Making adorable felt animal ornaments

For our school auction Christmas tree we are going to have the fifth-grade class so and stuff Woodland animal ornaments for the tree.

Here is the ornaments that were going to do.

 I cut the felt over a few days, and preassembled the animals for the kiddos. They just need to stitch around the edges. For those that don't want to so a.k.a. (boys )they can also assemble cute pinecones owls for the tree.

How to do a basket stitch. 

I don't remember where I found the link to the felt ornaments, and directions, but it was on Pinterest, My favorite go to site for ideas.  I'm always on it.  Well, the craft went well,  of course half the class took awhile to figure it out,  I precut the thread into manageable sizes and put an entire animal ornament and thread into one Baggie.  In hindsight, I should have pre threaded the needles for them.  But with 42 kids in two classes, that would have taken a loooong time.  Once they stitched their ornaments,  I had them hot glue the eyes and noses etc on.  Later, I took the ornaments and threaded them with string to hang them on the tree.  Voila, a camping themed tree for the auction.  They loved stringing popcorn too,  I recommend doing that outside,  more ended up on the floor and in their mouth than on the strings.



 This is the felt that I purchased for this project.

Pointillism Hearts

Seurat, Georges Pierre |səˈrä| (1859–91), French painter. The founder of neo-impressionism, he is chiefly associated with pointillism, which he developed during the 1880s. Among his major paintings using this technique is Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884–86).I can't believe this whole time I haven't done an art masterpiece on Seurat  I just love his work! For going to do a pointillism work just in time for Valentine's Day. I cut out heart templates and using painters tape, taped them onto watercolor paper.

I decided to use cool colors with different values for the background and warm colors with different values for the heart. 

The acrylic paints are nice and thick instead of tempura. I cut Q-tips in half so there was a tip for each color on their palette. Sometimes the Q-tips get a little squishy, so it helps to have more.
I started them off painting the background. We talked about color and value. They tried to make the edges of the painting and heart were darker in value. Make sure they overlap the edge of the heart. 

Nice dots, random pattern, use all the colors. 

When the back is done, remove the heart template and fill the heart in with dots of warm colors. Concentrate the darker shades in the edges, lighter shades toward the middle, also denser and lighter towards the center to give it shape.  

The last step I showed them how to use a little black sparingly to dot around the edges.

We will be doing a pointillism painting for valentine's day after we learn a little about Seurat and Pointillism!

Here is the link to the slideshow.

Hey! I'm a photographer!

The history of photography is a very interesting one, and today we'll learn all about it!  starting with the first photos every taken with the first cameras, to famous photographers, and then we'll learn some tricks to take some of great photos of our own! 

Now its your turn to be the photographer! Each of you will pair up and take a turn being the photographer and then the model for the portrait.  

moms- this is what you'll need,  digital cameras, white sheets for backdrops, clip or tape on wall, tripods- they may also just want to hold the cameras.  I also have them bring in their favorite stuffed animal for one of the photos.  The photos I upload, crop, change to black and white and pick the best 4 expressions of each child.  The frames are from the dollar store.  Tada! the best Christmas present ever!  Don't forget the labels on the back with the date, class, etc.

Here the link to the slideshow on photography!

Remember- 

1. Make sure the camera is focused and still
2. Make your subject feel comfortable,
    tell them nicely how you want them to pose.
3. You want to get 4 different looks from them, make sure 1 is a nice smiling one.       How about happy, thoughtful, goofy, sad, sleepy, dreamy, excited or cuddly!
4. Take about 3 photos per expression. Take your time !
HAVE FUN!

Henri Matisse- Master of Color

Henri Matisse

 Henri Matisse (1869-1954)
French painter and sculptor; full name Henri Emile Benoît Matisse. His use of nonnaturalistic color led him to be considered a leader among the Fauvists. His later paintings and sculptures display a trend toward formal simplification and abstraction.
Here is a Art Masterpiece Project that was on Artsonia,  Johnny Appleseed Day is coming up and this is a great project for it.  It really is adaptable for any age group, this masterpiece below was done by a Kindergartener!  

materials:
White 12"x18" paper
Liquid Laundry Detergent Lids
Black, Red, Yellow and Green (to make "apple" green) tempera paint
Warm and Cool watercolors OR watered down tempera
Brushes
Large Circle tracer and crayon for plate
Sharpie fine point black marker

blow dryers to dry the paint

LOTS OF HELPERS!

most of these supplies can be had from the art department,  make sure to check in advance.

procedure:
1. Introduce Henri Matisse "Apples" 1916, The Art Institute of Chicago Image found  here. 

It is also found in the slide talk -link is below.

2. Compare and contrast other still life images.
3. Have the students trace large circle on 12" x 18" white paper - or to save time,
 I pre-draw the plate with brown crayon prior to distributing to the kids.
4. Discuss warm and cool colors. I have them paint the plate first and then one half with warm colors.
(I have used watercolors in the past but now I find that if I water down tempera and put it in little cups,
the effect is much nicer.) While they are painting the outside of the plate, I go around and soak up any
puddles to keep the apple print from bleeding into it.
PRINTMAKING
I made green apples by mixing tempera paints. We used liquid laundry caps (of different sizes) to make
 the print. I tell them to lift straight up and hold the paper down with their other hand if the paper sticks
to the cap. While they are printmaking inside the plate I soak up any puddles outside the plate in case
they want to show an apple falling out. We let dry until the next week.
The second week . . .or if you have helpers,  break out those blow dryers from the art department, and
 try to dry as much as possible where the apples will be printed.
1. I start with sharpie for the apple stems.
2. I premix watered down tempera for the cool colors and the black shadows. When they are doing the
 shadows, I turn the warm colors so that they are on the "right" side of the student.
3. I ask the children to draw the letter "C" ON the apple (this makes the cool side the shadow side).
Then I have them draw the letter "C" for the cast shadow and fill in. I do the two shadows separately
 because the tempera from the apples sometimes remoistens and will spread into the cast shadow.

link to slidetalk for Matisse

Don't forget to take photos - natural light, straight on, of each artwork, 

then they will be posted on Artsonia for all to see!

art by a Kindergartener.

Self-Portrait Goals for the School Year

Let's start the school year off right!  Here's a short slideshow with instructions for the project.  I bought frames from the dollar store so the kids could frame their masterpiece and hang it on their wall.
They draw a self-portrait and then write their top three goals for the school year.

It could be anything from:
Work hard to get good grades this year.
Make sure to turn in all my assignments on time.
Read a book a week.
Finish my AR goal on time.
Give encouragement to someone every day or week.
Be extra kind to my family and siblings
Earn my bible verse trophy this year.


Encourage them to really think about realistic goals that they could accomplish by the end of the year.
Also encourage them to be specific in attaining their goals.
In other words..." read loads of books" is vague, but " read a book a week" is something they could strive for and at the end of the year have a feeling of accomplishment.


Materials:
dollar store frames
colored pencils
link to template
pencils, erasers

The instructions to the project on on the slide show here....   self-portraits goals slideshow

This fun project is from www.artprojectsforkids.org

European style self-portraits

Our last art masterpiece of second grade, I like to do something that will be a remembrance of the year. I do a yearly end of year memory book, and this I thought would be a great self -portrait.
The history and varied styles of self-portraits is fascinating.



link to slide talk on self-portraits

Jackson Pollock- Action Jackson

Jackson Pollock was an American painter, born in 1912, who became famous for his enormous drip paintings. He painted in a tool shed where he could lay his canvas on the floor, and drip and splatter paint across it without worrying about ruining the walls or floor.

Rather than paint a landscape or a portrait, Pollock wanted to paint action. When you look at one of his drip paintings, your eye wanders across the entire canvas in constant motion. In this way, Pollock achieved his goal; the creation of the painting was active and so is the viewing of the painting.







Link to lavender mist.
Don't forget to look for his handprints "signature" in the top right of painting.

Click here to make your own Jackson Pollock painting online!!!!

Video of Jackson Pollock painting


Link to my Pollock slideshow for class

Project:
Canvas boards. Whatever size is on sale or you can order in advance from art department

I used 24x24" last time, it looks great on an easel!

Lots of bottles of acrylic paint,
Brushes, large small, painters stir sticks, or Popsicle sticks
Large Red plastic cups
Drop cloths
Painters smocks from art room ( very messy project)
I prep the white canvas board by spray painting the background a lavender for girls and a blue for boys.
I will put a label on the back saying teacher, year, artist, art masterpiece date.

On the day of, make sure you have list of helpers and find a spot outdoors to lay down the drop cloths, or plastic tablecloths.
Pre-pour the paints into red cups and mix with a little water so it is a little thinner, like house paint consistency.

Show the slideshow, and the video of "action Jackson" at work.
Talk about abstract expressionism, and explain that a very important part of his work is the action and process of making it, not just the final canvas.
Have the kids take their shoes off and put a smock on to cover their clothes.
They will stand in a circle with their canvas on the plastic, and their feet off it.
They'll take turns with all the colors and drip, splash, drop, paint onto their canvas' as they stand over them. They will not touch their canvas!
When they are done with all the colors, their masterpieces will look like these! Have fun, and don't forget to take photos for Artsonia !

James Audubon

John James Audubon (1785-1851). U.S. Naturalist and artist. His most notable work is The Birds of America (1827-38), in which he portrayed even the largest birds life-size and painted them in action.

Link to Audubon slideshow






Our project today requires black paper, white oil pastel, colored art chalk,
Stencils and q-tips.

Have the children take a bird and leaves stencil and draw around them with the white pastel. Afterwards, they will outline with multiple colors of chalk, as thick as they want it, when they are done they will gently blur the edges with a q-tip.

Wassily Kandinsky

Wassily Kandinsky: Russian painter and theorist. A pioneer of abstract art, he co-founded the Munich based Blaue Reiter group of artists in 1911.

This a really fun project that I've done in first grade, they learn about basic color mixing, talk to them about the primary colors ( red,blue,yellow) and ask them what colors do they make when they mix.

Link to Kandinsky slideshow

Elements of art covered: Color and Line

Materials for the project:
Bleeding art tissue.

Cut the colored tissue up into squares 2-3". Don't use white, black brown, only the bright colors.
Use a mixture of 50/50 water/glue, or water/mod podge. I mix it in a water bottle as I go so I can pour it easily into their cups of their tables, and refill as necessary.
Paint brushes, or sponge brushes.
Black tempura paint, thin brushes
Do a sample in advance of putting down three primary color tissue paper and gluing them with the mixture, it will show them how the blue yellow and red, primary colors will mix to make the orange, violet, and green secondary colors with the tissue paper.
Pass out a Dixie cup of glue mixture, handful of various colors of tissue squares and the foam brushes.
Don't forget their name on the back of the watercolor paper first.
Working in smaller sections, have them generously apply the glue mixture and start laying and overlapping the tissue paper on top.
**be careful that they don't brush on top of the tissue paper, it will tear when it's wet!!!***
have them completely cover the paper, leaving no white part.
For the black part, sometimes, I wrap up the lesson for the day, and let everything dry overnight, then when I come back for a 20 minute session,
Talk to them about one of the elements of art being line, and how Kandinsky
Would paint to music and feel the music with his brush strokes, not trying to paint specific shapes, but flowing lines etc. I have brought classical music in for this part too.
Pass out their dry projects, they will use thinned black paint and thin brushes. Show them the Kandinsky sample ( you can just show the one slide up on the smart board if needed)
They will paint some simple lines and shapes on their masterpieces. Keep this session very short, give them too much time and they will want to paint stars, moons, puppies, trees etc.
When it's dry take pictures and send them to me for artsonia!

Cezanne's Apples

Paul Cézanne (French pronunciation: [pɔl seˈzan]; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th century Impressionism and the early 20th century's new line of artistic enquiry, Cubism. The line attributed to both Matisse and Picasso that Cézanne "is the father of us all" cannot be easily dismissed.

We learned all about Paul Cezanne, and his artwork. We also learned about highlights and shadows and still life's. We drew our apples with oil pastels and shaded them in.










Materials needed:
oil pastels from the art room. Pre-separate them into....
3 colors of red( light medium and dark. Orange may be used)
3 colors of green ( light medium and dark)
2 or 3 colors shades of yellow
Brown. And white
Each child will have a set.
There will be samples of the steps to show kids in a baggie in the art room
Black 12x18 paper for background.
Cut light brown 12x18 sulfite paper into rectangles.

Show the kids the art talk presentation on Cezannes. You can also display some Cezannes posters from the art closet. Here is the link to the PDF.

Cezannes slideshow

Art project:
Hand out three sheets of brown paper to each child.
Hand out pastels. A great way to do it is separate reds, yellows and greens in snack baggies, then each row in the classroom will do a different color and then switch for all three colored apples. This way you will have enough of the good pastels to go around.

Show them a step, then guide them through it.
1.Draw a good size circle using the darkest shade of the three.
2. Talk a bit about which side the light will be shining on.
3. They will use the lightest color and draw a half moon on the side of the apple where the light is shining.
4. Then, use the darkest color to draw a half moon side on the shaded side of apple.
5. Then, use the medium color to color in remaining mid-section. Don't leave any spaces! Keep blending with medium color into the dark and light so it is fully covered.
6. Take your white and make a little shiny crescent spot on one side of your apple. You can also make a few highlights with the white according to the picture.
7. Make a small smiley face with the brown, and a green or brown stem.
8. If you think they are able or if you have time, they can shade very lightly under the shady side of the apple with the side of a brown pastel. Very lightly.

They are done! Make sure their names are on each one.
Glue stick them to the black paper, put a sticker on the back stating the name, date, teacher and artist. Take a photo of each one for artsonia. Send me the photos. Great job!








Links:Wikipedia
Olga's gallery
Artsonia

The Art of Paper Marbling

The beautiful art of paper marbling is a really fun and messy project for the class. You can pretty much work it to almost any theme. Marbleize the paper and cut it out in the shape of choice! There are endless possibilities.

Update: I did this project with 5th graders to make beautiful marbled stationary as a gift for Christmas. I'll post the updated photos of the process.  The materials and instructions are following...

          Materials:

• Pad of watercolor paper. Heavy stock so it won't bend too much
• A few cans of cheap shaving cream- foam type.
• 3 or 4 cookie sheets with sides. And a few that have no sides.
• An abundance of bottles of paint, the large washable tempura. Metallics look beautiful.
• Squeegees at least the width of the paper.
• Pad of Scrapbook paper for background
• Circle punches
• Pencils or Popsicle sticks etc to stir foam and paint.
• Artist smocks from the art room- this can be messy!
• throw away plastic tablecloths
• plenty of adult helpers.

Show the kids a great video on Turkish Ebru. less than 5 minutes long. http://www.5min.com/Video/The-Art-of-Ebru-315086138

Then show them this slidetalk-  Art of Paper Marbling

Early Prep. 

• Make a few samples to show kids
• If you are doing butterflies, then trace a butterfly on each watercolor sheet in advance for project for children.
• Using used file folders are great for a stencil, just bend in half and draw half a butterfly, unfold!
• If you want to have antennae, then slice a few up in advance from a sample, a paper shredder works too.
• Also, if you want then to decorate their butterflies with a few contrasting circles of marbled paper, then punch a few in advance, and from leftover scraps while the project is in full swing, assign a mom to punch out more!

demonstrating making the paint patterns

push the paper down!

Demonstrate the steps in front of the kids, wait for the ooohs and aahs!


 Spray a even layer of foam on a cookie sheet with sides. 

The kids choose 3 colors for their marbling,  generally at least one dark and one light for contrast.


Evenly pour the paints back and forth over the foam- (the kids do this part too)

The messier the better the results!

     Take a pencil or stick and with straight lines, go side to side and then up and down a few passes each time.  make sure the stick touches the sides each pass! Also, make sure to use the pointy part of a stick/pencil. The paint will be spread around, but not mixed together. 


Have them place their paper, tracing side up, onto the foam.  Press down until the foam squishes out the sides,  you don't want any bare spots!

sweet London

Before its squeegeed

Have an adult pick it up from the end, it will be beautiful, but messy!

Station an adult near the cookie sheets, and their job is to squeegee the paint in one sweep off of the paper.  If there is still any foam left on, make sure to wipe the squeegee first, or it will deposit paint!

one good swipe of a squeegee

The paper will not be wet, since it was just foam used.

Cut out the butterflies, and bodies,  let the kids pick out coordinating backgrounds, and using glue sticks, mount them.

This project makes a great gift from the kids, hint, hint... Mothers Day!  Make sure to take those Artsonia photos!  It's the gift that keeps on giving.