Mixed Media Exploration and Elements of Art Review!

Recently, when I was working on THIS line design lesson...

Where I shared how to make black glue without actually making black glue...quick video here:

It got me thinking. If you can make black glue that way, then couldn't you do the same with any water-based marker on white paper? 

The answer, YEP! You can! And that's how this lesson came to be!

For this project, which I envision would be perfect for 5th grade and up, I started with a 12" square of paper, water-based markers and Elmer's Glue All. Check out the full lesson here:

Once the glue is dry, I used my paper cutter to cut the papers into 4 6" squares. Then I decided to do a mixed media exploration on each!

To alter this lesson, you could always NOT cut the paper and just pick one of the mixed meda methods to do on the entire paper. Just a thought. I did find exploring all of these really fun but I know that would take a several art class days...so I'll leave that up to you!

For the first one, I just used a permanent marker, a cup of water and a paintbrush. I used my Line Design sheet and a permanent marker for the first step. Then I added water to the marker lines to create a blurred line effect with a little bit of a tint of color.

For the next square, I used chalk. Whenever I use chalk in my art room, I always use a color wheel. I created this free color wheel download for you to use, you can access it here!

If you have hesistated to use chalk pastels in  your art room in the past, don't sweat it! I created a whole video and blog post of all of my chalk Tips and Tricks and you can see it here!

I also just recently posted a lesson for 2nd grade and up using chalk and line...and you can check that out here!

Okay, back to the lesson at hand! I LOVE chalk and my students do too. I really enjoyed creating this little chalk square study.

BUT THIS ONE...

Was even more fun! For this, students will use bright and light color oil pastel and saturate their paper in color. THEN...

Using a combination of black paint (I used acrylic but tempera would work) and a squirt of dish soap (I only had Dr. Bronner's on hand but Dawn or any other would work!) blended together well, paint over the areas you wish to do scratch art on.

Allow that to dry COMPLETELY before using a skewer to remove the paint and create line designs. 

I really recommend adding the dish soap. What it does is help the paint scrap off evenly and not in chips. I've tried it without dish soap before and...it just didn't work as well (chips. We had chips).

So fun, right?

And for the final method, we explore wet-on-wet with watercolor.

Now, when it comes to display, I laid my pieces back out like a puzzle. But these could be displayed individually, on in a vertical or horizontal manner...so many options! I'm so stoked about this lesson. I don't often do lessons for upper grades because I never taught beyond 4th. I do think this could be done with fourth (maybe after Christmas, when they are officially fourth graders) and definitely beyond. 

By the way, if you are looking for books, downloads and resources for all things art teacherin', I have a library of them! You can see them all here!

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Creating Line-Making Stations in the Art Room

Hi! I shared earlier this week that all of my students, kindergarten through fourth would be doing line-making stations for 2, 30 minute art classes as an introduction for some and a review for most. I created a short video to walk them through each station and you can check it out here to see what we were up to:

On my Instagram, I got some questions about where I got the line spinner and the other resources I used...I made them! And it was so easy, I thought I'd show you how I did it in case you are interested. So here's the how-to video:

I've already decided what each grade level will do with their collection of line-making papers and I'll share soon. In the meantime, I'm already thinking of ways to expand on this idea of stations. The kids are loving it and it really helps with the wiggles. We have the need to move and this helps. Although a balance of calm days will definitely be sprinkled into the mix! 

Because my students do stations in PE, this concept was something they easily understood. Honestly, the only thing holding me back on doing this sooner was...me! I'm not great with change but this year, I am excited to try all sorts of new things. It's helping me get outta of my burnout that I was experiencing since 2020.

I think that's one of the reasons I slowed down so much on blogging this last year: I just felt stale. I'm feeling excited now...and I think the kids are too.

Anyway, I just wanted to share how we created these centers in case you are interested. I hope you have a relaxing weekend!

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