dinsdag 30 oktober 2012

Lost in the hall, a lesson about surrealism and perspective

Made by a student of grade 6

Thanks to Phyl, who originally posted this lesson. You can find hers here!

You need:
  1. white drawing sheet 24 by 24 cm
  2. ruler
  3. pencil
  4. watercolour paint
  5. brushes
  6. jar with water
  7. magazines
  8. scissors and glue
  9. rubber foam
Show some surrealistic artwork from Dali and discuss about the salient features  surrealism.

Follow the first two steps of this lesson through direct instruction: the students follow the instructions the teacher gives.

Step 1
Draw two diagonal lines. Draw a square of 8 by 8 cm around the middle point. Draw around the square dots every 1 cm. Draw on the outside edges of the sheet dots with 3 cm between them.



Step 2
Connect the opposite dots by drawing lines. Draw on the diagonal lines dots with 2 cm between them. Connect the dots. 


Step 3
Colour walls, floor and cealing with watercolor. Always select two colours together and keep both walls equal in color.

Step 4
Cut some squares on three sides apart, fold the paper and paste a picture from a magazine behind.

Step 5
Cut two human figures out of foam and paste them as if they are floating in space.


dinsdag 23 oktober 2012

Four season trees

 
You need:
  1. four white drawing sheets A6 size (postcard)
  2. Q-tips
  3. tempera paint
  4. coloured corrugated cardboard
  5. silver and gold markers
  6. fiberfill
  7. glue
How can a deciduous tree tell you what season it is? What colours do they have in spring, summer and fall? What does a tree look like in winter?

Discuss these questions at the beginning of this lesson. Write on the board the colors in the spring heard (light green, green, white, pink - blossom), which belong to the summer (green, dark green, yellow) and the autumn colours (brown, orange, red, yellow). And in winter there aren't any leaves. left of course.

 
The students will make a tree for every season. The colours of the leaves have to show what season it is. The log is "painted" with a Q-tip, the leaves have to be may only be spotted. Remember that in fall there are a lot of leaves on the ground! Use fiberfill (snow) for the tree in winter.
 
Paste the trees next to each other on a piece of corrugated cardboard. Design it with gold or silver marker and write the seasons above the trees.  

Organisation:
Give each groep of six students an eggtray with several colours of paint. Give each student a Q-tip to paint the trunk. Per groep een eierdoos met de verschillende kleuren verf. Geef de leerlingen elk een wattenstaafje voor de boomstam.For the dots: one Q-tip per colour for common use.
 
Artworks made by students of grade 3
 
Thanks to Maureen Kaal

vrijdag 12 oktober 2012

Owls in the moonlight

Background of dilluted water colour paint 

You need:
  1. drawing sheet 60 by 25 cm
  2. white drawing sheets
  3. brown wrapping paper
  4. indian ink 
  5. liquid water colour paint
  6. brushes
  7. pieces of styrofoam
  8. pencil
  9. flat piece of glass
  10. paint roller
  11. block printing ink
  12. chalk pastel
  13. saucer
Background of dilluted water colour paint  mixed with a drop indian ink  

Part one:
Put a saucer on the big sheet. This piece of paper remains white; the moon. Paint with highly diluted indian ink or liquid watercolor (also dilute it with water) and a large brush in one direction. Make sure the dish does not move. Paint with big strokes and leave the edges a little white. Let this dry.

Part two:
Divide the class into two groups. Group 1 paints the branch, group 2 is going to print owls.

Branch painting:
Paint with indian ink a branch with side branches on the painted sheet. Remember that a branch becoming thinner towards the end. Do not paint around the moon, but through it. If the branch stands out too little against the gray background, outline the branches later with white chalk for a better contrast.

Printing the owls:
Group 2 will start with the owls. Give each student two pieces of styrofoam. Students have to press two different owls in the foam. Put some blockprint paint on a glass plate. Roll the paint on the piece of foam. Then place a sheet (remember to write names on each sheet!) and rub with flat hand over it. Pull off the paper. Create several prints in different colors and on different kinds of paper. In this lesson we used white paper and brown wrapping paper.

A student who has finished printing, takes place on the painting table and paints his branch. Students who have completed the branch, follow up with printing.

Next day:
When the owls are dry (with block print this takes at least a day), they have to be cut leaving one millimeter space around. Use yellow chalk to draw a circle around the moon. Paste the owls on the branches.

Background of dilluted indian ink, branches outlined with white chalk pastel 

All artworks are made by students of grade 4

maandag 8 oktober 2012

Lollipop trees like Hundertwasser


Made by a student of grade 2
 
Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000) was an Austrian artist and architect who is best known for the colourful buildings he designed, built with attention to the environment and nature. The buildings of Hundertwasser are very recognizable: straight lines are missing, there is use of bright colours and many of his buildings have typical turrets. The influence of architect Gaudi is very obvious.
The paintings of Hundertwasser have exuberant colours too and mainly undulating lines.
 
Show buildings of Hundertwasser on the digital board. Discuss the salient features: bright colours, undulating lines. Then show some paintings and discuss the things that stand out:
 
the use of small areas outlined with black
no straight lines, usually parallel lines
recurring spiral shapes
bright colours
 
Ask students what they think of by seeing those spirals.  Probably they see real lollipops in them!  Lollipop trees, that's what we're going to draw today! Demonstrate the drawing of a spiral, starting in the middle.
You need:
  1. white drawing sheet 35 by 35 cm
  2. black construction sheet
  3. white drawing paper 35 by 35 cm
  4. black construction paper
  5. pieces of sponge
  6. tempera paint
  7. gold and silver markers, wide and small
  8. round shapes to trace
  9. scissors and glue
  10. black oil pastel
Stamp the white sheet with sponge prints in colours you like and put the work out to dry. Trace on black paper round shapes in different sizesDraw spirals in them with gold or silver markers. Fill the space between the lines with patterns in gold or silver and cut the circles.
Create a composition of lollipops on the stamped sheet and paste them. Pull lines from the lollipops to the bottom of the sheet with black oil pastel, the trunks. Draw the trunks through the circles if necessary (overlap), to show depth in the lollipop woods.


Thanks to Maureen Kaal.

woensdag 3 oktober 2012

Owls in the tree

Made by a student of grade 5
You need:
  1. grey construction paper
  2. white drawing paper A1 size and A4 size
  3. tempera paint
  4. brushes
  5. scissors
  6. glue
  7. linoleum 10 by10 cm
  8. lino knives
  9. flat piece of glass
  10. block printing ink
  11. lino press
  12. linoleum roller
I found this great lesson on Artsonia!

Before the lesson: ask two students to paint an A1 size sheet with brown tempera and a few yellow and red. This painted paper will be used for tearing branches and tree stumps by all students. 
Another A1 sheet should be painted in warm autumn colours; this sheet is used for cutting out leaves.

Each students draws an owl on linoleum. Cut the outlines, the wings, eyes and beak. Decorate with small patterns. Print the owl several times in two colours and leave them to dry.

Take a second lesson to finish the artwork. Tear stumps and branches from the brown painted paper and paste them on the grey sheet. Cut leaves from the autumn sheet. Cut the owls with a little edge (1 mm). Look for a great composition and paste everything.