Glue and Chalk Pastel Cats

My example on tan paper

I like the impact of the pastel on black

My 4th-6th graders created these graphic cats with gel glue on black construction paper. We followed a simple line drawing on the white board. Once the glue dried, chalk pastel was added to give their feline their own unique personality. We didn't look at Laurel Birch examples, but I can definitely see some similarities in a few. I think they did a fabulous job! It was our last day together, but I have more great artwork to post. What a nice group of kids! Offering to help clean up, an abundance of "please" and "thank you's", and hugs good-bye. Yes, these are tweens! :)

Multi-Media Pandas

I have a wonderful group of 4th-6th graders in my 3-day art camp this week. Here are a few of their finished pandas. Pandas were done in acrylic and eyes in oil pastel. Most chose to create oil pastel bamboo with a watercolor wash background. More pandas to post tomorrow, as well as glue and chalk pastel cats and artwork inspired by the children's book, "Zen Shorts".

Non-Objective Art Collage

I love Savannah's bright palette and bold black lines

My daughter and I have been having fun with a non-objective collage idea I found on Mrs. Picasso's Art Room (details and directions shown here) last year. I thought it would be perfect for my Messy Art Fun class. We added a few extra elements to the top two pieces (decoupaged tissue paper, newspaper, yellow pages, magazine cut-outs, and foam stamps.) Once dry, I cut it into 2" x 3" pieces and we re-assembled it into an interesting composition. I'd love to modify this idea to create unique artist trading cards.

Animal Art Fun

"Dylan" Acrylic and Oil Pastel on Cardboard by 9 year old

Expressive Rescue Dog Portraits with Fauve Colors

African Elephants using washable markers and water

and chalk pastel landscapes

Pandas in acrylics, oil pastels and watercolor

Panda by Savannah (9)

Whiteboard example

Chalk and Oil Pastel Lion Profiles

In a couple weeks I will begin a series of six, three day themed art camps.(Messy Art Fun, Animal Art, Children's Book Art, Around the World Art Projects, and a Multi-themed class.) By far the most popular was Animal Art. (I even had to add an extra class.) We will be creating a variety of animals, wild and domestic, realistic and cartoon. This is just a preview of some of our scheduled projects. I will post the children's artwork with more details as they complete their pieces.

Il Sung Na Inspirations

animal shapes with some delicate black line details

Savannah, sponge painting her sky background

Savannah's composition, techniques and ideas were entirely her own.

She did a wonderful job pulling elements from Na's work.

From Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit

My school year classes have ended, but I am gearing up for some wonderful themed art classes this summer. One of these themes is Children's Book Art. We will be creating artwork based on children's book illustrations, as well as creating are own inspirations for poems, cartoons or short stories.

One of the illustrators we will be looking at is Il Sung Na, of Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit, A Book of Sleep, and The Thingamabob. His work is both ethereal and whimsical... and just plain beautiful! I wanted to highlight his animals, which are simple in shape, but have gorgeous details and textures.

To create our artwork we will use a combination of acrylics, thin Sharpie, white gel marker, colored pencil and scrapbook paper. Simple animal shapes are cut out of decorative scrapbook paper. My daughter and I created our backgrounds with acrylics and sponges or cotton balls to create a textured base. Details (Na's work is full of gorgeous little details and surprises) can be added with thin Sharpie and gel makers. Additional color can be added with colored pencils on top of the acrylic paint. I will post my classes' Il Sung Na inspired artwork later in the summer.

Ancient Egyptian Royalty

Even Egyptian Queens have to smile sometimes

Some of my first graders created an Egyptian Queen or King self portrait for their last project of this session. I adapted this project from one I saw on Artsonia. We looked at art of the ancient Egyptian royalty for inspiration. In the past I have had the children paint their faces (computer printed profiles) with a watered down white wash to age the artwork. My daughter paused and said, "I think the parents would like to see their children's faces." Good point Savannah! I took her advice on this one. They painted a gold border and created designs for their head dress and tunic using oil pastels. Each child wrote their name using Egyptian Hieroglyphics. And of course no pharaoh would be complete without the signature black eyeliner. Some kids really went to town with their Sharpies!

Mexican Amate Bark Paintings

In honor of Cinco de Mayo several weeks ago, my classes created artwork inspired by Mexican Amate Bark paintings. I've seen these on a number of blogs including Deep Space Sparkle. Some children used grocery bag paper and others construction paper. I had originally planned to have them crinkle them up to mimic the look of the fig and mulberry bark that is boiled and then beaten. But some of their work is so delicate, I thought it looked better as is. They created a decorative border first with Sharpie and then added some stylized birds which are a favorite subject matter in this folk art. I fully admit, I have been a little bird crazy lately. Fortunately, no one seemed to mind. They used bright colored acrylics to finish their pieces. Because the paper was fairly thin, I mounted their work on brightly colored poster board. These pieces were created by 5 and 6 year olds.