mrspicasso's art room

This is a fun project to do at Halloween, but it does take a lot of black marker! These examples were created by 3rd grade students, but this project can easily be adapted for other grades.

Using watercolors on 12" X 18" watercolor paper, students made a wash using warm or cool colors applied in a striped pattern. Allow to dry.

I handed out several images for the students to view; buildings, windows, various architectural details, and (of course) Halloween "things". I make four packets for each table and put them in a color coded folder. Students are encouraged to view these images, gain inspiration from them, but not copy them exactly.

The students began drawing directly on to their watercolored paper, making sure to leave a space between each section of the house. I told them that it should look like there was an earthquake and the house broke in to pieces. This step can be difficult for them to understand, but if you model it for them a few times, they tend to get …

These gorgeous drawings were created by fifth grade students.
Paper choice is very important for this project- we used Molly's Midnight Black paper from Molly Hawkins' House. If you haven't heard of this art supply company, visit their site and request a catalog! Their prices are hard to beat. Molly's Midnight paper is very smooth and has the deepest black color. It is gorgeous!

I handed out packets with examples of leaves for the students to use for reference, but we have also worked while viewing actual leaves, which is ideal. They were instructed to draw as large as they possible could on the paper, even allowing some of the leaf to go off the edge.

Glue is applied to the pencil lines and allowed to dry until the following class.
*Tips:
~ Close the glue bottles slightly to achieve a smaller flow of glue. Too much glue and the lines tend to blob together.
~ Remind students to keep the glue bottle close to/right on their paper as they follow the lines. Believe it or not, t…

Can you believe that a First Grader created this wonderful piece of artwork? I have had much success with this project simply by having the students follow me step by step and by relating the shapes of the flower to other things.

I begin this lesson by showing them the video "Getting To Know The World's Greatest Artists- VanGogh" by Mike Venezia

Afterward, I read to them the book Camille And The Sunflowers by Laurence Anholt, a story of a young boy who befriends the "Sunflower Man" (VanGogh).

Then, I have the students practice drawing sunflowers using chalk. This is an exciting thing for them, because it is a brand new medium to explore. I have to remind them not to put their fingers in their drawings and to draw over mistakes instead of trying to erase them with their fingers.

Usually at this time of year, the sunflowers are in full bloom in the country near my school. I can usually get a big bouquet from at least one of the students by simply asking. We observe …

I do this project with my Young Fives class, but it can be adapted to older grades.

Steps:
1. Tear a piece of 12" X 18" green construction paper down the middle to make the grass and glue it to your choice of sky color (also 12" X 18").

2. Add pumpkins. We used scraps sparkly paper made from tissue squares glued to paper using Mod-Podge mixed with glitter. You could use any type of cool orange-y paper. Stems were just yarn scraps.

3. Make a sparkly moon from some cool paper. We used some textured iridescent origami paper, but I have also had them use Funky Film scraps.

4. The ghosts are stamped on using sponges I made myself from compressed sponges (seen below). Cut out the ghost shapes and use a paper punch to make the eyes before you puff them up! A diagram showing all of the pieces and parts:


5. The leaves can either be stickers or sometimes you can find tiny cloth ones at the craft store. Last year, I was not so lucky!



6. BOO! can be written with a silver Sharpie or …

Believe it or not, these photo effects are super simple. My 3rd grade students set up their own display of Halloween items and took their digital photos while holding a colored Post-It note over the flash! I saw this idea in a magazine and had to try it out. We found that purple didn't seem to work very well, but blue, lime green, orange, and hot pink worked great! The kids loved it, practiced using the digital camera, and gained experience in setting up still-lifes.






I had one student who either forgot to hold the Post-It over the flash or else it fell off. Regardless, his photo didn't have the filtered effect we were looking for, so we used a photo program to get the negative image of the photo. Another creepy effect!

I came up with these steps as a way to mimic the Scientific Process in the art room. State of Ohio Content Standards being met here! The Artistic Process 1. Purpose- Organize your thoughts. What would you like to make? 2. Research- Look at examples and study artists. Art History. 3. Hypothesis- Plan how to carry out your ideas. Sketch. 4. Materials- Select the media you will use in your artwork. 5. Procedure- Create your artwork. Use the Elements and Principles of Art. 6. Results- Self-evaluate and critique. 7. Conclusion- Rework and display finish piece of art.

I think I will start by showing you where I spend many happy hours every week teaching elementary students about art and artists.
Because our building was a state funded project, I had minor input as to what went in to this room, but most of the furniture and cabinetry was pre-determined.
I did get to choose my stools and I can say that I am happy with the ones we ended up with. I knew that I had to accommodate pre-kinders all the way up to fifth graders, so these stools work out perfectly. Of course, the first week we had several of them tipped over, but now they are used to them and the tipping is few and far between.


I created this word wall about 3 years ago and it has been a wonderful addition to my room. I no longer have to spell out art terms for students and I can give them clues to finding the correct vocabulary when we are discussing our projects.
The art timeline is new this year, so I don't have a verdict on that quite yet. One of my state standards for 4th grade is usin…