Winter art spring 2020

We've started a new semester, which means a new group of art students!  This is their first project so far this semester.  We learned about blending with paint, and 7th and 8th explored more with background, midground, and foreground.

Paper sculpture

The last few days before Christmas break, my students worked on these gorgeous paper sculptures.  Each grade level did something different, but all were required to create a three dimensional sculpture with paper.  As much as I'd like to give my students a little more freedom, I honestly end up with not much of anything, simply because they just don't know what to create! So we save that for free draw time when they are finished with projects.  In the meantime, I teach them step by step for most of our projects, and when they finish, they're often inspired to create a variation of something they've learned.  For example, my 6th grades created these amazing cone paper sculptures in all white, and a few students that finished early made a smaller sculpture in different shapes and/or colors.  

My 7th graders got a little taste of quilling with these paper snowflakes. 

These looked so pretty stacked up as I was on my way to the display case!

My 8th graders worked on an origami style sculpture, I'll put those in my next post!

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.

Kinder snowmen and snowladies!

Kindergarten is finishing up their snow people this week and I love all the personality these have! 

Harp Seals in 3rd grade!

Before Christmas, I showed my students a short video clip from Art For Kids Hub and they loved it so much I found a few more for winter projects!  These baby harp seals were quick and easy, and for this time of year when we have so many students absent from sickness, it's nice to pull this video back up and let them catch up while I continue working with the rest of the class.  This project was also perfect for practicing a gradient in the background!

I'll post the link to the tutorial at the bottom!

Here's the video!  We love Art for Kids Hub!

Baby Harp Seal Tutorial

Happy Thursday!

Whew.... Who knew snowflakes could be so hard?!

After a particularly disastrous snowflake-cutting lesson this week, I think I have learned my lesson as well!  I was tasked with decorating the Christmas tree in our school auditorium for the holiday program, so I was determined to use some student work this year.  Usually there is not enough time for us to create anything in art for the tree.  We are usually still finishing up fall projects until the beginning of December, and by then, it's too late.  So... In a last minute decision, I attempted snowflakes with 4th grade.  Thinking how much fun it would be and how "everyone needs to know how to cut a snowflake correctly, right?!" Riiiight. Maybe not.  

  It's all in the folding I told them... It was downhill from there!  Bless their hearts they tried so hard!  We did end up with a good good, no, GREAT ones though!! 

Lesson #1,436....Paper snowflakes... Harder than I thought. :)

Watercolor winter wonderland, 5th grade

Over the years I've done this project, I think I've finally figured out how to get students to make horizontal lines in the water.  I have them hold their brushes at a 45 degree angle and pretend it's in a vice, unable to move.  They can go side to side and up or down, but they have to move their entire arm so it reminds them to keep their lines horizontal.  The water in this year's project looked much better!