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!

Gumball machines!

We are learning about Wayne Thiebaud in my classes this week and Kindergarten is working on these fabulous gumball machines!  I showed them a short little video clip about Thiebaud and also focused on his painting called "Three Machines."  We drew these together and talked more about exactly HOW to stay inside the lines when coloring.  They are doing a fantastic job!!!

4th grade Spooky Halloween Houses

This is one of those projects I repeat each year in 4th grade.  They seem to get better.  The colors were especially vibrant this year! 

We discuss unity and line, as well as artistic styles with this project.  I think they enjoy the fact that they don't have to make their lines straight. 

They are still finishing up some coloring but I couldn't wait to post them! 

4th grade Peacocks

I missed posting a few things back in March, one of which were these beautiful peacocks that fourth grade drew!  We used my all time favorite medium, (other than paint of course) Crayola Color Sticks. :)

Light it up!

This is the last week before Christmas!! Woohoo!  It really is the most exciting time of the year!  We've had so much going on and I've had several classes missing art to practice for their annual Christmas program, so we haven't had much time to do an in-depth project.  I am glad to have them back for this last week so we're doing a quick but cute little project for Christmas!  I found the inspiration for this one on Pinterest of course!  Here is the beautiful in-depth version: http://www.artwithmsgram.com/search?updated-max=2013-12-01T13:21:00-05:00&max-results=10&m=1

We used crayola color sticks, a little less messy, although I would love to do them as she did above when I have more time with them!  They are beautiful!

Peacocks

I just can't get enough of these Crayola color sticks!  Fifth grade got to use them this time in their colorful peacock "stained glass" project.  The original inspiration came from an artist on Pinterest who actually created the painting on glass and used colored glue for the "lead."  I had planned to do glue lines on black paper, but once they had worked so hard on all their feathers, I was afraid the glue lines would fill in too many of the details.  So, we used color sticks to color, then went over all of the original lines with black colored pencil to give the appearance of stained glass.  They turned out beautiful!  

More 1st grade self portraits

A few more finishing up this week!

WHERE IS THE RED?!?!?!?!?!

Anyone else frustrated with the lack of RED in Crayola's construction paper crayons?  Me too!  It's amazing how limited you are when you don't have red.  I discovered a solution by accident last year as we were working on these adorable self portraits in 1st grade.  There was not a great color for lighter skintones, and I had the new Crayola Color Sticks, which I also love.  The color sticks are also limited color choices, but by combining color sticks and construction paper crayons on this project, the results were just perfect!  Color sticks are a unique material, they're not like crayons, or chalk, or even a colored pencil.  I love using them on dark papers, but they are also great on white.

Finally!! A red that works on black paper!!

I just love how these turn out each year!