Art Lesson - Easter Egg Humpty Dumpty

Today's art lesson with 3rd grader.  This is a very fun little project perfect for Easter time.  Draw a large egg, cut out with a hat on.  draw and color face and clothes.  Draw and cut out arms and legs and color them, then attach with paper fasteners.  Be sure the legs and arms are not too thin for the hole to be punched into.

This lesson was inspired by my own illustration that I did in 2006.  It was for a theme of "egg" that I joined in on for an online challenge.  Whimsical fun for Easter!

Tissue Paper Collage ~ Fall Trees ~ 4th Grade

This is a lovely art lesson to do during the Autumn season with the lovely colors a changin.

I talked a little about Autumn, but didn't spend a lot of time on this since by 4th grade the students are pretty educated on seasons already.

First, I had them draw the structure of the tree with a sharpie marker. I did the drawing with them, encouraging them to draw a large tree, and having them draw the trunk thicker then gradually get thinner until very thin at the ends of the tree. I also had them draw the tree a little to the side, with part of it going off of the page, instead of directly in the center, just to maybe making the composition a little more appealing.

I then talked about the color wheel with an emphasis on warm and cool colors. I had a variety of pieces of tissue paper in groups for the kids to share. They used a watered down glue to glue the tissue. I gave them pointers on glueing the tissue down, and had them first tear a lot of pieces of tissue in preparation. I emphasized to not use too large of pieces, and it's easier if you have a lot of pieces already torn, since your hands can get messy with glue once you start. They were to make the tree only warm colors. After they were done with the tree, I had them do the background in cool colors, but not until the tree was finished.

It's also good to have them do a light coating of glue over the tissue as well as under, to make sure the pieces are glued well.

A friend of mine suggested maybe using a Japanese maple branch as the tree structure. I think this would be a good idea to try, if you had the supplies, and the time was allowed. You would have to glue the branch first with a tacky glue, and it would probably be best to allow this glue to dry a little before starting the tissue with the watered glue. Might be something to try though.

This is a very colorful project that looks very lovely in the classroom window as a group.

Art Lesson - Color Wheel Zebras ~ 4th Grade

I'm trying to catch up on some of my art lessons that I've done in the past months, I'm a little behind still!

I did this lesson with 4th Graders. The materials needed are paper, permanent sharpie marker, watercolors, paintbrushes, water containers, paper towel.

I first showed and talked about the color wheel. I did a little directed drawing with them, having them use pencil first. I started with the eyes, then the face, adding ears, mane, then the chest part of the body. I also had them draw the stripes. Then they traced over their pencil with the permanent marker. I'm always sure to remind them that this is a permanent marker, and that I trust they will use it properly!

I then paint with them, starting in the middle with red, then following around to mimic the color wheel, asking them as I go which color would be next. After they are done with the mandatory colors of the color wheel, they are allowed to continue the painting on their own, using whichever colors they want.

I like the combination of structure with the kids following along with the color wheel so that I'm sure that they touch on each color. Then the free structure after that allows them to experiment with the watercolors a little further. I also showed them a few tips with the watercolors, such as wet-on-wet technique, and blending a little. These are very fun and festive for sure! This idea came from Elementary Art Fun

Art Lesson - Autumn Trees "Batik" Oil Pastel Resist - 3rd Grade

I forgot to blog this art lesson from last year.

I did this with a class of 3rd Graders. The materials are oil pastels, watercolor and regular typing paper. The cheaper paper works better and absorbs the paint into the creases better.

First I had them draw a tree in pencil, with my guidance - just a basic shape of the tree, with the branches. I then had them use the oil pastels to color in the tree trunk, and the leaves, in Fall colors of course. I made sure that they colored a thick layer of color, not lightly. Some kids seem to not want to use their full saturation of color with their materials, but it's best to have good solid color with the pastels for this project. I also gave them the idea to maybe have some leaves falling from the tree as well, and on the ground.

Then the fun part (well for most, at least!) I had them crumple up their paper to make the creases. Since I hadn't shown them a finished product yet, they were pretty surprised by this, and thought it was pretty fun! All but one boy!! Guess he couldn't get into crumpling up his hard work, he actually cried... nothing worse than kids crying during art. Of course I had to encourage him and tell him how it would turn out neat and it was the technique. OH well!!

After they did their best to smooth out their papers, they watercolored the entire paper.

Over all, I'd give this a good rating for a project, and it was well suited for 3rd grade.

Art Lesson - Fall Trees Painting - 1st Grade

This is a lesson well suited for First Graders. I first discussed the Fall/Autumn Season with the children. I showed different pictures of trees. Since I live in the forest I talked about the difference of the pine trees and the other types of trees that loose their leaves. We compared the shape and the colors of the Fall Season.

I gave them a palette of the primary colors, red, yellow and blue. I also gave them a pre mixed brown for the center of their palette, just like a color wheel. The first part of the lesson we painted the trunk and branches of the tree. I had them paint large to fit the paper, and tried to achieve a more curvy trunk, unlike the straight pine tree trunk.

A first grade art standard for First Grade is mixing a secondary color with 2 primary colors. I had them first mix an orange. Each of the students had a small sponge in an almond or leaf shape. I had them paint different shades of yellow, orange and red onto their sponge and print the leaves around the tree. I also had them mix green.

Most of the kids were finished in about a half hour, including the pre-lesson discussion, so most were able to do another painting, sponge painting and had an opportunity to mix their paint up even more, which is what most kids want to do it seems.

Art Lesson - K-1 - Collage Owls

Today I did an art lesson with a K-1 combo class. This was the kindergarteners first experience with smARTS and they did very well indeed!

I had learned from the teacher that the first graders were learning about animals and their habitats, and being nearly Autumn and all, owls came to my mind.

I got this idea from Mrs Brown Art. I just didn't have it in me to come up with my very own idea. This being the first lesson of the year, it just kind of crept up on me. Thank you internet for the quick ideas!!

I first talked about collage and gave a brief description of it. We also talked about where an owl would live, and one little girl mentioned that they were nocturnal.... so they were already very informed! I gave them a large piece of black construction paper, and I had them draw with pencil the basic outline of an owl, while following my instructions. Again, I had to emphasize to make the owl big.

I then had them tear strips of brown construction paper (they had a few browns to choose from). This was good practice for them. After they had a good supply of large strips, I had them make the strips smaller to be more like actual feathers. They glued them on, and I told them to use not too much, nor too little glue.

After most were done with the feathers, I had them cut 2 large circles with a light color. I had them fold a piece of paper and cut two. This is always good for K-1 to have extra practice using scissors. It's not like when I was a kid these days. They really do not have a lot of practice in simple things like cutting paper. We did the same with the black part of the eyes. Then a beak and feet. And a branch too. I ran out of time, or I would have had them add leaves to the branch.

The above was done by one of the first graders. She thought of adding the "horns" herself, which was unique.

And this whimsical owl with a more 3-D look to it was created by a kindergartener. Pretty good for a brand new little one to the public school!

Another year of Batik for Kids

Here is this year's Batik lesson that I did with the 6th graders. I love all the batiks hanging to dry every year, so I must do a new post for each year!

This year they had a new place to dry.... Reminds me of a Dead Show!

You can see last year's post here and the detailed process here.

Art Lesson - Dr. Seuss' Birthday - 1st Grade

This year I happened to be teaching art on Dr. Seuss' Birthday, which is on March 2, with a class of First Graders. I had thought of an art lesson based on There's a Wocket in my Pocket, because I know my son in particular was very smitten with this book as a little one. I think this may have been one of the bigger inspirations on my son's own imagination and his interest in art. I wasn't really sure if it would work with such a young group of kids, so I also did a little research online to see if I could find a better idea. I found a few Cat in The Hat inspired lessons, but wasn't thrilled.

I came across TeachKidsArt and sure enough she had a lesson on There's a Wocket in my Pocket. It was just like what I had thought of... although she described how she started them on the design, and that helped me figure out how to make it suitable for my class.

First, I read the book There's a Wocket in my Pocket, with the kids on the rug. They very much enjoyed, and there was a couple that recited it along with me. As I read I pointed out to them little traits in the characters.... colorful, different patterns, necks, collars, faces, etc. I also mentioned the rhyming of the words, with the name matching where this creature resided.

After reading the book, they went to their desks. I decided to do my lesson with oil pastel because they are just brighter than crayons. I have them roll up their sleeves first. A lot of times I have the kids draw in pencil first, but not this time, we went straight to the pastels. I had them draw a body shape, legs, neck and head. I drew along with them, but also told them to try to make their own shapes. Some kids go off on their own, and others copy me. I had them draw in black first, then color in with the other colors.



Once they were done with the drawing, I had think of the name of the creature. I had them first think of where you might find their creature and discussed this a little with the whole group. Then gave an example of what might rhyme with the place. My helper and I walked around also and individually helped them with the naming. We then wrote down each of the phrases and tried to have them write it themselves.

The oil pastels are messier than crayons and smear a little, but they are brighter than crayons, and I'm sure other types of materials would work.

The top drawing is called "The Yice Cream in my Ice Cream." The second drawing is "The Rattic in the Attic."

smARTS Exhibit 2012

Every 2 years Idyllwild Arts Academy hosts an exhibit in their Park's Gallery for the smARTS Project. This exhibit showcases the work of all the students, K-8, enrolled in the local public school. All of the projects were done in the smARTS program. smARTS is an art program in school where local artists teach art to the local children. It is completely funded by donations and grants and run by volunteers. I am proud to be one of the founders and a teacher for the program. It has been a wonderful experience for me. This show marks smARTS' 10 year anniversary. I'm no longer involved with the organization, since my own son has graduated off to high school, but I'm happy to still be involved in teaching art to the kids.

This year the projects I did with the students that were represented in this show were Batiks with 6th grade, Sarcophagi with 6th grade, Chinese New Year Dragons with 4th grade, Pattern Cats with 2nd grade and Pattern Turtles with Kindergarten. Here's most all of my lessons for your viewing.

The exhibit runs until March 16.

Art Lesson - Painting - K-1

This year I've done a couple of painting with tempera lessons. First you see the lesson I did with the Kindergarteners. It was a Spring theme. First, I talked about Spring with the kids. I had them give their ideas about Spring. Luckily, one boy brought up butterflies, since this is what I had in mind for my lesson.

I had them draw with pencil first so that they had a large butterfly. I didn't want small butterflies. If they went directly to painting, there would've probably been a lot of little butterflies, and I was hoping to spend some time on these.

I had them mix a little white with red to get pink, since that's a Spring color to me. The same was done with the dark purple to get a lavender color. We also mixed yellow with the dark green to get more of a light, new-leaf green.


When they were done with their butterflies, I wanted them to paint some other Spring things around it, such as leaves, flowers, bugs.... whatever they wanted.

These are some pretty creative little Kindergarteners, ya think??!


Another lesson was given with the 1st graders. One of the California Art Standards for 1st grade is to.... "2.2 Mix secondary colors from primary colors and describe the process." So I wanted to spend some time with that.

They had been learning about weather that week, so I wanted to do some weather pictures. I thought I would first focus on a sun. This would give me a chance to do some paint mixing, yellow and red to make orange. Since I'm a whimsical type of painter, I wanted them to make faces on their suns. I know, not very realistic, but fun anyway!

They went through that first painting very fast, so we did another painting. This time I had them mix green for some grass. I had them paint more of a stormy day, instead of sunny day.

Painting with tempera takes extra time and patience. I give each kid their own palette with the colors I intend for them to use. It's helpful with the little kids to maybe give a couple of dollups of yellow (for instance). One can be just for mixing, and one can stay yellow.


The funny quote of the day was when this little boy was describing his painting. He was going on saying how it was a very powerful type of storm, with lightening, rain and such.... "You know, when God was real."..... HILARIOUS!

Traditional Batiks

I got my most extensive art lesson of the year completed this week! This is the 6th year I've done this lesson with all the 6th graders. Unfortunately, last year's class didn't get to do them. It was so busy, and I couldn't fit it in when they were learning about India. The teacher wouldn't let me do at a later date. To see the details and more examples you can see my earlier blog entries here, here, and details of the process here.


Elephants are a very popular design, since this lesson is based around India. This is one of the better elephants that has been done over the years. This girl was very meticulous with her drawing and then with the painting.


This fish was my favorite one for the year. Don't ya just love it? It's very inspiring and makes me want to get back into my own batiks, which is my plan for the near future.

smARTS Art Exhibit at Idyllwild Arts Academy

Every other year Idyllwild Arts Academy opens its Parks Exhibition Center for smARTS to have an exhibit of all the students' art at our local K-8 school. This is a big event for smARTS with never ending amount of hours to select the perfect art piece for each student, then carefully hang each piece and label it.


A highlight of the exhibit always seems to be the 8th grade project. This project is in response to their visit to the Museum of Tolerance. They are always very emotional pieces of artwork. This year their words were used to add to portraits of themselves. They are striking as a group as well as when you read the words they used in the art.


Here are the dragons I traditionally do with the 4th graders for Chinese New Year. They are fun.


I also always like the symmetrical butterflies I do with the 3rd graders


And here you can see the turtles that the kindergartners do, as well as the 5th grade project on foreshortening.

Yes, this is a good event, and once it's over, I think it's worth all the efforts.

Return of the Batiks

This is the fifth year I've done this batik project with every 6th grader at the local school.


It's a lot of time and work, but really is one of my favorite projects once it's all done.

An interesting thing that usually happens with this project is how the best drawers in the group don't always have the best batik. They seem to add too much detail. The kids that keep it simple have the best results. This shows you how different projects help different people succeed in different ways. But it's a reminder to me to really stress to make the designs simple, which I do, but maybe I need a more forceful approach for those few who want to go too detailed.


This was my favorite one for the year. Can I just say I lost it and keep it for myself? Guess that wouldn't be very nice, huh?


Here they are hanging at Open House in the classroom. Pretty huh?

See the past 2 years results and details here and here. They're better photos too, I took the pix this year at the wrong time of the day.

Art Lesson - Valentines Day-Give Your Heart

This is a Valentine's Day lesson I did with a class of 1st graders. I had some pre-cut heart shapes in different shapes and colors all prepared when I started. I first gave them a small piece of paper and scissors, and I had them trace their hand. Then we cut them out. At this age it's amazing how little practice some have had at cutting. They don't have time to cut in kindergarten any more! Anyway, I explained that it could be tricky, and it's OK to have an imperfect hand cut out. This class actually did better than expected, and only a couple needed help with the cutting. When they were done I passed out some hearts in 2 sizes. I then had them glue stick a small heart (in contrasting color) onto a larger hand. I showed them how the hand and heart would go together, to look like the hand was holding the heart. They then glued hands and hearts on. Then colored with some oil pastels. I had them write a personal message of their choice.

It's a good idea to have them either outline around their hand cut out, or have a contrasting color of some kind behind it. It was easy to have the hand get lost in the design.

And I liked how using the black hearts gave a more graphic appearance. The kids liked the black hearts too.


Some were very creative in their design. This boy (CK) was the only one that used the heart as a stencil, and colored around it. I love when they get their own ideas and modify the original design a bit.... Creative thinker!

This was a perfect lesson to fit in with their Valentine's Day party, which the teacher really wanted me to do, since her time was very limited that day.

Art Lesson - Ancient Egypt Sarcophagus

This art lesson was done with 2 classes of 6th graders a week or so ago. It's a little more difficult to fit into the schedule with the middle school kids, and the lessons must be curriculum based. The kids were on their unit of Ancient Egypt, so I came up with this lesson (with the help of my good friends HC and GC, Thanks guys!)

Each kid was given a large piece of paper (24x13"), pencils, eraser, black sharpie and scissors. I also had some copies of different sarcophagi, hieroglyphs, and symbols for them to refer to. I drew with them a simple version, telling them they could do their own, or if they needed to just follow along with my drawing. They started in pencil, then traced over with the sharpie. I had them do any details with the sharpie also. The day before the Social Studies teacher had gone over hieroglyphs with them using some stamps. So they were well acquainted with that. They could write their name, or anything appropriate really. It's slightly morbid to have kids make their own coffin, but oh well, that's why they had the option to put Cleopatra or whatever. I encouraged them to also use some symbols and we talked a little about what some of the symbols meant.


Once all the details were drawn they were to cut out the shape. At this point it got a little hectic and it was very helpful that I had at least 2 helpers to assist. First we adults stapled 3/4 around the coffin, then had the kids stuff it with loosely crumbled newspaper. We then finished stapling the edges. While they were stapling we brought some tempera paint, paintbrush, water and they went to painting.

Most did not get done in the 55 minutes period. Luckily most of the 6th period teachers allowed those that wanted to come back to the art room and finish. It's a good sign when you have a full class again with kids wanting to finish up the project.

So it was a busy 3 class periods of art with the 6th graders. This was perfectly fine with me since they're my son's group, and I've been doing art with them since they were in Kindergarten, many I've known since they were babes. I don't get as much time with them as I use to have, and they really are a wonderful group, so it was enjoyable indeed.

I think there's a good chance that this will become an annual project for 6th grade. Yay!

Oh, and the top 2 examples are girls' versions, the bottom are boys'.

Art Lesson - Tissue Collage Candle Holder - smARTS Gifts

For the past few years smARTS has done an event we call "smARTS Gifts". This was in response to a few teachers who wanted to stress that it can be a good idea to make a gift for any occasion really.

For the second year now I've done this project with fourth graders. I figure they're nearly responsible to work on glass, and to give to a special ADULT in their life (because of the candle)

Each kid was given a glass jar. This year I had a whole bunch of the same design donated. Last year I just went to the thrift stores and bought different glass jars, cocktail glasses, whatever seemed to fit a small candle. I first had the kids choose 2 or 3 colors of tissue paper. Then I had them tear small pieces of the tissue to prepare. They were then to paint glue (a little watered down white glue works fine) with paintbrush right onto the glass. They could then pick up the tissue with the wet paintbrush (I hoped anyway that they could do this, trying to keep their fingers free of glue to avoid frustration). I told them to go ahead and paint the glue onto the top of the tissue also. This adds a sort of varnish, and protects the paper.


If they had extra over the top, as seen here, I had them trim that off. I also made sure that no paper was glued on the inside, or bottom. Then they were to get a little tea light (if I were prepared, maybe the flameless battery-operated "candles" would be better... I don't know, that's a personal choice).

While the candle holder dried they were to decorate a tag and brown paper bag with ribbon to wrap the candle holder. I also made little "warning" stickers for the bottom. This mentioned the warnings to "never leave candle unattended". Safety you know! I also emphasize to the kids the importance of not forgetting that these are glass, and they will break!

It took most of the kids the hour to complete, which was perfect.

I hope the gifts were enjoyed!

Art Lesson - Andy Warhol Pop Art

I did this art lesson with a large group of 4th graders a couple of weeks ago. It takes a brave person to do a lesson with tempera paint, especially with a large group of 35!! Because of this, the kids don't get to use the tempera as much as they should. So I thought I'd use my patience skills, and let them do a little experimenting with this paint.


First I explained a little about Pop Art. I talked about how in pop art things that are "popular" in our culture are used. I asked them what might that be. One boy said an iPod. Good, I also said how maybe Hannah Montana might be used. There was a bit of an uproar at this, mainly from the boys! I then showed some examples of Andy Warhol's work. The kids were amazed when I showed the Campbell's soup art, and couldn't believe it when I told them that Warhol made lots of money off of this! I also showed his Marilyn Monroe work. The kids didn't know who she was, one thought it was Madonna. But with these examples, I think they got a good understanding of Pop Art.


I decided to do a simple design, with something that might be "popular" with them. Although many didn't seem to want to do an ice cream cone, I wanted the design to be simple so they could work with mixing colors a little. First we folded our paper into 4 sections. Then drew our simple ice cream cones.

The first cone we painted with complementary colors. (I showed them a color wheel and explained a little about this) This was good since the California art standards for 4th grade include using complementary colors. Then the second cone was done with a solid color, then by adding white (a tint of the color). I could've done more lessons with color and mixing, but my time was running out, so I had them paint the remaining 2 ice cream cones however they wanted. And as usual a lot of kids just wanted a chance to mix the colors up. Most waited until their painting was nearly done before they went at it with the mixing. To some this was the funnest part about the lesson. Surprisingly, only 1 made this mess too soon, before he used the fresh colors. There's always at least one in the group who doesn't follow directions very well.

So if you're a brave soul, go and let those kids make a mess with the tempera... They really need it!

Art Lesson - Summer Accordion Books

Today and last Friday I did these accordion books with the two fifth grade classes. With Summer Vacation so very near, it was a perfect time for a Summer theme. This project was excellent for fifth graders, and they truly enjoyed it, lots! They really loved sharing their ideas at the end of the lesson also.

Brad had got a whole bunch of old post cards from a job a while back, and they were fun to use as the covers of the accordion books. The kids each got 2 post cards, and 2 strips of pieces of paper for the inside pages. I made the strips 4 times as wide as the post cards. I showed them how to make the accordion folds, and they glued them into 1 long strip, and added the post cards as the covers. We used white glue for the gluing of the book, and glue sticks for decorating. I hate how so often glue stick falls apart, so the structure I thought would be better glued with the sticky white glue. But too much of it, and the book sticks together.


We talked together about all the things we think about when we think of summer. Funny, both classes right away said "sleep" as an idea. I had to agree! I made sure to add Reading, Fruit, and Art to the list.

Check out this young lady's idea of relaxing by the water! (above) She told me he was relaxing and enjoying the flowers nearby! What a joy!


After our talk, I let them go. There were magazines, and other misc recycled paper to choose from, as well as markers. I was surprised at how busy they stayed, for the entire hour. In fact they could've gone longer. That's when you know you were a success.


Another clue to the success was when I was talking with one girl about how she was dreaming of going to Ireland this summer. Then her neighbor said "My dream is to do this forever"!... Those kinds of comments make it all worthwhile!

Batik Lesson - Revisited

Here are some of the batiks that I did with 33 sixth graders a couple of weeks ago. Aren't they gorgeous?!

This is a very ambitious project to take on. Learn more about the process here in my last year's post. This is the fourth year I've done this, and each year I hope I'm improving on the process, making them better and easier as I go. I should be a real pro for next year when Wesley's class gets to do the project.


As I said, it's a lot of work for this project and I suggest having at least 2 helpers. I unfortunately had only 1 for the second day. Luckily she's a good helper, and was able to stay to help me clean up. But it took us about an hour to clean up.


What else did I learn this year? Again, to emphasize BIG, BIG, BIG! and BOLD!! Don't be a push over and allow tiny little drawings. I seem to give in to kids when they do art. I don't like to sway their creative process too much, but they really need to keep their designs simple for this project. Also I liked the lime green color, but if I use it again I must make sure to not add as much water. There just is not enough contrast with the white with this color... keep to dark colors for contrast with the design. I'll also emphasize to just do an outline with the glue, not completely fill the image with glue. It just makes for a better final product.

Anyway they turned out pretty good, even with the minor improvements I need to adjust for next year.

Oh yeah, on a related note... I've noticed I get TONS of people coming to my blog who are looking for art lessons. Sadly these people NEVER leave a comment. If you are one of these people, I'd love to hear a comment from you!!!!!!!!!