Spotted fish

You need:

1. white drawing paper A4 size
2. colour pencils
3. coloured paper for background

Tropical fish are beautiful fish with often bright colors. The live in warm seas with coral reefs to shelter. Show pictures of tropical fish and discuss the anatomy of the fish (gills, fins). Point out the bright colours and sometimes strange shapes of the fish. Students scetch a fish on their sheet with pencil. Behind the fish they scetch waves. Sketch as thin as possible, so the pencil lines won't show through the colours later. Both the fish and the waves must be coloured with 'spots', drop-like shapes that accentuate the water. About a half cm between the spots should remain white. Colour the waves with different colours blue and green. Colour the spotted fish with warm colours.

Made by children from 11-12 years old

Beat the wall, like Thierry Noir

You need:

1. white drawing paper A4 size
2. markers
3. black markers, thin and thick
4. pictures of the artwork of Noir

Thierry Noir was born in 1958 in Lyon, France. He came to Berlin in January 1982, attracted by the music of David Bowie and Iggy Pop, who lived in West Berlin at this time. From April 1984, Thierry Noir and Christophe Bouchet started to paint the Berlin Wall. He is an artist at the East Side Gallery. The object was not to embellish the wall but to demystify it. As the years went by, the paintings took on phenomenal proportions, which were rapidly recognized by the international arts community. The paintings of Thierry Noir became a symbol of new found freedom after the reunification of Germany and the end of the cold war.

Typical of Noir are bright coloured profiles, reduced to an icon with a big nose, thick lips and saucer-like eyes.

The East Side Gallery (see photo) is a 1.3 km long section of the wall near the center of Berlin and probably the largest open air gallery in the world. Here you'll find the work of Thierry Noir. After looking at pictures of the work of Thierry Noir, children have to get heads in the style of Noir. hoofden tekenen in de stijl van Noir: profile heads looking to the right or left. The sheet has to be filled completely. Choose three colours marker. Outline everything with a thick black marker. Colour the remaining white parts with another colour or fill the spaces with a pattern in thin marker.

Selfportrait in popart style

By Milan, 12 years old

You need:

1. drawing paper A4 size
2. picture of the child
3. watercolour paint
4. brushes
5. wallpaper
6. coloured paper for background
7. scissors and glue
8. black marker
   

   Print from photograph, made at Dumpr

Make portraits of the children. Go to http://www.dumpr.net/ and click on 'photo to scetch'. Upload the pictures and print a drawing for every child.

Show some drawings in the classroom. How do you recognize the student? What are the most important parts of the face? What lines are important? Every student gets his own drawing. The trace the most important lines in their drawing using a fine black marker. Do not trace details, because after this they have to trace with thick markers. This means: don't trace hairs, just the contours of them. Don't forget facial lines around the mound or nose. When tracing is ready, students take their drawing and a new drawing sheet to a window (or use lightboxes if you have these). Keep the drawing against the window with the white sheet one it and trace the drawing with a pencil. Go back to the table and look carefully at your own portrait. Is it you? Are the lines well? Are the eyes correct?

Take a thick black marker and trace the pencil drawing. Paint the portrait with watercolour paint. Choose the colours you like; in popart every colour is possible!

Paint a background or choose a wallpaper background and paste your cut portrait on it. Paste a coloured background behind it for strength.

Lino print of musical instrument

Made by students from 11-12 years old

You need:

1. two pieces of linoleum from 12 x 12 cm
2. drawing paper from 12 x 12 cm
3. sheets with music notes
4. carbon paper
5. lino knives
6. mat
7. black block printing ink
8. flat piece of glass
9. linoleum roller
10. lino press
11. glue
12. coloured paper for background

Children draw a musical instrument. Draw this instrument on the two pieces of linoleum, using carbon paper. From the first piece of linoleum the background has to be cut away, so the instrument will remain. Details from the instrument can be cut with a small lino knife. From the second piece most of the instrument has to be cut, so the background and some details of the instrument will remain.

Shake the bottle of blockprint carefully to be sure oil will mix with the rest. Drip the paint on the glass and roll it out with the lino roller. Make several prints of your work. Choose the two best ones and paste them on a music paper.

Monochromatic painting

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A3 size
2. tempera paint
3. brushes
4. black marker

Children choose a geometric shape and draw this overlapping and in different sizes on their sheet. Then they choose one colour tempera to colour their shapes. Mixing is only allowed with white and black, because the painting has to be monochromatic. When ready, outline everything with black marker.

Winter through my window

Made by Silke, 10 years old

You need:

1. brown paper strips from 2 cm wide
2. light blue drawing paper
3. oil pastel
4. tempera paint
5. brushes
6. glue

Draw a winter tree and a fence that gets smaller in the distance. Colour tree and fence with oilpastels. Paint snow on the ground, the tree and the fence using white tempera paint. Paste the brown strips on the drawing as if it's a window frame.

Carnival portraits

You need:

1. a shelf
2. balloon
3. newspaper strips
4. wallpaper paste
5. toilet rolls, bottle caps, polystyrene etc.
6. toilet paper or paper towels
7. acrylic paint or tempera paint
8. brushes
9. glitter
10. confetti
11. black marker

Blow the balloon. Paste newspaper strips on the half of the ballon. Be sure you have at least eight layers. Let the work dry. Take the balloon uit. Cut the edges and lay this half balloon on the shelf. Use costless things like toilet rolls, bottle caps or polystyrene to shape the face. Fix these parts with newspaper strips and wallpaper paste. The last layer has to be toilet paper or paper towel. Let the work dry again. Paint the portrait with acrylic paint or undiluted tempera. Give the face a body. Sprinkle glitter or confetti in the wet paint.

This lesson and photographs were sent to me by Ghislaine Aarts.