Abstract trees

Our first project for art was a quick and easy lesson so I could assess my students and determine where they are in art.  Some of these students I've had for years, but they have grown up a little and their talents have really bloomed!  We began by discussing abstract art and nonobjective art, and we drew the trees together.  We then discussed the color wheel and blending analogous colors so I could see how well they understand blending. I also like to start with a project that students can really feel successful at, and I think this one was a pretty good fit. Not to mention, all these fall trees look beautiful in the hallways!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays, I'm not sure why, maybe it's all the red and pink!  I've always loved it and now with my own children we always make a big deal of Valentine's Day every year.  My students are working on these nifty looking abstract hearts this week.  I've done so many variations of this project, but it's a great quick, yet neat looking design that I always fall back on!

My usual variation for older students involves patterns!

Abstract sunsets 2014

I posted these last year from my 4th graders and this year I thought they turned out even better!  We started with drawing the sunset and waves, then traced in permanent marker.  Painting with watercolor, we used cool colors for the water and warm colors for the sunset.  After the paint dried, we used colored pencils to add patterns and thicken our black lines to give the appearance of stained glass.

4th grade abstract sunsets

I know there are a lot of examples on this post, but there were so many great ones, I had a difficult time choosing which ones to post!  I could have posted them all!  They are beautiful.  We drew the abstract sun and waves, then used watercolors for the "warm colors" sunset and "cool color" waves.  Last, we enhanced our paintings with colored pencil by adding simple designs to the waves and thickening our black outlines.

3rd grade owls

Third graders have been working on these beautiful owls for the past few weeks.  We drew the owls together, then discussed the color wheel to determine what colors would work well next to each other.  We learned about complementary colors, analogous colors, and how these colors work together.  I think this is one of my favorite third grade projects!