One of my favorite lessons (and more popular vidoes) is this Heather Galler-inspired floral painting. We did these in April and they were always an art show show-stopper! Not to mention, a great gift for Mother's Day! Full lesson with video here.
I even love them in black and white! If you are short on time, these could be completed with tissue paper squares...see my lesson below for more details on that process.
Liquid watercolor was how we finished these off. I like using liquid watercolor on larger projects. I always save pan watercolor for more detailed work.
This lesson is a hit with ALL grade levels! I first did this lesson years ago with second grade. Last year, I did it with everyone and the results are always beautiful. Full lesson and simple video here!
So many ways to finish these beauties. We opted for chalk but we've also used bleeding tissue, watercolor and tempera paint too!
Springtime is the best time to introduce landscapes to your students! This one is so fun...it's chalk like you might have never used it before! Chalk...that doesn't need to be set with a fixative. More here!
I will advise this: when adding paint after the chalking, use tempera cakes, they were so much better than the tempera paint I used in the video.
I think my favorite part is the textured paper we created for the background!
What is better than neon oil pastels and watercolor?! Not much, I say. We loved creating these coloful landscapes and they so brightened the halls. For the complete lesson and the video (I told you, I got you covered!) here.
Cereal boxes for the win, friends! Start collecting now!
Honestly, I don't know who loves puffy paint more, me or the kids! Just keep a pin on hand to unclog the nozzle. The paint does tend to dry out and clog the inside!
I made this mural at the start of a school year...but I also think it would be perfect for spring! It's a lot...but so many beautiful things were created. Check out the blog post here.
Today my second grade friends started a new printmaking project that I thought I'd share with y'all. In our 30 minute session together, they were able to watch the first half of the video, discover a little about Andy Warhol, learn some new vocabulary, work with printmaking tools and complete about two sets of prints (one positive and one negative). Whew! Next time, we'll print again to insure that we have enough crisp prints to pick from to create our own Andy Warhol Flower-inspired collage. Lemme show you how we are creating these pop art beauties:
Here's what you'll need: * Colorful copy paper. I found mine super cheap in the Back to School section of Walmart a while back. * Fake flowers. I tried real sunflowers in my experimenting and found that the petals kept falling out onto the printing plate. Fake flowers from the Dollar Tree were my best find. * Acrylic paint. I tried using tempra and it didn't work on the Gelli Arts printing plate. * Brayers * Printing plate. I used Gelli Arts but you could also use this recipe to create your own gelatin plates. * Scissors and glue * Those two little words that get everyone excited: PUFFY.PAINT.
After the kids have created their prints, we'll proceed on to the collage and puffy painting portion of the video. I'll keep you posted in a follow up on just how these colorful beauties turn out. In other news, I kinda sorta totally wanna wallpaper my entire house in these. Who's up for a flower printing weekend?! Party at my house, you bring the flowers, I'll bring the brayers. I'm telling you, this project is so fun, just ask Andy...
I mean, doesn't he look thrilled?! Ha! Love that wonderful Warhol, y'all.
This lesson is going to be followed up by a flower painting project by our next artist inspo: Vincent van Gogh. I thought printing the sunflowers would give the kids a good opportunity to see them up close, check out those textures and better prepare them to recreate them in paint. I'll keep you posted.
Until then, have a super happy and colorful week, kids!
