My TpT Store: How To Use Graphic Pencils

 Hey friends and enemies!

This year, I'm creating some resources that students can use to learn the basics of art supplies. So many times I do the same demos over and over and it would be nice to be able to quickly refer students to a demo in case they missed it or need additional info. 

In this resource, I created a video and handout that teach students about Graphite pencils. With the handout and video they will learn:

• What are graphite pencils?
• What is a value scale?
• How to create a value scale
• Grid drawing: Using a grid to redraw a photo 
• Shading Practice: Using a photo for reference

The link to the video is on youtube.

The free handout is on my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

If you use these resources, leave a comment below! I love to hear that people are enjoying my resources. 

Enjoy!

Grade 6 Oil Pastel Fauve Landscapes

Well, I fell in love with these great oil pastels I found in art room of the middle school I was working at. They are chunky and water soluble--Um, hello!?! Water soluble OIL pastels? I do not understand the mysteries of the world, but I must say, my students and I used the bejeebies out of these last semester! 

This shows the stages of the project: Image selection, simplified sketch
and completed Fauve Landscape.

One great project the 6th graders worked on was Fauve landscapes. I have posted a Fauve Landscape project before which was more technical and science-oriented since it involved afterimages and such (check it out here--it makes a grew STEAM project). But this time, I went with a simpler version that still allowed the students to learn about the Fauves and color theory. These came out beautiful and made a wonderful display, but I didn't get a picture of them all together (I know, I can't believe it). Trust me, they are awesome and beautiful. :-)

Here's how it worked:
Students looked through the magazines in the classroom for three landscapes they liked that they thought would work to simplify--these oil pastels don't do detail well. The students met with me and we discussed their choices and they selected one to take to final. They could then simplify the landscape on newsprint using a grid format (or freehand it if they preferred).

Once they were done their draft, I had them transfer the image to a poster-weight paper. I thought that would hold up well. However, you could probably use white drawing paper. Students were encouraged to use at least two colors in each section of their drawing using blending. We had talked about color theory, warm/cool colors and atmospheric perspective so they could make great color choices. Once all of the sections of their landscape were complete, they could use a dark-colored pastel to outlines the sections (similar the some of the Fauve artists).

When done, the finished pieces were glued to a black mat (black paper cut 2" larger than the work). This really made the colors seem so bright and also made the pieces look more finished. Matting work just makes it seem more special.

Ta-da! Beautiful Fauve Landscapes! ENJOY!

Paper Mosaic Skull

Here's a quick little project that can be used in a variety of ways. These are 1/2" paper squares, but you could scale the pattern down to use 1/4" squares for a smaller skull. Mosaics have a definite art history link, but also tie in with math. This might be a good project to create when you have a couple of free minutes of downtime in your classroom or in your day (pack a less messy version of the project for your child to do at the doctor's office or in the car).

This skull was cut out and glued to two pieces of background paper--
a torn-edged orange and a black for a bit of contrast.

Here are the basic instructions followed by a couple of variations.

Skull Mosaic

Supplies Needed (for very basic version):

• Graph paper
• Pencil
• Sharpie
• Paper grid/pattern printed on copy paper
• 1/2" construction paper squares in white and black
• 1/4" strip of white construction paper
• Glue stick
• Scissors
• Piece of construction paper (or patterned paper) for background (your choice of color(s))

Directions:

1. Using my example as a guide, create the skull "pattern" on graph paper. I made my squares 1/2" for my 5-year-old. Darken the grid lines with Sharpie so they will reproduce well. I used an ultra fine tip to show the division of the squares, but then a regular sharpie to bold the edges of the different sections of the design (edge of skull, eyes, nose, and mouth). Slightly shade the areas of your design that you would like to be black, so the children know to place black squares on those areas. I cut the skull pattern out and glued it to black construction paper so the children would know where the edge of the skull was and disregard the background.

The larger image in this photo is the pattern I made on graph paper,
cut out and glued on a plain black background so I could photocopy
it for the children. This keeps the background plain so they can focus on the skull.
The smaller image is a copy of my skull pattern, copied at 50% to make 1/4" squares
in the mosaic (good for bookmarks or a pin or something).

2. Photocopy the grid onto plain white copy paper.

3. Use glue stick to glue construction paper squares directly onto the photocopy paper. Light areas of the grid get white construction paper squares glued to them and shaded areas get black squares glued to them. Cover the entire skull pattern on the copy paper, but leave the negative space (background) around the skull blank.

4. When all of the squares of the skull are glued down, you can use the 1/4" strip of white paper to divide up the mouth area so that it looks like the skull has teeth. We just eyeballed this part. Attach the pieces with glue stick.

5. When all of your gluing is done, use the scissors to cut around the outside of the skull, cutting away the extra copy paper. Flip the skull over and put glue on the back. Place the finished skull on the background paper (this gives the piece a more finished look).

Other variations:

I used 1/2" squares for my 5-year-old to do this project, but you could use 1" squares and make a bigger skull (or increase the square size even LARGER and make one for the wall). Another option for older children, is to decrease the size of the squares to 1/4" to make smaller skulls to create a pin, bookmark, or to use as a decoration for a candle. 

If you want to create the mosaic to Mod Podge on a clear glass object (for a candle holder, etc.). Use your paper grid pattern as a guide, but layer some tracing paper on top of it and glue the paper pieces to the tracing paper. Then trim the excess tracing paper and Mod Podge the tracing paper (with attached paper mosaic glued to it) to the glass object you want. This is a process I've used a lot in my teaching, you can check out a similar post where we use tracing paper as a substrate for the paper mosaic pieces but we Mod Podge it to wood.

I hope you enjoy this quick little project with its many variations! If you use this project, be sure to send me your thoughts and photos so I can post them here--I'd love to see how YOU used this idea!

Mondrian Art Portfolios

My homeschool art classes start up again this week! I'm so excited! This year's focus for the homeschool cooperative is the 1800's to today. That means, in art, we'll be exploring Modern art. It was so difficult for me to narrow down all of the wonderful artists and art movements that occurred during that time into 20 art lessons for the year. But I made list after list and contemplated and rearranged and now I'm fairly sure I have the curriculum down pat. Really. I do!

Mondrian-inspired art on a portfolio

So, now let's talk about the end of the year. Wait, WHAT?! No, seriously. There are a couple of things I need to keep in mind when doing my planning for the year and the biggest one occurs at the end of the year...

In the Spring, the homeschool cooperative holds a Grande Finale. It's a time when all of the big kids are honored for their achievements and there are plays and demonstrations and displays to check out. This is also the time when I have my students display their artwork from the year. One thing I learned VERY quickly (and for some of you, you may say "duh!" when you hear this): If you send artwork home you will never see it again. As a teacher this makes for a lame show at the end of the year. So this year, I thought I'd have the children create portfolios (folders) in which to keep their artwork during the semester. I already send out weekly emails letting parents know what we did in class, so they know we are doing something. This way I can hold onto the artwork for a bit and get a chance to photograph it.

Why photograph the artwork? Well...more on that later! I have a plan, my friends! But first, the portfolios! I decided to take one of the easy lessons I wanted to do and combine it with making the portfolios. This way, we can decorate the portfolios and learn about an artist! Mondrian was an easy choice for me, but feel free to substitute whichever artist you would like!

A Mondrian-inspired lesson is a good first lesson of the semester since it allows us to talk about basic art concepts such as:

• line (vertical and horizontal)
• shape (geometric, squares and rectangles)
• color (primaries: red, yellow and blue)
• balance

Mondrian Art Portfolios

Supplies Needed:

• 1 Sheet of white poster board, 22" x 28" (i bought mine at the dollar store for 50 cents)
• 1 Sheet of graph paper, 8 1/2" x 11"
• Glue Stick
• Masking tape
• Electrical tape, black
• Markers in Red, Blue and Yellow
• Black Sharpie Marker

Directions:

1. Fold the poster board in half to make a 14" x 22" pocket. Seal the side seam with masking tape.

2. Use the glue stick to attach the graph paper to the poster board. 

3. Use the electrical tape to create a border around the edge of the graph paper, then use more electrical tape to divide the graph paper into smaller squares. Use the grid on the graph paper as a guide for the tape.

4. Color in some of the squares and rectangles you created with the red, yellow and blue markers leaving some of the sections white.

5. Write your name with the black Sharpie on the upper right corner of both sides of your folder. The front side of your folder (the side with the artwork) is for decoration, but the plain side (the side with only the student's name on it) is a nice backdrop for photographing the students' artwork--their name is written in the upper right hand corner, so you can include that in the photo and it makes identifying the artwork in photos much easier later on!

An example of student work photographed on the reverse side
of the folder. I included the student's name in the photo
and I can crop it out later if I need to.

You could also include teacher name or class session info or the school year on the blank side under the student's name. Whatever works for you! Here's to an organized school year!

Mosaic Snowglobe Project Results

This past week I had the pleasure of visiting Mrs. Bevilacqua's second grade class at Wilkin's Elementary School in Amherst, NH. Mrs. Bevilacqua usually does a themed unit that involves snow globes and I thought the children would also enjoy doing the snow globe mosaics from my blog.

All 17 snow globes! Beautiful!

The second graders were very enthusiastic and creative! I started with a revised worksheet and had the students use a limited color palette (10 crayons) so that they could easily match up the paper squares with the colors they chose for their pieces. It was a two-session project, but it went quickly and the children were very happy with the results (me too!).

The revised worksheet has different labels than before.
 It is a bit easier for the children to understand: S = Sky, R = Roof, G = Ground, etc.
They use this worksheet to plan before moving onto the actual gluing.
See the original post for "how-to" info.

A detailed look at one of the mosaic pieces.

This project was a great way for the children to explore math concepts relating to a grid (each child had 100 squares on his/her piece!) as well as exploring color choices and value (in order for the sections of the picture to be easily read, the student needs to vary his/her value and color choices), learn the art of mosaics and, even within the set parameters, there was a chance for choice and creative expression.

What a fun way to spend the afternoon! Thank you, again, to Mrs. Bevilacqua and her students for all of their hard work and energy!

NOTE: I used 5" x 7" canvas boards from www.dickblick.com to mount the finished pieces on (24 for $7 or so). I then added a border above and below the mosaics with navy grosgrain ribbon glued on with hot glue. When done, I attached a paper label with the child's name. I justified the expense because these are "keepsakes." 

If you had less time and a limited budget, you could enlarge the project to 10" square (each square of the grid is 1") and have students do this project on thin white paper paper using 1" construction paper squares and glue sticks. Skip the Mod Podge and mount the finished mosaic onto a piece of construction paper. Very inexpensive, but still great!