Pandamonium

My Experiment 

The theme for this class session is Whimsical Animal Art. I just celebrated my 47th birthday and gifted myself with a theme that was lighthearted and fun to enjoy with the kids during the busy holiday season (and as an added bonus, some of these pieces would make great gifts for family and friends).  We are using various illustrations as inspiration for our mixed media pieces. This wonderfully rendered panda by artist, Jamie Mitchell caught my eye on Pinterest. My K through 6th graders created their pandas with Sharpie and charcoal and their own designer bow ties with markers. They then chose two coordinating pieces of scrapbook paper on which to glue their cut pandas. ( I spent 30 minutes agonizing over which pad to buy at Michael's. I have a major thing for patterned scrapbook paper even though I don't scrapbook). 

I adore the individual expressions on these hipster pandas!

Migrating Monarchs

Every year around November 1st, hundreds of thousands of Monarch butterflies arrive in Mexico from as far north as Canada. (Monarchs originating west of the Colorado Rockies arrive along the California coast) Because this coincides with the Dia de Los Muertos, many residents believe these are souls of their ancestors returning for their annual visit. What a perfect time for a Monarch art lesson! My 5-11 year olds created symmetrical butterflies by drawing one side with black oil pastel, folding paper in half and then rubbing the backside of the paper. More details and embellishments were made with marker, acrylic and watercolors. Flowers were made with oil pastel and watercolor. The children created their backgrounds by scraping dots of analogous acrylic paint with pieces of cardboard. Butterflies and flowers were then glued to their dry backgrounds.