Woodland Creature Collage Lessons Inspired by Charley Harper!

One of my favorite contemporary artists is Charley Harper. I love his retro style (well, it probably wasn't considered 'retro' at the time!), his flat design and his subject matter: creatures! A while back, I created two fun fall lessons for my second and third graders featuring Charley Harper. These are quick lessons that you should have time to create just before Thanksgiving break. 

I love creating mashup lessons with a mixture of artists. Including a nod to Vincent van Gogh just seemed appropriate for this nocturnal bandit. Of course, you could read about Vincent while the kids create by using my book Find Your Way! 

What better way to learn about an artist and their life then by...going on adventures with them!?

This lesson does include an intro to Charley Harper so your students can become familiar with his work. They had so much fun drawing their raccoons!

Supplies needed and more details can be found in this blog post!

Both of these lessons are guided drawing projects. For this lesson, you can read more here. 

Both lessons use the same art supplies which makes prep SO much easier! 

If you are low on time, you could always shorten the project by eliminating the collage portion and just draw and add color straight to the construction paper. Also, cutting down on the size of the paper might help too.

No matter what you and your artists decide to create, I know you'll love learning about Charley Harper and creating your own woodland creature collages!

Read more »

Favorite Fall Lessons!

It's the time of year, my very favorite time of the year: fall! We are gearing up for some fun fall art makin' stations and I thought I'd share a bit about that as well as my favorite fall lessons. Many of these links include videos for you to share in your art room. Let's start with this one, a fourth grade favorite: Spooky Starry Nights!

Now I just mentioned art makin' stations which has become my new favorite thing of late! With 30 minute art classes, it's been a fun way for my students to really roll up their sleeves, move around the room and explore several different art makin' activities. You can find out how we did stations for Dot Day here and here and how we are doing it for learning the elements of art LINE here and here...all with videos for you to share in your art room and some videos that are just my tips and tricks for YOU! Here's a blog post about the stations I did on Halloween in my art room here.  I plan to do a week long stations this year so all of my classes can experience the fun. The above pumpkin prints is one I will be adding to the mix. I can't wait!

Monsters are always fun to do during this season and my students LOVE creating them! This lesson, with video, is one I know your students will love!

This one is fun for all ages especially if you want to introduce color mixing, painting, printing and collage. Another lesson with video right here!

Speaking of fall trees, check out this amazing weaving lesson! If you've never woven with your students, I recommend doing a short paper weaving first before diving into this activity. I would give this a go with fourth grade and up if students are new to weaving. Lesson and video here!

Speaking of weaving, my students love this weaving project! All the weaving details can be found in this blog post!

Wanna do printing with your students but don't want to deal with the mess? This leaf printing lesson with just markers and water is sure to be a hit! Here's more.

Speaking of printing...check out this Warhol-inspired sunflower print idea! You'll love it!

How about more monsters? Maybe even ones that glow under black light? All the details and videos can be found here!

Need more monsters? Look no further...than here!

Before Gelli-Plates and the like, we had to make our own sort of gelatin printing plate. 10 years ago, I posted this lesson and it's still one of the most visited on my blog. However, I no longer make the stinky gelatin (not to mention, it's not vegan friendly...I'm not a vegan, but I don't like using it) so you may want to try the same method but with the longer lasting plates. Here's the details.

Another super popular lesson that always yields amazing results is this one! I've done a variation of this type of lesson with students of all ages. More info here. 

Have fun, friends!

Read more »

In the Art Room: Favorite Fall Art Lessons!

Hey, y'all! It's finally fall-ish feeling around here and I thought it would be the perfect time to share with you some of my very favorite fall art lessons! If you follow the links, most of these lessons include videos for you to use in your art makin' world. To kick it off, here is a fave fall lesson of mine: First Grade Woven Owls!

I love this weaving lesson so stickin' much! You can find all the details both in my fibers book or right here in my blog post! 

Here's another fun fall lesson that I did with my first graders but would be awesome with older grades too. This one involved learning about a contemporary artist, painting, collaging and printing. So much! Details here.

If you are looking to create something a little spooky with your kids, I KNOW they will love this van Gogh inspired haunted mansion lesson. 

Marker prints are my favorite! So easy, such little mess and so stinkin' pretty! You can find out all the details on this lesson right here. 

If you need a beautiful fall landscape lesson in your life, then here you go!

All of my students loved creating these Loud Mouth Monsters last year! It rated pretty high on the fave project list. You can find out more and see a video here. 

Of course giving thanks and showing gratitude is always perfect this time of year (and all times of the year, right?!). Here are my three favorite gratitude lessons!

Another fun fall printing lesson can be found here. Instead of creating the printing pans, you can always use Gelli-Plates! 

This lesson I have done with my students as young as first grade! They love it and the results are always stunning. More details here.

I hope these fall lessons leave you feeling inspired. Happy Fall, y'all!  

Read more »