Artistic Freedom

I am almost finished with my fourth grade gum ball machine inspired lesson with oil pastels. I have one class finished, and three more to finish this next week. Check back for more colors and student examples.

(above) Fifth grade... This 1/4 is amazing! Love this group project!!!!!!!! I had the 5th graders pick groups of four. Each group picked an artist, not knowing what work of art they might receive. The students that picked Van Gogh had his sunflower study. The students that picked Picasso, got his Weeping Woman painting. Each group member got a 1/4 of the painting. Each group member was responsible for drawing their quarter of the drawing to scale (the best they could), and then add color to it with oil pastel. The trick to success is to work with group members to make sure things line up, and colors match. The first year I did this I was hesitant to let the students pick their own group, but this project is so involved that they don't have time to mess around. They love putting all four parts together as they work. It's like magic when things work out and it looks like the original work of art. By the end of this project, I don't know who was ...

With nothing but paper and glue, my second graders just finished these ice fishing works of art. In the past, I have always done a fish project. Wisconsin winters are long and artwork usually reflects the season. My fish lessons usually happen during the spring. This year, I thought why not do an ice fishing inspired project. Most of my students ice fish with their parents every weekend... this project informed me of that (so many student stories). I loved the students excitement, and the awesome little details. The students made their own fish tracers, and designed each fish using paper. The fish are big compared to the ice shanties, but it gives it a sense of playfulness. The project took a while, but I love the results and local inspiration behind the theme. 

My new favorite way to teach weaving to third grade!!!! We started by making the clay loom. I introduce the students to organic shapes, telling them that I didn't want anything symmetrical. The students listened, and made awesome organic shapes out of clay. I handed out circle tracers and they cut out the center of the design. I added all of the holes around the inner circle and then fired the clay. The students painted their designs with watercolor instead of glaze because I was afraid of clogging the holes with the glaze. The next class we strung our loom with string creating a spider web design.  The students spent the next 4 classes weaving out from the center with yarn. The students learned what they needed from weaving, without it taking 15 classes. I recommend this lesson to anyone wanting to try something new when it comes to weaving.  

From a basic still life drawing, to an amazing Pop Art print. Each students picked out a can or bottle of soda / gatorade to draw. The students drew a line drawing of their drink. Instead of adding things like shading or little lettering, the students stuck to the basics and added what they thought was important from the can or bottle. After they finished the drawing I handed out tracing paper. The students traced their drawing on the paper. When finished tracing, we flipped the tracer paper over and attached it to a piece of foam. The students outlined the backwards tracing paper on the foam until the image transferred. The students went over their transferred lines on the foam with pen until the lines were deep. Once the lines were deep enough the students cut out their can or bottle. With the cut out printing plate (foam), the students printed using different colored inks and paper. Love the uniqueness of each students drawings. Nice job!

My third grade students started this lesson looking at a leaf found in our woods just outside my classroom. Using a thicker paper, the students looked at the leaf and drew their own form of a leaf tracer. After cutting out their drawing, the students drew a line down the center of a piece of white paper. After drawing another line parallel to the first line, the students traced the leaf tracer down the one side of the paper. Once they finished the first side, they did the same thing on the other side, except they placed it in-between the two on the other side. The next class, I introduce the third graders to zentangles. The students had to pick one design and fill the inside of the leafs on one side, and the area around the leafs on the other side. The final design gives a positive negative look. We outlined the leaf and filled any areas we wanted black with sharpie marker. The results were awesome and very interesting to look like. Almost a form of tessellation.

We read a book on skyscrapers before we started this project. After the book, I handed each student a skinny and tall piece of white paper. On that paper we drew what we had learned about architecture, and huge city skyscrapers. Basic shapes were used to create the windows and building accents. Once finished drawing the building we went over all lines with black sharpie and cut them out. The next class, the students glued the building onto a colored piece of construction paper. Next to the white (emphasis) skyscraper, we drew tall basic buildings surrounding it. The students learned a lot about architecture, no more randomly placed windows that make no sense in the way of floors. Nice job 1st grade!

To start the year out, I made these pumpkins with my fourth graders. We started the pumpkins with three different sized tracers in the shape of the center oval of each of the pumpkins. The students made the first / center shape first. After the center was formed they pivoted left twice and then right twice. Once the three pumpkins were drawn I introduced the students to zentangles. The students got a 8 page packet filled with examples of patterns and designs. Each student was forced to problem solve the the zentangle's creation. After all the pumpkins were filled with designs, the students picked one pumpkin to add an orange watercolor emphasis.