Piet Mondrian

I have done many different Piet Mondrian inspired art activities.  But this one is now my absolute favorite and so easy to do!

These were all done by Kindergarten and Grade One students.  

The children dipped precut pieces of thick cardboard into a dish of black paint and used the cardboard to print lines on their white paper.  They were encouraged to make vertical and horizontal lines that would form rectangular shapes on their papers.  Watch out for those kids who are so fascinated by the printmaking that they don't know when to stop! :) 

When the paint had dried they were to look for enclosed shapes and colour them in using oil pastels in the primary colours.  

Some were so interesting even without the pastel.  I wish I had taken a few photos of those.  Either way I think they are frame-worthy!

Leaf Magnification

Here is a very simple autumn art activity focusing on magnification and line.  After viewing a variety of leaves with magnifying glasses we created these close-up interpretations. 

Students drew a line down the middle of their page with an oil pastel.  They were then instructed to draw 3 or 4 more lines extending from the center line to the edges of their paper.  Then they coloured over their lines with their pastel to create a thick layer on their drawing.  They had the option to add other thinner lines/veins.  We finished by painting them with block tempera paints in fall leaf colours.

I LOVE the way they turned out!

 

Easter Bunny

Here is a cute and simple little art activity my Grade 1/2 class did for Easter.  

We did a directed drawing of these whimsical bunny rabbits on paper trimmed to 7 X 12.  Then we used oil pastels for colour and outlining.  The final step was to paint around the rabbits with water color paints.

Here is the step by step, similar to my Reindeer Portraits step by step:

 Students put their non-drawing hand at the bottom of the paper and draw around their hand (not tracing their hand) to make the head shape.  They put a dot in each of the top corners.  This will help them make their ears nice and long.





 

 Using the dots as guides, student connect the dot to the top of the head making the ears. Next they draw a dot in the center of the face.

From that dot they will make 2 circular shapes beneath it.  Encourage big shapes.  They do not need to be even or symmetrical.

The final step is to add a little bump for the nose, 2 teeth, whiskers that extend outside of the head and the inner ears.









Here are a few more examples from my students:

Oil Pastel Owls

So I was at a loss of what to do with our Big Buddy class this week.  When I asked my buddy teacher if she had any ideas she said she had owls on the brain.  Owls?  I LOVE owls!

So here is what we came up with:



This piece was completed by a Grade 3 student

All of the pieces in this post were completed by students in grade 1, 2 and 3.

Taking turns we had students place both hands on their paper while their buddy, using the hands as a guide, made 2 large ovals around their hands.  As mentioned in previous lessons, I use this technique to help the kids draw BIG.  They have such a tendency to draw really small and bigger shapes help when filling in with colour.

Then we did a directed draw for the first owl.  Here are the steps:

 

 

 After drawing the details of both owls students outlined their drawings with black pastel.  Then they chose the colours for their owls.  They were directed to choose one colour for each owl and choose both a light and dark shade for contrast.

Then they added a branch, stars and a moon.  They then touched up their outlines, especially around the eyes where the original line may have smudged or faded during colouring.  Big Buddies helped with the touch ups for the younger students.

  

Sunflowers

On Earth Day my Grade 1 students planted sunflower seeds.  The plants are now at varying stages of growth and the children excitedly check on their own plant each morning.  I thought the children would enjoy creating some bright sunflower artwork.

We created these sunflower paintings using the same cut sponges used in my

Christmas Poinsettias. 

Day One:  We made our petals by painting the sponges and then stamping them onto our papers.  We drew a small circle with pencil as a reference point and then worked our way around it.  We then used green paint to add a stem and sponged leaves onto the stem.

Day Two:  We used brown oil pastels to colour in the center circle of the sunflower.  We then used orange and green pencil crayons to add texture lines to the petals, stem and leaves.  The final step was to use blue pastel to colour in the background.

 The make our classroom very bright and cheery!