Watercolor Tigers

Luke, 1st

 Jenna, 4th

 Nathan, 5th

 Emma, 3rd

 Abby, 1st

Scott, 2nd

I love it when a direct line drawing lesson yields such varied results! Because I teach classes for K-5th together, it can be a bit tricky creating lessons that won't overwhelm my younger students or bore my older ones. I think tiger portraits were a great choice for the first day of my Animal Art Fun class with my mixed age group. I had pictures of real tigers on the table for the children to look at in addition to our line drawing lesson. I had originally planned on only offering orange watercolor (first time using liquid and loved them) after their Sharpie and charcoal drawings were complete. But decided to let them cut loose and decide if they wanted a Fauve cat or a realistic one. Wonderful expressive tigers kids!

Machiko Inspired Batiks

As I said before, I absolutely adore the botanical art of Miroco Machiko. I thought her primitive, bold and colorful style would lend itself well to batik. And I have to say, the kids (ages 6-8) did a wonderful job grasping her style and creating their own compositions. The children mapped out their designs with pencil on muslin. Day one, these lines were gone over with gel glue. (After trying both methods, I do prefer the toothpaste and aloe vera lotion mix I learned about from Phyl from There's a Dragon in My Art Room. (The gel glue took quite a while to rinse off in comparison- but the artwork turned out beautifully regardless). The following week they used watered down acrylics to add color to their designs.Once rinsed, everywhere their glue lines were, remained white. This is always a favorite project! I especially like the fact the the children have to be patient in waiting for the final outcome. : )

Mixed Media Jellyfish

 Talia, 3rd grade

 Chas, 2nd grade

 Jenna, 4th grade

 Alexa, 2nd grade

My experiment for the lesson

These beautiful jellies were created at a 1st grader's birthday party
where I had the honor of leading an art project for an Octonauts theme.
 Thank you Miss Abby for letting me be a part of your special day!!

I know...odd timing for a jellyfish lesson. I came across some beautiful watercolor jellyfish from artist, Joann Perry and decided to try a multi-media variation with my Mini Modern Artist group. Jellyfish  were created using chalk pastels. We looked at a variety of these unique creatures to inspired us.Children were encouraged to shade them around the edges, but to leave some white showing to give them a translucent feel. Watercolor was added for our ocean background and then salt to give a bubbly texture. I think they have a wonderful ethereal feel to them.

Miroco Machiko Inspirations

 I love the layering of plant life in this piece.

Beautiful work Alexa! (2nd grade)

my experiment

One of my favorite artist discoveries on Pinterest is Miroco Machiko. I found myself pinning piece after piece of this fantastic Japanese artist. She captures the essence of children's art in her work - bold shapes, fearless lines and a colorful palette. I decided to do two lessons inspired by her art with my Mini Modern Artists class. After looking at a number of her botanical works, we used glue or black oil pastels on black construction paper to create bold line work. Color was added with chalk or oil pastel. Next up, our gel glue batik pieces...stay tuned!

Wolf Kahn Inspired Pastel Landscapes

my experiment

My Mini Modern Art class students looked at the pastel work of German born American artist, Wolf Kahn. They immediately responded to his radiant color palette and unique style. His work beautifully combines the style of Color Field painting with the traditional 19th century landscape. My students used chalk pastels to create their inspired pieces.

Inspirations from Hubble

We have been in a bit of a space frenzy around here lately. We had the wonderful experience of Endeavour's fly over several weeks ago before making its way to its new home at The California Science Center in LA. And my daughter was so excited about her studies with the solar system, she brought home her science text book to show me everything she was learning. (Thanks to her Fantastic 5th grade teacher, Ms. Long for igniting her curiosity and enthusiasm in exploring the world of space and astronomy!)

So when I stumbled on this fantastic art lesson from Make It....a Wonderful Life, I knew I had to give it a try. I showed my students pictures from the Hubble website. We talked about Supernovas (exploding stars) and Nebulae (clouds of dust and gases in space). They were as impressed as I was with how incredibly beautiful and amazing these discoveries are. Treat yourself and visit the HubbleSite gallery here.

 The Endeavour fly over - What a treat!

My experiment for the lesson

 This artist wanted to show an exploding supernova

We created our pieces on black construction paper with chalk pastels. We used the side of our pastels and blended lightly to create the look of the feathery nebulae. Stars were added with acrylics using toothpicks as well as splattering with brushes. They could choose to add cut planets that were shaded with dark on one side and light on the other to give them dimension.

Good Dog Carl

 (this pup is waiting for his balloon 

string to finish the piece)

 My experiment for the project

Inspiration page

I haven't done an art lesson inspired by a children's book for a while, so I thought it was time to give it a go. I found Carl's Afternoon in the Park by Alexandra Day in my shelf, and thought it would be perfect for my Multi-Media Art Class. The children created a textured back ground using acrylics and sponges to mimic Day's beautiful painted illustrations. The dog and balloon were done separately using chalk pastels and charcoal. Emphasis was on shading and shadow for these elements. The children followed a line drawing lesson for the puppy, but were encouraged to make adjustments to make it their own. Cut out balloons and dogs were added to their painted background and last a balloon string was added to bring their piece together. Cute pooches guys! Artwork by ages 7-9.