NEW OP ART VIDEO LESSON: Movement With Lines

Hello artists!

During distance learning I created a bunch of videos--I HAD to! Being an art teacher is sooo much easier when you can SHOW people what you are talking about! Some of the videos were just screen recordings I did in Zoom, and my philosophy, at first, was get the videos done to the best of my modest abilities so the students could connect with me and do the work. But towards the end, I started to get a little more fancy. 

Don't get me wrong. I didn't WANT TO learn how to do anything with video. OK, that's kind of a fib. I love to learn, but I had learned SO MUCH new stuff while being home for 10 weeks. So many new programs, so many new ways to get content out there to students (and did I mentione I was home with my four kids?). So many things in my brain!! I really didn't think I handle more or give more of my time.

But, I wanted the videos to be better. So I forced myself to try a video editing program. I chose to go free and online, so I tried out WeVideo. I really liked it! There was a 30 day free trial and I just sneaked this video in at the last minute. It's a how to for my most popular post ever--"Movement With Lines" this post has had almost 120,000 views since 2012.

I was looking back through the blog the other day, saw it, and noticed that in the comments someone had asked if I had a video for the lesson. Ummmm. No. BUT I COULD! I started planning the video out and, guys, I FORGOT HOW FUN THIS PROJECT IS!! Really, I ended up making a few just for fun.

I changed this up for students who were working at home--using index cards as the base for the art since I thought many people would have index cards on hand. I also scaled it down so that it could be done during one of my weekly hour-long Art-a-Long sessions I offered to students and families. If you want to go bigger (or smaller), please do! The original post has students use 8 1/2" x 11" paper and clever teachers photocopy the numbered lines on the back BEFORE having students do the work.

So, here's my quickly cobbled together video for "Movement With Lines." It's not going to win any video awards, but it's out there for the masses. I hope you can use it with your classes, your children and you try it yourself! I promise, it's fun and you can totally do it!

ENJOY!

You Gotta Try It! Super-Easy Monoprint Foam Plate Printmaking

I love printmaking and can't believe that I didn't take printmaking in college (my art program was so full--I barely had any electives). I'm a self-taught printmaker, and since I don't have a printmaking press, and I have four kiddos around, I like to find easy ways to create prints that they can do too. This here project is definitely one you have to try--either by yourself, with your children, or in the classroom. It is that fun and easy and uses supplies you already have on hand...

Look at this beautiful print created by my five-year-old! Love it!

And this one was done by me showing a more abstract possibility...
perhaps exploring line.

According to DCimPRINT, what we are doing here is a monoprint (versus a monotype--different thing--read more about this here). With a monoprint, a plate is incised, color applied, and a print is made. They say:

"Monoprints are the outcome of matrices that have permanent features, and can be considered variations on a theme.  The theme is the result of permanent features of the plate (such as a silkscreen template or etched lines). Variations on the theme are made when the plate is inked differently prior to each print. Possibilities for variance are infinite, and include monoprints of different color, ink density, or even size, but certain permanent features on the plate will always carry on 

from one print to another." --DCimPRINT

Because the plate is colored by hand before each print, prints can vary greatly; that is truly the fun of this project...check it out...

Supplies needed:

• Foam tray from the supermarket (I use the green ones from veggies--not meat). These can be purchased in bulk from some nice supermarkets for pennies a piece.
• Scissors
• Crayola washable markers (I didn't use the ultra washable ones--just the ones you see in the photo)
• A dull pencil
• A sponge and a bit of water
• White paper (I used some cheap-o paper I had, you should use drawing paper that can handle ink--DO NOT use construction paper, it won't hold up to the water).

Directions:

1. Remove the rims from the edges of the foam tray using scissors. Our finished piece of foam was roughly 3 1/2" x 8," but you can use any size for this).
2. Use a dull pencil to draw a design into the foam plate. A simple activity would be to draw different types of lines (straight, curved, zig zag, etc.), but you could draw a recognizable image. The dots you see on our designs were done by poking the plate with the dull pencil.
3. Use the markers to apply color to the plate between the lines you created. Cover the entire plate with color. Older children can experiment with layering colors within sections.
4. Prepare your paper: Cut the paper to size (a little larger than your plate). Use a slightly wet sponge to dampen your paper. You don't want the paper too wet, so you'll have to play around with this a bit. 
5. Place the dampened paper onto the hand-colored plate and press gently, using your hand to smooth the paper onto the plate. I also use the damp sponge to smooth the paper onto the plate--don't scrub the paper or it will shift (and create a blurry image) or the paper will tear.
6. Remove the paper and let dry.

At this time, you can recolor the plate to make another print. Try changing your colors this time or swapping plates with a friend and coloring their plate. You can keep the print as is (a nice work of art on its own) or use your print to create a card or bookmark (like we did).

Have fun with this easy and fun printmaking project!

Thinking of warm weather and our favorite pastime... 

And a minion card for a friend
(this one was colored by my five-year-old).

And the finished prints can be folded in half, glued and laminated
to make bookmarks. These were some of the ones we created.
The tassels are "Loops and Threads Craft Thread"
which is a bit thicker than embroidery floss.

And here's a close-up of one of the finished bookmarks.
This would be a fun project for a month when your school
celebrates reading.

REPOST: Symmetrical Paper and Clay Butterflies

It's been a long summer here in New Hampshire--my kiddos have been on break since June 10th and don't start school again until September 8th--WOW! So, the long and lazy days of summer need some crafting with mom time. Here's a butterfly that Little Miss did today. This is a post from back in September of 2012, but it's a good one--very fun (and shhh....educational too!). ENJOY!

And here's the original post:

Do you know some students who are studying butterflies? This is a great project for children in Kindergarten and elementary school. You can work in so many great concepts with this project: parts of an insect, symmetry, pattern, and more.

I started by having my students cut out the wings and design them and then I walked them through the making of the butterfly body. We finished up by adding the details such as antennae and legs. I really enjoyed this project because it taught science and art concepts, but it also because it allowed the students some self expression; a win/win in my book!

Clay Butterfly With Paper Wings

Supplies Needed:

• One 6" x 9" piece of construction paper for the wings (light color)
• Pencil with eraser
• Scissors
• Assorted markers
• Model Magic by Crayola (about the size of a chicken egg), whatever color you want
• 3 pipe cleaners (chenille stems), whatever color you want

Directions:

1. Fold the construction paper in half the short way (hamburger or taco fold).

2. Arrange the construction paper so the fold is on the left. Draw a capital letter "B" on the paper extending it so the top and bottom of the "B" touch the top and bottom of the paper.

3. Cut out the "B" shape, but don't cut the middle line (in between the upper and bottom bumps). Write your name on the paper and open it up so your name is face down. These are your butterfly wings.

4. Decorate the wings with whatever designs you would like: big dots, little dots, lines, etc. I showed a couple of butterfly books to the children before they started drawing. I asked them to make their designs symmetrical, or the same on both wings.

5. I then gave each child a ball of Model Magic the size of a chicken egg. I had them pull off a piece and roll it into a 3/4-1" ball. This is the butterfly's head. Place this ball of dough at the top of your butterfly's wings and press down slightly.

6. Divide the remainder of the dough in half (two equal parts). Form he first into a ball. This is the thorax for your butterfly. Place this ball of dough below your butterfly's head on the wings and press down slightly.

7. Roll the remainder of the dough into a hot dog shape about 3" long or so. This is the abdomen of your butterfly. Place this ball of dough below your butterfly's thorax on the wings and press down slightly.

8. Use scissors to cut each pipe cleaner into three equal sections. Poke 2 pipe cleaner pieces into the butterfly's head as his antennae. Wrap another pipe cleaner piece into a coil and poke it into the head for the butterfly's proboscis.

9. Poke the remaining 6 pipe cleaner pieces into the butterfly's thorax (3 on one side, 3 on the other). These are the butterfly's legs.

You're done! Enjoy your colorful butterfly!

Rainy Day Fun! Well, sort of!

So, I planned a totally outside series of art classes, which is new for me--usually my classes take place inside. Well, I planned some fun, outside, messy art projects and…it rained. Oops! Well, hurry up, run around, and repack an inside water-based project ("It's OK kids, it's raining outside, but we can use water to make some fun art!"). Drive to the school and…it stops raining. SIGH. 

Well, we did the rainy day project anyway. :-)

YUM! Ice cream!

This wonderful project is quick, easy and addicting! I saw this project awhile back on the smART Class blog and I've been wanting to try it forever! She says it is "the best art project ever!" and I'm inclined to agree. :-)

I pulled out the Crayola markers, white coffee filters (from the dollar store), and spray bottle (from the dollar store)--and we went to town! I only had the one spray bottle and the students needed to come to me for a spray of water. Sometimes, I'd miss the filter and spray them a bit. Oops! Ah, the power!

You really should try this project--the children think this process is just magical and many of the students who aren't usually into art made TONS of these.

My class had students in first through fourth grade and I had a couple first graders struggle a bit with this project due to the patience involved in making the little dots. I don't think it's all that much work, but be aware if you have a really young and rambunctious group.

Anyhow, after they had created at least three each, the students could work them into an illustration. They had fun with that part too, although that didn't take them long. There were stained glass windows, curly snail shells, off-road vehicle wheels, and an aerial view of Rapunzel's tower with one of these designs being an intricate rug on the floor. The students were all so creative! Some even had time to make two illustrations and that was fine with me.

This was a nice project to start my newest series of after school art classes and get to know this new batch of kiddos.

Enjoy!

A beautiful rug as seen from above.
Look at that long hair swirling around the room!

This student got a jump on her Mother's Day presents!

Funky snail shells!

And look at this tank!

This student wasn't done his coloring,
but I had to snap a picture of these beautiful stained glass windows!

Survey Says: CLAY!

I'm going to be returning to my teaching schedule soon and wanted to poll my previous after school students to see what they wanted to see more of in the coming year and the media that won was: CLAY!

This is probably no surprise to some of you, but this means I am going to make a serious effort to include some awesome clay projects with this year's classes! This does take a bit of planning since I don't have a kiln--this means air dry clay it is. I have some plans for Model Magic, Crayola Air Dry Clay, and plans to test a couple of new (to me) air dry clays on the market. Any suggestions?

Another downfall: drying space. Since I'm "art on a cart" I don't have space to store the items safely where I teach while they dry. That means I pack all the clay items up, load them in the car and bring them home to dry until the next class. This stresses me out! I worry that one of my kids will get into them or the dog will knock them over. I'm come up with some good ways to transport and store clay creations in progress, but it will be nice when I don't have to worry about moving them.

So, without further ado, I repost this lovely "Forever Sandcastle" post I did awhile back. The lesson is from Family Fun magazine and is really fun for the children to make. Make one yourself and enjoy those summertime memories all year long!

Whip up a batch of air dry sand clay
to make a forever sandcastle of your own!

Clay and Paper Butterflies

Do you know some students who are studying butterflies? This is a great project for children in Kindergarten and elementary school. You can work in so many great concepts with this project: parts of an insect, symmetry, pattern, and more.

I started by having my students cut out the wings and design them and then I walked them through the making of the butterfly body. We finished up by adding the details such as antennae and legs. I really enjoyed this project because it taught science and art concepts, but it also because it allowed the students some self expression; a win/win in my book!

Clay Butterfly With Paper Wings

Supplies Needed:

• One 6" x 9" piece of construction paper for the wings (light color)
• Pencil with eraser
• Scissors
• Assorted markers
• Model Magic by Crayola (about the size of a chicken egg), whatever color you want
• 3 pipe cleaners (chenille stems), whatever color you want

Directions:

1. Fold the construction paper in half the short way (hamburger or taco fold).

2. Arrange the construction paper so the fold is on the left. Draw a capital letter "B" on the paper extending it so the top and bottom of the "B" touch the top and bottom of the paper.

3. Cut out the "B" shape, but don't cut the middle line (in between the upper and bottom bumps). Write your name on the paper and open it up so your name is face down. These are your butterfly wings.

4. Decorate the wings with whatever designs you would like: big dots, little dots, lines, etc. I showed a couple of butterfly books to the children before they started drawing. I asked them to make their designs symmetrical, or the same on both wings.

5. I then gave each child a ball of Model Magic the size of a chicken egg. I had them pull off a piece and roll it into a 3/4-1" ball. This is the butterfly's head. Place this ball of dough at the top of your butterfly's wings and press down slightly.

6. Divide the remainder of the dough in half (two equal parts). Form he first into a ball. This is the thorax for your butterfly. Place this ball of dough below your butterfly's head on the wings and press down slightly.

7. Roll the remainder of the dough into a hot dog shape about 3" long or so. This is the abdomen of your butterfly. Place this ball of dough below your butterfly's thorax on the wings and press down slightly.

8. Use scissors to cut each pipe cleaner into three equal sections. Poke 2 pipe cleaner pieces into the butterfly's head as his antennae. Wrap another pipe cleaner piece into a coil and poke it into the head for the butterfly's proboscis.

9. Poke the remaining 6 pipe cleaner pieces into the butterfly's thorax (3 on one side, 3 on the other). These are the butterfly's legs.

You're done! Enjoy your colorful butterfly!

Big Mouth Critters

OK, so I've seen those clay critters on the internet where students make pinch pots and use those for the mouths of a critter frog, fish, beaver, monster, etc. They are CUTE and I knew I had to make them with my home school kids. They've been working so hard these past few weeks I wanted to treat them to some clay time!

What a cute doggie!

I showed the children examples of caricatures. We discussed why an artist would use that technique and compared real photos of people to caricature drawings of them. What a great conversation we had!

I don't have a kiln, so we used air dry clay for this project. The children seemed to have a great time making these! And I could see doing a variation of this for medieval gargoyles or for a fun nature project.

Here are some of my notes from this project:

• I started by giving each child enough clay for a pinch pot only and walked them through the technique of making a pinch pot.
• Then I gave each child another ball of clay (about the same size as the first) for their critters' features and limbs. This helped to ensure that the critters did indeed have a large mouth and the students were able to create the pinch pot--an integral part of the project.
• Air dry clay works OK. I used Crayola brand with my students, but one bucket of clay was more moist than the other. I just had the kids knead the dry dough and work in a little water to make it more pliable. I used 2 five pound buckets of Crayola air dry clay for 12 critters.
• I used a bit of the clay in some water to make slip (a slurry of clay and water used to attach clay pieces together). I demonstrated to the children how to "scratch and attach" the clay pieces such as eyeballs and legs to the pinch pot form. I gave each student a cotton swab and a toothpick for this.  Using this technique allows the pieces of air dry clay to fuse together better than just squeezing them together.
• I brought in a hot glue gun the next week to attach any pieces that may have come off during drying. Most were pretty good.
• We used acrylic craft paint to finish our critters. The colors are nice. Next time I might try finishing them with a varnish or clear coat to make them shiny.

We loved this project! Try it yourself (and send me pictures!!)!

Enjoy!

A bunny.

A turtle.

A "blood thirsty" beaver
(I'm not making this up!).

A frog and its dinner (a fly).

Gargoyles in Clay

Last week, with my art class, I thought it would be fun for the children to create gargoyles from clay (carving seems too messy and frustrating). I brought in a variety of pictures of gargoyles for them to look at. We were all surprised to see that gargoyles didn't have to be scary. Modern gargoyles can even be kind of cute, or look like a real animal or person (not a "horrible, unreal creature of the imagination"), and some even tell a story.

Sea turtle gargoyle. This has a gutter on its back. Note the baby turtle hitching a ride!

Background: 

What makes a gargoyle? Well, gargoyles are carved grotesques with a spout used to divert water away from the side of a building. The water usually exits through the mouth, but sometimes there is a gutter on top of the gargoyle instead. If the figure doesn't divert the water, it is not technically a gargoyle, but more of a "chimera."

Gargoyles have been used for thousands of years and in a variety of cultures. The word gargoyle means different things in different languages. The most common being: "throat" or "gargle" and the Dutch call them waterspuwer which means "water spitter" or "water vomiter." Pretty cool visual, eh?

I brought some pictures of gargoyles for the children to see. I also brought in the book, "American Gargoyles: Spirits in Stone," by Darlene Trew Crist. This book has many wonderful, clear images of a variety of old and new gargoyles along with the stories behind them. With this book, I was able to show the children a bird's eye view of a gargoyles and show them the mortar between the building stones (water erodes this mortar--hence the need for the drainage spouts). There were examples of scary gargoyles and friendly-looking gargoyles as well as an image of the gargoyles at work--one with water spewing from its mouth. Since the children in my art class are very interested in turtles, I showed them a picture of the "Weeping Sea Turtle (p.71)" and we discussed how gargoyles can tell a story.

I also borrowed a couple of other books from the library about gargoyles, but left them at home since they weren't completely appropriate for the children to be viewing.

"Holy Terrors: Gargoyles on Medieval Buildings," by Janetta Rebold Benton is also a stellar resource on gargoyles. This book also contains many clear pictures of a variety of gargoyles along with interesting text and an extensive bibliography, but some of the images contained nudity. Since I couldn't leave this book out for the children to peruse, I just left it at home.

"The Gargoyle Book: 572 Examples From Gothic Architecture," by Lester Burbank Bridaham was also left at home due to some nudity, but is an interesting resource of black and white images of gargoyles, Chimeres, Heads, and Woodwork that may be inspiring to the older student. The text is brief, so this is primarily a visual resource.

When doing the research for this project I read about a modern-day gargoyle that I had to check out: Darth Vader on the Washington National Cathedral. I went to the site, searched, and lo and behold. there he was! The piece was designed by Christopher Rader as part of a contest. The piece (not actually a gargoyle since it doesn't direct water) was sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter, carved by Patrick J. Plunkett, and placed high upon the northwest tower of the Cathedral. I had to show the kids that one!

Before I handed out the materials for the project, I suggested that the children think not only about what creature they were going to create, but think about what type of building it would be on and if it their gargoyle or grotesque would visually be telling a story.

Supplies Needed:

• Paper mat to work on
• Hunk of clay (I used Crayola air dry clay in gray-I used two 5lb. buckets for my 12 art students and my demo)
• Tools such as a plastic knife, toothpicks, a plastic drinking straw and a roller
• Meat trays for transporting the finished pieces home
• Paper towels and water for cleanup
• Books on gargoyles and reference books on animals, dinosaurs, etc.

Directions:

After discussing gargoyles (their function, the different designs, etc.), give each child a hunk of clay about the size of a softball. The clay should be kneaded a bit before starting to work. Have the child create a sculpture of an animal or person (real or imaginary). If it is to be a true gargoyle it should have a hole through its mouth (some of the children in my art class just made the mouth open and some made more of a tunnel going through the clay. I think it depends on the the child's wishes and their ability in working with the clay).

Thin pieces will break off when dry, so the child should be encouraged to make pieces that are at least 1/8" thick (but 1/4" thick is even better). Don't forget to add texture and detail to the piece such as scales, hair, etc.

Is your gargoyle telling a story? What elements can the artist include to help us to "see" the story? In my example, I included the turtle's eggs, a baby turtle, some seaweed and the water, so that viewers could see the life cycle of a turtle and its habitat.

Have fun with this! Gargoyles don't have to be scary! Although....scary gargoyles are cool too!

The sea turtle gargoyle from above. One side has the eggs and seaweed, the other has a baby turtle. The wavy things on either side of the shell are ocean waves (looks nice and makes the sculpture less breakable).

Fostering Creativity: Supplies to Have on Hand

I'm in love with art supplies. I consider walking up and down every aisle of an office supply store, craft store or fabric store "quality time." At the beginning of the school year, when department stores have bins and bins of pencils, crayons, etc.--I get giddy! But, ahem, I guess that is not the norm.

This is the art bin we use at home. My oldest three children share it and it stays on the art table all the time.

Throughout my years of being a mom I have encountered many a parent who says, "Oh we do not have (fill in some basic art supply) in our house--it's too messy." I first encountered this when my first son was about three and one of my mom friends said her toddler was driving her crazy (she had a new baby and was short on sleep and patience). I suggested bringing out the crayons and letting the toddler go to town. My friend told me she had never let her two-year-old use more than one crayon at a time. Why? Because it was too messy and she might "get into trouble."

Was this an isolated incident? I guess not. I'm often told by parents and children that they don't have watercolors, colored pencils, etc. at home. I've found that with my children, just having a space with art supplies available gets them thinking creatively. In fact, we just came off of a very prolific watercolor weekend in which my three older children must have created 20 pictures!

Here are some thoughts about fostering creativity by simply having art supplies available to children:

1. What is age-appropriate for your child and household? If you have a two-year-old and a baby crawling around, then maybe the art supplies stay in a bin and come out when mom is prepared to sit with the child who is creating (maybe when baby is taking a nap?). If you keep the "approved" art supplies for your child in a bin, you can bring it out quickly and put it away quickly. Don't put all of your art supplies in this bin--only put the things that the child could use easily at one time (you don't have to out every coloring book, every sheet of stickers, the pom poms, glue and glitter all in there--you will be creating a cleaning nightmare and become frustrated). Have the basic supplies in the bin and have a cabinet or shelf out of sight for the other, special supplies.

2. Be prepared for mess. Young children do not use art supplies like grown-ups do. Some art supplies don't make a huge mess (like crayons and colored pencils--always buy washable!!). If you teach your children the rules about art supplies and remind them over and over that "crayons are for paper," someday you'll be able to trust them to use the supplies without making a mess. I have a child-size table that is well-loved and is called the art table. I still tell them not to draw on the art table, but if paint gets on it and stains the finish (as even so-called washable art supplies do), at least I don't have to worry about my dining room table. The art table is located in our kitchen where spills can be wiped up easily and bits swept up right away (if you let your kids do artwork on carpet, you are asking for trouble).

Since we have a crawling baby, I occasionally drag the art table a few feet to an area behind a baby gate. It's sort of an inconvenient place for mom to get around if I'm running upstairs, but it allows my four-year-old to play with dough without me having to worry that my baby is eating most of it!

3. Be prepared for waste. Well, no matter what the age of your child, they are going to "waste" art supplies. By this I mean going through endless amounts of paper just scribbling randomly or cutting it into little tiny bits over and over and over again....While this may seem wasteful to us as grown-ups, it has great value for children to do these things over and over. It is really forming connections in their brains and teaching them fine and gross motor skills. OK, so not every piece is worthy of being framed and being hung in a museum, but the process does have value to the child in terms of social, emotional and cognitive growth.

That being said, you need to know when to speak up and encourage using the supplies fully ("we use both sides of the paper") and when to let them go on a crayon or glue bender. This is also why I don't suggest putting all of your art supplies in  one basket, so to speak. If you set 5 bottles of glue in front of many children, they will use 5 bottles of glue! So, either bring out the glue when necessary, or leave a half-used bottle in the bin (and keep an eye out for glue dripping in your floors!).

There truly is a fine line here. You don't want your child purposely breaking crayons and refusing to use a piece of paper that has literally a dot-sized crayon mark on it, but think of the pressure on a little child to have to create a refrigerator-worthy masterpiece on every piece of paper! Or know that if s/he makes a mistake when experimenting that mom or dad is going to flip! Art supplies can be inexpensive, and they are meant to be used!

Bin Full of Art Supplies:

Remember, these bins are for most-used art supplies that are safe for your child to use on his/her own while you are nearby.

• The bin itself. I show a variety of bin in the pictures, find something that works for your family and doesn't have too many areas for supplies to get lost. It should have a handle for a parent or child to carry and be easy for a child to put away his/her supplies.
• A sketchbook. I like spiral bound sketchbooks because they lay flat. One for each child labeled with his/her name.
• Crayons. I like Crayola brand. You can keep them in the box (hard to put away) or dump them in a yogurt cup for a more "grab and go" experience. A 24 count box is great.
• Markers. I like washable Crayola brand. A package of 10 chunky ones is very versatile, but as children get older they may prefer the fine tip. If you have older children, you could put a Sharpie in their bin.
• Colored pencils. Crayola is good for a start, but older children might like a gift of Studio brand or Prismacolor brand colored pencils in a case.
• Glue. I throw a couple of glue sticks in the bin when I'm feeling adventurous. Older children could use a glue stick and a bottle of Elmer's school glue (also called PVA glue). Skip this with very young children.
• Scissors. Very young children can use scissors under supervision. Add in a pair of age appropriate scissors. As your children get older, you can buy scissors that create decorative edges on paper.
• Regular pencils. Also called Number 2 pencils, these are a must for any child's art bin. Very young children will need to be supervised with them and you'll have to inspect the parts of the pencils to make sure they are OK for your little one to be around (toddlers like to chew on the pencils and erasers), but gradually, you can include a pencil sharpener in their bin. I also keep those rubber pencil toppers on hand to prolong the life of pencils whose erasers have been worn down by overzealous artists. These are not appropriate for children under three though due to choking hazzard.
• Rulers. A standard 12 inch ruler is great. I have flexible ones because they hurt less when your brother smacks you with one and they don't break when the children practice their muscle man moves.
• Watercolor Paint. I like Crayola for the very young and messy, but I prefer Prang for the older children. I don't usually keep these in the art bins since my kids make WAY too much of a mess with them and I like to monitor their usage, but if you have older children and they are neat, go for it!

This is a smaller bin and might be good for 1-2 children. This bin still holds plenty of art supplies!

This bin is easy to carry and can be stacked. This is a nice option if you need a few of bins spanning a variety of ages. Make sure to label the outside with the name of each child (or a picture of the child if they cannot read).

Enjoy the finished art bins! Create, create, create! Or as Ms. Frizzle from "The Magic School Bus" series of books says,  "Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!"

Watercolor Creatures

This project is a natural progression of last week's technical watercolor demonstration. Children can use a variety of techniques they learned in the demo. I originally envisioned fantastical sea monsters, but the majority of the children in my art class painted turtles (they are a favorite of the children). We also had a shark, a really large whale engulfing a fishing ship, and a jellyfish. (For the demo below, I painted a turtle since one of my sons loves them!). Whatever creature you decide to paint--have fun!

Supplies Needed (for each painter):

• 1 piece of watercolor paper (I used 9"x12" Strathmore cold press watercolor paper from a pad)
• 1 piece of heavy cardboard or foamcore board slightly larger than your watercolor paper
• Masking tape
• Pencil and eraser
• 1 tray watercolors (I use Prang brand watercolors with my students--the colors are better quality than the dollar store/kid brands, 2 children can share a tray if necessary)
• Water cup with water
• Watercolor brush (The one that comes with the Prang set is fine, but don't use one from a cheap set, they are made of nylon and the results will be poor).
• Ruler
• Sharpie or other permanent marker (optional)
• A drinking straw (optional)
• Paper towels
• Plastic wrap (optional)
• Table salt in a cup or shaker (optional)
• Crayons (I like Crayola brand)
• Colored Pencils (Crayola brand or other good quality) (optional)
• Reference books (Animals, Sea life, Shells, Dinosaurs, etc.)

Directions:

1. Tape the watercolors paper to the cardboard using masking tape.

2. Using a pencil, lightly sketch a real or imaginary water creature on the paper. Don't draw too small since it will be frustrating to color and paint all of that tiny detail. Also, think about the environment of your water creature: is there a water line? a ground line? are there plants or other animals in the picture too?

Don't forget to use your reference books if necessary. There is nothing wrong about having to look at a picture of a shark in order to draw one! Many of us cannot draw them from memory! Chances are, if you are using a photograph or a model, you will be less frustrated and your drawing will come out better.

3. Once your sketch is done, use crayons over your pencil lines. This is the wax (or crayon) resist technique we learned last week, so you will want to press firmly with the crayons. You can use a variety of crayon colors, but do all of your crayon work now.

4. Once the crayon is done, you can start painting in the areas of the painting. Remember, to let the paint dry before moving on to other areas so that the paint from different sections don't bleed into one another. In my turtle picture, I painted the sky first and then I painted the turtle. These two sections are far away from one another so I didn't have to worry about the paint bleeding between them as I work. I also suggest leaving the areas where you'll be using salt and/or plastic wrap until last since they can't be disturbed once they are done.

First I painted the sky and then the turtle.

Then I painted a wash for the top of the pond and applied plastic wrap.

I then used the wet on wet technique to add a few different colors for the pond water. While the pond water was still wet I sprinkled some salt on it to create "sparkles" in the water.

5. Leave your painting to dry overnight. Once it is completely dry, remove the plastic wrap and brush off the salt. At this time you can decide that your painting is finished, or you can use crayons and/or colored pencils to add a final bit of detail.

Once the painting was dry, I used crayons and colored pencils to add some texture to the sky, another lily pad to cover a mistake I had made, and to add some motion lines in the water around the turtle's legs.

What a masterpiece!! Enjoy!