Number Grids

Students painted first using two of the colors from the triad they selected

after the base coat dried, let the dry brushing begin...

I love how she had meaningful letters and numbers

This one has a hidden word when upside down!

Superb brushwork!

We are studying the iconic images of Jasper Johns.  I just love how he shows the process of the materials he uses, so painterly and handcrafted.  Students are creating their own number grid (some are using letters as well) and are learning about using a triadic color scheme.  We spend time also in this lesson talking about caring for your paintbrushes, which to me is an important lesson in itself.

Students drew a grid on tag board with a ruler...didn't have to be perfect but somewhat evenly spaced. They cut out numbers from craft foam to glue onto their grid in any order they preferred.  I could have bought the numbers ready made from foam, but I prefer them hand-cut.  They glued them on the grid in one class.  Next class was about painting and learning to use the dry-brush technique.  They caught on very quickly and created these beautiful pieces of work.  This was done with grades 3 thru 12. Excellent results and lots of fun! Thank you to Art Projects for Kids for the wonderful idea.  I do prefer the hand-cut look of the numbers out of foam.

Wire Sculpture

Awesome Elephant!

love the feather

Dancing Bear

Lady on the high wire...she has plans for hanging

Me with this fabulous bow tie from one of the students!

Wow, I love the embellishments here.

This clown car was such a great idea.

We broke out the wire to create some fun sculptures the past few weeks when we studied Alexander Calder's sculpture.  He worked in wire, wood, and found materials to create his 'Calder Circus' which he performed in France and America many times.  Here is a link to watch part of it...lots of fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8To4mp9HVw&feature=related

We discussed his invention of the mobiles and viewed some of these and his stabiles.  The middle and high school students had to work with wire and create a circus themed sculpture.  Elementary students used wire to create a mobile portrait with a wood base along with a variety of materials for embellishment. Good middle school project as well. Love these and I found this on a blog and am afraid I cannot find it again to acknowledge. Please let me know if this was your idea so I can give you credit!  Thanks so much for the great idea!

man with the mustache

Smile from ear to ear!

Awesome work, guys!

Colored Pencil Sea Life

Students worked on colored pencil blending at the last class for the semester.  They traced a template of a sea turtle or fish and drew exaggerated the shapes you would find inside.  They did these on black paper which really makes the colored pencil illuminate.  They used analogous colors (colors next to each other on the color wheel look really nice together and blend well) and overlapped the colors to create this effect.  They turn out really nice!