Chameleons, Cats and Crocodiles

Watercolor explorations inspired by this lesson from

Deep Space Sparkle

Chalk pastel

                             

Watercolor and salt and splatters

My Children's Book Art Fun class has looked at the illustrations from  Chameleons Are Cool, Skippyjon Jones, and Solomon Crocodile. They created works of art inspired by these artists' styles, techniques, and media. Artwork by ages 6-10.

Jim Dine Valentines II

I did this project last February and decided to give it another go with my Mixed Media Drawing and Painting class. Children used fingers or sponges with acrylics to create a painterly background inspired by Jim Dine's heart series. Next styrofoam heart prints with carved designs were made using black acrylic. Children had the option of using oil pastels to add color on top of their prints.

One-Point Perspective Spooky Landscapes

 My example on light paper

My example on black paper

I know! My students were quick to point out that it wasn't October. But I have been doing quite a bit of animal themed projects lately and I was inspired by this wonderful One Point Perspective Lesson from SmART Class and this lesson by Shine Brite Zamorano inspired by this artwork . My students chose between black or light colored construction paper to set their mood. I used Natalie's incredibly helpful guidelines to help the children set up their landscape. Chalk pastel was used to set the atmosphere for sky, ground, roads, and shadows. Oil pastel was used for the trees. The trickiest part for the kids seemed to be making those first trees in the foreground Large and working down from there.It is a bit advance for younger children, but they did a great job! These were created by children 6-9. More to post!

Giraffes by Moonlight

This project is inspired by the book "Giraffes Can't Dance." I have done the dancing giraffe version which is a real favorite among the children. This go around, we focused on layered moonlit giraffe portraits. Giraffes were created using the wet on wet technique that created the "bleeding" spot effect. The children created the backgrounds using oil pastels for the leaves and moon followed by a watercolor night sky.  To create an added layer, the children cut out leaves from watercolor and salt paper they had made earlier. I encouraged them just to cut organic leaf-like shapes and not worry about drawing them out first. Last, they added stars with the backs of their brushes using white acrylic. This project required the children to follow quite a few directions and keep it moving along at a brisk pace to finish them up in one afternoon. Well done kids! These are full of personality! (Ages 6-10)

Cats on Color Fields

My 6-9 year old group created their gray tabby cats first using watercolor and charcoal. For a background twist, they looked at Mark Rothko's Color Field paintings and created their own with chalk pastels choosing color combinations to convey a certain mood.

Bold Painted Cows

Is it just me or are there a lot of cow paintings being pinned on Pinterest lately? I have done Many animal art projects, but cows....I think I have neglected. After seeing these magnificent paintings by Jean Francois Sineux on Design Mom, I was inspired to give it a go with my Mixed Media Drawing and Painting class. The children used sponges and brushes to apply acrylics to their drawn cow forms. Details and shadows were added with charcoal and Sharpie. Beautiful bovines kids! (ages 6-9)

Pastel Elf Owls

Happy 10th Birthday Jenna!

Before Winter Break my Animal Art Fun kids created these owls in their choice of oil or chalk pastel. This was a very open ended project as I allowed them to create realistic or imaginary birds. Our inspiration was the Elf Owl, a very tiny round headed owl that live in the southwest of the US and Mexico and often reside in cacti. My 6 thru 9 year olds followed a loose direct line drawing lesson but could make their own unique spin on things.Their cutout owls were glued on top of a moonlit sky created with watercolor and acrylic moon and stars. It always fascinates and delights me to see the direction children will take the same project directions.