Dia De Los Muertos

6th grade students began a project on the Day of the Dead - Dia de Los Muertos.  We discussed how Mexico and many other latin cultures celebrate this day to pay respect and honor to those that have died. The two day celebration happens on the first two days of November.  The class watched this video to help build background knowledge about the celebration in Oxacana, Mexico.

Dia de los Muertos

From there, we then observed some traditional skull masks and drawings and talked about symmetry, pattern and color.  

Students were than given paper, pencil to draw their skulls and designs.  once their designs were complete, the students then took Sharpies and markers to add color.

On day two, we painted flower bursts to cover the entire background.  We started with 4-5 yellow circles and then added petals by placing the paint brush to the edge of the circle and pulling away.  This makes an easy, painterly petal for kids to make.  The flowers grew in a circular pattern and we kept adding fmore warm colors to each layer of the flower until the whole paper was painted in,

On day three, we added the skull and adorned the picture with tissue paper flowers around the edges.

Reach for the stars!

As students return to school, teachers ask their students to project goals for the year.  I decided to team up with my 2nd grade students and take their year goals and turn them into artwork.  We began by talking about the expression, "reach for the stars"; it implies to set your goals high and always aim BIG.

On day one, we made our background.  We talked about painterly brush strokes and how we can achieve a moody sky by simply dipping our brushes into the paint and not mixing the colors inside the cup.  We practiced simple brush strokes of back and forth to achieve these terrific skies.

Back and forth!

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Left to right!

Love these painterly brush strokes

After the skies dried, we discussed ways of getting to the stars.  A ladder was necessary!  By using popsicle sticks and practicing our gluing skills, we counted out 10 sticks to act as the steps of the ladder.

Next, we need to add ourselves climbing the ladder and reaching high for our stars and goals.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

My K1 and K2 students made these awesome Chicka Chicka Boom Boom pictures.  After a read aloud we got right into color mixing.  We used watered down yellow and red tempera paint and made a wash for the background.  The kids worked at two stations, red and yellow, this helped add some magic into the color mixing process.  While some students were painting, I had the rest of the group making polka-dots on 12x18 paper which I then cut into 1" strips for the students to use as the polka-dot border that is found on the book cover.

On day two, we had a gluing lesson and began to stick down all the parts of our coconut tree.  I had pre-cut the border strips, tree trunk, coconuts, and sun.  I did have the students cut the leaves for their tree by making a zig-zag line dow the middle of a 3"x6" green rectangle.  Last, we stamped our letters going up the coconut tree.  What fun!

Final results!

Abstract Names

I gave my seventh and eight graders an assignment that worked with their names and have them take it to an abstract level.  We divided our paper into a grid that had a rectangle for each letter of their name.  From there, students had to fill in their rectangles by having one letter touch a minimum of three walls of the box.  This can be tricky and requires some teacher demonstrating but eventually they get the hang of it and have a blast filling in the grid.

On day two, we talked about color use and positive and negative space.  I had students choose two colors to work with and alternate from positive to negative as they work their way through their name grid.  The finished results are awesome! 

Cupcake Still Life

My third graders are working on a writing project which involves Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett.  The art connections to this book and theme are limitless but what a great way to introduce Wayne Thiebaud to these students!  Wayne Thiebaud is best know for his delicious paintings of desserts.  His simple use of shape and color make his artwork so appealing to all ages.

I had students watch this great clip from the CBS Morning Show where they interview the Thiebaud and looked in-depth at his work and achievements.

Wayne Thiebaud on the CBS Morning Show

From there, I had students observe these two paintings and we discussed shape, color, texture, and shadow.

Four Cupcakes by, Wayne Thiebaud

Cakes by, Wayne Thiebaud

Students were then given a 4"x4" piece of paper to begin their drawing of the most delicious cupcake, ever!  We used oil pastels to smudge the color and after the picture was drawn, we came in with a black line for the shadow.

How delicious are these cupcakes!!!

New England Fall Landscapes

Having grown up in New England, nothing is as breathtaking as the leaves turning.  This year, the colors are particularly vibrant and make for such beautiful landscapes.  The Vermont artist, Sabra Fields, has captured this changing of the seasons in her works of art.

Light Suite by, Sabra Fields

Day one began with 6th grade students observing Field's art works.   We discussed her use of color, line and perspective.  We then began our landscapes by drawing four land forms and perspective embeslishements.

Land form #1

Land for #2

Land form #3

Land form #4

Perspective details: Curved lines for the field, a road traveling off in the distance and some shrubs

On day two, we took out the paint!  Students began by painting in the sky followed by the clusters of green trees or shrubs.

from there we had a conversation about fall colors and color mixing.  I gave students red, yellow, brown and green to use as they filled in their landscapes.  I asked that they keep each land form one color, but how they painted in their land forms, was their choice.  The results were spectacular!

On day three, we outlined the landscapes with black marker to make the forms really "pop".  These students did a great job capturing the beauty of fall in New England!