Cardinals by Third Grade

Well, it just keeps right on snowing around here so I guess I'll post my latest lesson with the 3rd grade. They drew bright beautiful cardinals in the snow. First they sketched out the bird on a branch with a land line flowing through the background. Then they colored the cardinal and branch with oil pastels. This is what they looked like at that point...

I always love seeing how each one comes out a little different. Even when we do a lesson with a lot of teacher direction during the drawing phase, the drawings always end up with a bit of personal flare by each artist. I think that is exactly what art is! It's personal and unique even when two artists draw the exact same object.

During the next art class, the students carefully painted in a bright blue sky using blue tempra paint. They worked so slowly and carefully around the edges of the different objects in their pictures. We left the bottom of the page white for the snowy ground. Finally, I mounted them on red paper. They are beautiful. I can't wait to hang them up! Here is a sneak peek at some finished ones...

The Eighth Grade LOVES Aht! (No typo, that's what they call it!)

So, can I just say that I am very much enjoying my time with this year's 8th grade class and although I am so proud of them, I will be so sad to see them go at the end of the year. With that said, let's check out some of the work they have produced this year. I'm sure next year I will write up full blog posts on these lessons, but for now I am just going to list and show examples of some of the fun we have been having in the art (aht) room this year...

Van Gogh inspired sunflowers:

Skull portraits for Halloween:

Hanging Christmas Ornaments:

Let It Snow Snowmen:

I am looking forward to the rest of the year with these guys!!!

Bird Houses by Grade Seven

My seventh grade class gets the honor of my first spring art lesson post of the year. (Although I have at least one more winter one coming!) They made these cool birds house paintings. We added a little 3-D effect using folded paper to create the roofs. (I looked it up to be sure...it's not "rooves", but that is also acceptable). Anyway, the students also used wooden craft sticks to create the sides of their bird houses. After they looked through books of different types of birds and sketched one inside their house, they painted the details with watercolor paint. We discussed how by controlling the amount of water on their brush and in the paint wells they were able to control the thickness of the paint on their papers. They used a wet on dry technique for this project. Here they are...

3,2,1...Action!! Snowmen by Grade 6

One of my favorite winter children's books is Snowmen at Night. It's fun to imagine what snowmen would do when no one is watching. The sixth grade and I spent some time discussing this topic. We talked about how they would stick to outdoor winter activities so they would not melt. The students came up with a fabulous list of activities for their snowmen. As you look through the following examples of their artwork you will see snowmen skiing, snowboarding, sledding, playing hockey, having a snowball fight, and figure skating.
You may also notice that they use colored art sticks and make a good attempt at shading, just like the 5th grade did with their portrait snowmen. I think of this as a continuation of the portrait snowmen they do when they are in 5th grade. It is a chance to apply the same skills to a similar, but still fresh, project. They will do it again in 7th grade when they work on our Close, Closer, Closest Snowman project. There is a sample of that project at the end. A glimpse into their art world of next year! Enjoy...

sledding 

sledding

snowboarding

sledding

snowball fight!

figure skating

skiing

skiing

figure skating

snow shoeing

hockey

figure skating

A glimpse at next year's project!