of value. 

Artistic Perception Objective: Describe the environment and selected works of art, using the elements of art and the principles of design.  How has M.C. Escher used value, line shape form, texture and space?  How has he used emphasis, variety, repetition, and balance in this work of art?

Value Studies

 Create a value study using a range of contrasting values from white to black and some in-between greys.  Think about foreground, middle ground and background.   Also, think of how to create depth and 3-D forms with the use of value.  Here are a few examples:

Understanding Values

Here is a great video about value in art from youtube.com/edu..

Value and Pattern

This is a great way to practice making different values using different patterns.  I got this value study from fellow art teacher Todd Stahl here.  What a great exercise.  Can you come up with six different values with six different patterns?  Let's Find out.

Value in Art

Value is defined as the relative lightness or darkness of a color. It is an important tool for artists, in the way that it defines form and creates the illusion of space. Contrast of value separates objects in space and makes a pleasing composition, while gradation of value suggests mass and contour of a surface. In the drawing above, value contrast separates the wooden figure from the background, and the sphere from the background as well, while gradation suggests the curves of the sphere's surface and of the other forms.

I ❤️ owls

Circle Painting

I spent last weekend with like minded people at the CA Art Ed Association SoCal conference in idylwild.  I got so inspired.  I took the circle painting class by artist Hiep Nguyen, and worked collaboratively with other art teachers.

Turkey time

We read one of my most favorite books today in kindergarten, it's "The Art Lesson" by Tommie DePaola, a autobiography so to speak.  Well the story has a great art teacher in it and a turkey too, so I always like to read it in November and make turkeys.

Shapes Pizza

My jr. Kinders are studying shapes so today we made pizzas with triangle cheese, rectangle peppers, circular pepperoni, square sausages and round olives.  Oh and don't forget to shake a little Parmesan cheese glitter on the top.

Still Life

 In 5th grade today, we went over observational drawing.  I have 9 tips for observational drawing and they go like this.  1. Look closely at what you are drawing.  2.  Draw from real objects. 3. Beware of elipicals. 4. Draw lightly and sketch our proportions first. 5. Add a range of value.  6. Learn depth of space, what goes in front what goes behind, where does the table line go.  7.  Know when to add or omit details.  8. Never trace.  9.  Be creative, add your own soul.

I have picked up various fake fruits at garage sales.  This way they always stay fresh and never go bad and I always have them on hand when needed. 

Finger Puppets

One of my favorite things to do is share these little artist finger puppets with the kinders.  I love the little expressions on their faces.  Andy kinda has a blank stare and Frida looks like she is on pain meds.  Picasso and Monet look like they are sharing a secret and Vincent, well, he just ain't happy.    I got these at the National Gallery of Art in D.C. but I'm sure you can find them on-line. 

More Monkeys

 We have seen a monkey in the art room.  He is a very naughty monkey and breaks all the rules.  I go over the rules for art class at the beginning of the year so that all the kids know what is expected.  Also, they know the rules in case they run into the naughty monkey, so they can let him know too. 

 I hear he needs a refresher on the playground rules too, so if you see him let him know.  In the mean time we drew and painted monkeys on the first day in honor of the naughty monkey.  Be good kids, you don't wanna get kicked out.

Name Pattern

 On a ten inch square paper, students make a two in grid.  Then they write the letters of their name continually until they run out of squares.  Each letter of their name can be a different font, but should repeat with the letters of the name.  Then backgrounds can include decorative patterns and colors.

Theme Bulletin Board

So our theme at my school is striving for excellence, so here is my excellence bulletin board, I had to fix it, cuz I only had one 'l' in excellence. Guess I'm not an excellent speller. 

Art Camp Round Two

 These are some photos that I took from art camp week two this year.  I took these right before our art show that was a huge success.  We had about 40 guests show up for the show and the kids got to show off all their hard work and creativity from the week.  Thanks for the inspiration kids.

 Crazy faces made from cardboard, popsicle sticks, and pipe cleaners, colored with pastels and sharpies.

 Sun and Moons wit oil pastels and a black tempera wash, then when dry we collaged the words.

 paper mache bowls

 Collaged 3-D boxes with self portraits inside

 flip-flops always a hit, collaged on a painted pattern background

 Triple portraits, me and two friends