Kandinsky Colorweaver

THis is a great activity for students that finish work early instead of just a free draw. THis is from Art Projects for Kids: Kandinsky Colorweaver Wassily Kandinsky made a beautiful painting called "Color Studies" back in the early 1900's that is fun to imitate with oil pastels instead of watercolor. 1. Distribute 9" x 12" pieces of art paper to students. Give them rulers to measure and draw pencil lines across the middle of the paper in both directions. 2. Ask the students to start in the center and with an oil pastel, draw an angle and fill in the triangle that is created. Continue around the center with drawing triangles, only changing colors each time. 3. Once a diamond is created, add bands of color around the diamond, always changing color on the pencil lines. Continue until the paper is filled with color. This picture was made by a kindergartener in an afterschool class.

Winter Birch Trees

I found this lesson on Deep Space Sparkle:

We looked at Monet’s painting “Magpie” and talked about the winter landscape.

Supplies: 9″ x 12″ watercolor paper (school grade “Biggie” Brand or Canson), watercolor palette including white (if you don’t have white watercolor/gouache use tempera paint), masking tape or blue painter's tape, salt, small and medium size watercolor brush.

1.Tear strips of masking tape in half lengthwise (not easy) and use ripped or torn edge for the outside of tree. Place the straight edge towards the middle. Do again so there are two torn edges creating the tree. Add branches if you would like. Smooth down with back of fingernail. Make sure ALL trees extend off the top of the paper.
2.Paint a line across the trees near the top. (horizon line)
3.Mingle two or even three colors together to create a winter sky. I like blues, reds, and purples but the children will know what colors they like. It helps to lay down a layer of water so that the colors blend easily. As soon as the color is on, sprinkle salt onto the paper (right).
4.Painting snow can be a bit tricky. I suggested that the students mix a bit of white paint with a touch of brown and paint over some areas of the painting. You could also choose blue but brown makes a better contrast to what is almost always a blue sky. explain shadows.
5. On the white board, next to my sample painting, I drew a sun in the top right corner of where my painting hung. From there, I could draw an imaginary line to demonstrate where shadows would fall. Paint all the way off the paper.
6. Using a small brush and black paint, draw trees along the horizon line. Paint right over the masking tape.
7.The quickest and easiest part of the lesson: bark. Peel off masking tape. If it tears, don’t worry. Just glue wayward piece down (glue stick,not white glue). Using a small brush and the black watercolor paint, paint small curved lines across the tree. Add a fence along the horizon line and in the foreground too.

Cubist Hands

This is a neat lesson to do with your upper elementary students that covers shades and tints, color mixing, and Art Appreciation. Students trace their hand 2 times onto a 12'' square piece of gray bogus paper, once from the bottom, and once from a side. Using a ruler, trace 3 lines from the top to the bottom, and 3 times side to side. Don't forget to slant the lines a little. Now-very important- outline everything with a black sharpie. Begin painting. EVERYTIME YOU HIT A LINE, CHANGE  COLORS. You may place the same colors kater/corner. When all the painting is complete, let dry completely, re-outline with sharpies, and  make the lines dark and even. They are very colorful, and you may wish to limit the paintings to certain colors of your choice.

Shape City

Colorful Shape Cities

After a discussion about shapes, I gave my kindergarten classes pre-cut shapes to design a city. Easy lesson and the artwork always turns out well!

Robert Delaunay Art

Color Explosion

My third graders are working on these after making a color wheel. I got this idea from the book Making Amazing Art. These turn out great and gives them a chance to work with colors.