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!

Finished pinecone paintings!

4th and 5th grade are finishing up their amazing pinecones this week.  I'm thrilled with how these turned out.  Students did an excellent job learning to shade with color and they look so realistic.  This will definitely be a repeated project for next year!

This one is still in progress but she was doing such a great job I had to post it as well.

Parrot progress!

Oooo I'm loving how some of these are turning out!  They are practicing blending in color wheel order, using my handy dandy paintbrush color wheel I made at the beginning of the year.  (More on that later. :) 

We are also blending in our leaves, using dark and light green, along with some yellow.  This student is doing a fantastic job on her leaves.

Wintry sneak peek!

A little sneak peek of what we're working on in 5th grade!  A review from October in value and blending makes this project really turn out well.  I can't wait to show you the finished pieces! 

Santa Clause suits!

I've seen this design floating around on Pinterest for several years, and this year I needed a super quick project for my 5th graders.  This one was perfect and we finished it completely in one day!  I love these!  We did a short value study with paint and practiced blending to show texture. 

Who says shamrocks have to be green? :)

I attempted a freehand shamrock drawing last week with 1st grade...

epic fail.... :(

So, I felt I needed to redeem the shamrock by pulling out my heart cookie cutters and trying it again!  This time with third grade.  We are using the shamrock project to learn about analogous colors and blending.  Once they finished tracing the hearts, with sides and bottoms touching, they added stems.  I handed out color wheels and we discussed analogous colors and blending.  The they went to town, coloring with crayola color sticks!  The blending almost makes some of them glow!  I'll post more pics as they finish up!

Cat Silhouette Sunsets - 5th grade

I did a similar project last year with 5th grade that used blue and purple hues to create a glowing moon.  I saw this one on Pinterest and just had to try it with my 5th graders!  This project is great for teaching painting techniques, using just the right amount of pressure to create thin lines.  Students have a tendency to smash their brushes onto the paper to get as much paint out as they can before dipping the brush again!  I try to encourage them to dip their brush as often as they need to in order to make smooth lines. 

Cherry Blossom trees

Here's hoping for warmer weather!  5th grade is working on these beautiful cherry blossom trees.  We studied cherry blossoms and trees on the activboard and then discussed blending and "not" mixing the paint for their blossoms.  We used pink, red, and lots of white to create the flowers.  I encouraged them to dip a corner of the brush in pink and the other corner in red.  Dab the blossom onto a branch, then dab white on top of that. They have all turned out so beautiful!