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Author Archives: Marcia Beckett

About Marcia Beckett

Marcia is an elementary art teacher and loves painting, drawing, sculpture, art journaling and clay. Her blog, Art is Basic, features many exciting art projects for kids.

Silhouette Paper Cuttings for 3rd and 4th Graders

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Silhouette paper cuttings depict a bird flying near a castle with two towers and a central, tall structure against a white background.

Did you know Hans Christian Andersen was an accomplished paper cutter?  He created some very intricate and amazing silhouettes. I used a chapter from the book The Amazing Paper Cuttings of Hans Christian Andersen to teach about his paper cuttings. Perhaps if your students are reading fairy tales, this would be a great author/artist to incorporate. The third and fourth grade class drew silhouettes on black paper (using regular pencils) and cut them out.  (Some chose to create their picture … Read more… →

Contour Line Shoe Drawings by 3rd and 4th Graders

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A child's drawing of a large boot features tiny buildings and people around it, including a castle, cafe, and shops. The scene bursts with the creativity you might find in 4th Graders' artwork.

Take off your shoes and make yourself comfortable. This fun lesson is perfect to teach observational drawing with minimal supplies and easy set up. 1.  Take off a shoe. 2.  Observe the lines, shapes and contours of the shoe. 3.  Concentrate and draw all of the lines you see on the shoe.  Don’t forget the little details, such as shoelaces, the tongue and any patterns you see on the shoe. *Optional Step*  Enlarge the shoe drawings on a photocopier. 4.  … Read more… →

Cardboard Creations and a Blog Layout Review

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A cardboard model of a building with yellow windows and a photo of a person’s face on the wall.

Hello all! Wow, summer is almost here! It’s hard to believe, right? I entered a blog giveaway to receive a free layout review from a web designer. I won! She posted the review on Blacksburgbelle’s blog. Bottom line: reduce the clutter.  I think it was very useful and gave me a lot to think about! Maybe you will get some ideas from her review. This will be a little project to work on during the summer. Building with cardboard and … Read more… →

Smart Fab Winner

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Congrats Melanie!  Send me your address:  marciadotcom@yahoo.com so we can get your samples sent out.  If you didn’t win (or enter the contest) stay tuned as I will have another product giveaway shortly. Melanie May 14, 2013 at 5:09 pm who said, “I got a roll at the FAEA conference but not sure what to do with it and that one roll would be enough for an entire grade level to use. Would love to win some more AND to … Read more… →

Still Life Paintings in the Middle School Art Class

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This still life painting features a clear glass vase set against a vibrant background with red, purple, and turquoise sections.

From time to time, I will show you some artwork from the middle school classes.  I teach K-6 and Rebecca teaches the older students.  These paintings on canvas were particularly beautiful. Painting water and glass is definitely challenging, but these kids did an awesome job!  The 7th/8th graders set up their still lifes and took a photograph of the setup.  Then, they used acrylic paint to paint them. I will be picking the winner of the Smart Fab sample rolls … Read more… →

Giveaway: Smart Fab Rolls!

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Giveaway: Smart Fab Rolls!

Have you used Smart Fab in your classroom? I was recently sent a sample pack of this product and I would love to see how you’ve used it. We are going to use it for accent shapes in fabric collages. Check out this instructional video about how to use Smart Fab. This product is a non-woven fabric that can be used in art projects for kids and adults. The unique properties of Smart-Fab allow it to be easily cut, glued, … Read more… →

Mosaics in the Classroom

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Mosaics in the Classroom

Have you made mosaics with elementary students? We first learned about the mosaics in ancient Greece and Rome.  The student thoroughly enjoyed sifting through my box of mosaic tiles to find the perfect pieces. We used glass bits and bobs, shells, stones, square tiles and stained glass pieces. Some tips: Be sure to cut your pieces inside a plastic bag to avoid flying pieces. Use sanded grout (available at a hardware store) to minimize cracking. Tiles should be placed about … Read more… →

Around here lately… Stress and GARAGE SALES!

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Around here lately… Stress and GARAGE SALES!

School Lockdown and an ER visit It’s been a crazy week!  First, we had a school lockdown last Thursday because the FBI was trying to catch a fugitive in our area. Initially we spent 10 minutes on hard lockdown and I had my class in the closets.  Then, we moved to a “soft lockdown” and were allowed to switch classes.  Kids were escorted to use the bathroom.  The kids were upset and it was difficult to continue class as normal. … Read more… →

Making Bookmarks with Kids

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Making Bookmarks with Kids

Our local public library partnered with us to have a bookmark contest.  The kids in grades K-5 each designed a bookmark based on a favorite book.  We provided a template for them to compose their drawing. The library will pick a number of winners to print as bookmarks for distribution at the library.  We’ve done this before at school and when the designs were returned to us, we chose other designs and copied them at an office store on card … Read more… →

Fabric Dolls by the 1st Graders

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Handmade doll with brown hair, a colorful dress, and blue fabric legs, suitable for 1st graders, laying on a light-colored surface.

Here are some of our cute fabric dolls the 1st graders made.  We used a lot of wrapping, tying and hot glue.  I would recommend having an older student helper or a couple of parent volunteers.  I’m trying to find an easier way to make fabric dolls with kids.  Any ideas?  These are very cute, but the kids needed a lot of help.   Google

21 Secrets Online Workshop and a Link Round-Up

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21 Secrets Online Workshop and a Link Round-Up

As art teachers our hands are covered in glue and paint all day.  We are on the go and juggling so many different tasks. We definitely need our own creative outlet.  We need time for ourselves… to play, to relax, to express ourselves.  Keeping an art journal is a great way to de-stress. I am taking the 21 Secrets online workshop.  Obviously, with a limited amount of free time along with a limited amount of disposable income, I have always … Read more… →

Art Journaling Exposed 2

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Art Journaling Exposed 2

I am very honored to share with you that I have an article in the Art Journaling Exposed 2 downloadable E-magazine from Cloth Paper Scissors.  I browsed through the issue and it has a lot of interesting articles and videos.  My article is titled “13 Great Layers for Art Journal Pages” These are some of the pages in the article. If you like art journaling, mixed media, collage and you would like to follow my personal art blog, you can … Read more… →

Clay Butterflies for 1st Grade

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Clay Butterflies for 1st Grade

The first graders had a blast rolling out clay slabs, tracing their butterfly, cutting the clay and stamping textures in the clay.  Do you remember the game Perfection?  When I coordinated a summer day camp, we had this game and the kids loved it.  Then one day, the game stopped working and we couldn’t fix it.  What to do with the pieces?  They are perfect for stamping into clay and also for stamping with paint!  I have used these pieces … Read more… →

Landscape Scroll Displays

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Landscape Scroll Displays

How is your year going?  Ours is rapidly coming to a close.  There is so much to do… grading, finishing projects, finishing the yearbook, planning a middle school dance, inventory and cleaning the room!  Yikes, I don’t know about you, but April is the craziest month. I think in the summer, I am going to blog about some tips for organizing Student Council events.  Not that I am an expert, but since I’ve done it for about 7 years now, … Read more… →

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