I saw this post by the Art Bar Blog which gave me the idea to make these cylinder sculptures with my 1st graders.  We started with toilet paper tubes and paper rectangles rolled into tubes.  The best way to adhere these is to pour out some liquid glue onto a paper plate, then stick the ends of the tubes into the glue. We also used washi tape, colorful straws, pipe cleaners and pom-poms for added interest and texture.
In my last blog post, I reviewed the book Old Tracks, New Tricks.  It is a super cute and creative book. The book itself is good for up to about 1st or 2nd grade, in my opinion.  The kids at my school saw me drawing this train track picture and some of the 3rd graders wanted to try it.  I’m thinking 1st through 3rd grade might be best for this art project.  I will test it with the Kindergartners and … Read more…
In my last post, I showed you some of Sabrina Ward Harrison’s artwork and talked about what she shared with us at her artist visit.  Her artwork is very inspiring, messy and beautiful.  Please check out the other post to learn all about this artist. After the presentation, smaller groups of kids in grades 3-6 had a collage workshop with Sabrina.  She demonstrated how to use Mod-Podge to paste down pieces of her pinwheel shape. While she demonstrated the pinwheel … Read more…
Here is a fun and beautiful Valentine’s project!  I call it “Confetti Hearts”  with a side of Matisse.  This idea came to me after seeing these painted hearts on Pinterest. Start by tracing a heart template or free handing it if the kids are older. Then using one of my favorite products, Kwik Stix, add dashes and dabs of the “paint”  all over the heart, like confetti.  You can surely use oil pastels or paints, but Kwik Stix have the … Read more…
Little artists love digging into a big box of fabric scraps to find the perfect patterned piece that speaks to them. We have an upcoming Fine Arts Night with the theme of Animals. We are calling it “Wild about the Arts”, which someone suggested in the Facebook art teachers group.  The 1st graders made these fun creature collages. First we read the book Zigzag by Robert Souci and looked at the illustrations of fabric dolls. The students made creature collages, either … Read more…
Reggie Laurent:  Contemporary Artist Reggie Laurent is a self-taught artist living in Georgia.  He creates very intricate abstract shape paintings.  I saw his paintings online and I was immediately drawn to all of the fun patterns and colors. My first graders learned about his abstract pictures. They are filled with lots of different shapes, fitted together like a puzzle. His artworks are highly detailed and very colorful. Student Shape Collages The students learned about and used organic (freeform) and geometric shapes … Read more…
Here is a really fun twist on self-portraits!  I teach the grades K-4/5 at my school and the middle school art teacher is in charge of grades 5/6-8.  We have a new art teacher at the middle school level this year and her name is Jayne Baitinger-Peterson.  She comes to our school with over 30 years teaching experience at the elementary level and she has been enjoying the change with middle school youth.  She gave me permission to share these … Read more…
First, I want to give a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who follows my blog. I appreciate your support in reading my blog, leaving comments, pinning images and sharing my posts. Whenever I get a positive comment or email from a reader, it just MAKES MY DAY and makes all the time worthwhile. Without this kind of feedback and support, I would not continue blogging! A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who bought resources during the TPT Best Year Ever … Read more…
When I found out that Jesse Reno was going to be at the National Art Education Conference this year, I was stoked. I’ve been following his artwork and blog for several years and I love how layered and complex his paintings are.  You have to watch his process of transforming one thing into another while painting. He has several videos on his blog where you can watch him paint.  I was excited to hear him talk, but it would have … Read more…
Vassily Kandinsky was one of the first pioneers of abstract art. Abstract art is art that does not attempt to show things realistically, but uses lines, shapes, colors and textures to show emotions and meaning. Kandinsky was from Russia and initially went to law school. He was always fascinated by color and in his thirties, he decided to go to art school.  Kandinsky thought showing the inner beauty was most important. He believed that color could express … Read more…
Paul Klee was an important painter in the history of modern art. I have always been drawn to his colorful, abstract pictures. Children can relate to the simple geometric shapes and bold colors. His art has been related to Expressionism, Cubism and Surrealism. Swiss artist Paul Klee painted the Castle and Sun with simplified shapes, but viewers can easily see the way the shapes form a castle or city-like scene. For this lesson, we are going to paint colorful swatches … Read more…
First, there is a huge sale today at TPT.. 20% of all of my art teacher resources, plus use coupon code SMILE for an additional 10% off your entire order: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Art-Is-Basic Today I am going to show you an easy doodling technique for Artist Trading Cards. This is a great one-day art project for kids and possibly for a substitute lesson plan. Create doodles on the Artist Trading Cards and fill in with paint pens, Sharpies, or gel pens. My … Read more…
I had the opportunity to try out Dab and Dot Dauber Markers and write a blog post for their website DoodleHog. These are similar to other paint dotters, but one difference I noticed is that the colors seem richer and better than other brands I have tried. The colors mix together very well. Piet Mondrian Dab and Dot Art Project Piet Mondrian was one of the most important and well known abstract painters. But did you know his early work … Read more…
I did it! I made my first sand painting. After reviewing the book Ice Cream Work by Naoshi, I decided to try out the SUNAE sand painting technique. You can read my whole review at this previous blog post. The book is very Japanese in style and reminds me of other Japanese cartoons and illustrations. Her artwork is very colorful, fun and cute! I really like her style. You can see the book on Amazon (affiliate link) Ice Cream Work, … Read more…
One of the best parts about lesson planning and blogging is the ability to get all sorts of new ideas quickly on the Internet. This was a fun lesson I saw first on The Busy Librarian. We read the book The Dot and the students received papers with their first initial drawn in pencil. The students then used crayons to draw dots and circles on their initial. Using watercolor paints, they painted dots and circles and made marks in the … Read more…
