Wacky witches

You need:

1. charcoal
2. chalk pastels
3. drawing sheet 
4. black construction paper
5. hairspray

How do you recognize a witch? What animals or things do you associate with a witch? What does an angry witch look like? Think of characteristics like mouth, eyes and eyebrows.

Tell students how to use charcoal. Explain how we make differences in colors. Show how to use an eraser to erase the charcoal lines and a tissue or  to sweep out the color.

What should you do?

• Draw the contours of a witch face with charcoal. 
• Color the face with chalk pastel in a cool color. 
• Draw a mouth, eyes and nose with charcoal. 
• Add some typical witchy things like a cat, bat, spiderweb etc.
• Use hairspray to fix the drawing. 
• Stick the drawing on a black sheet. 

Works of art made by students of grade 4.

Which witch is this?

You need:

1. drawing sheet 
2. pencil
3. markers
4. white or silver pencil 
5. black paper for background

Start this the lesson with a class discussion about witches. How do you recognize a witch? What things belong to a witch? What can you say about the clothing of a witch?

What to do?

1. Draw with pencil the lower half of the body of a witch: skirt and legs. 
2. Draw things that belong to witches. 
3. Draw a horizon line at about 1/3 from the bottom. 
4. Color the drawing with markers. 
5. Color the background with markers or chalk pastel. 
6. Paste the artwork on a black background and decorate the rim with theme-related little drawings in white or silver pencil.

In the debriefing should be clear that you only need a half drawing to recognize a witch: Which witch is this?

All works of art made by students of grade 5.

Catching leaves

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A3 size
2. oil pastels
3. liquid water color paint
4. brushes

What should you do?

• Trace your hand (thumbs point to each other) on the bottom of the sheet.
• Color them with oil pastels. 
• Draw some swirling autumn leaves above the hands and color them with oil pastels. 
• Paint the background with diluted liquid water color paint leaving some space on the edges.
• Variant: choose real autumn leaves instead of drawn ones. Stick them on the drawing AFTER painting and drying the background.

Works of art made by students of grade 3. 

Autumn leaves with tissue paper

You need:

1. white drawing 
2. tissue paper in autumn colors
3. brush
4. jar with water
5. white crayons

What should you do?

• Show different shapes of autumn leaves. Discuss shapes and colors. 
• Draw different leaves on the sheet with white crayon. 
• Tear parts of tissue paper (not too small). Use warm autumn colors. 
• Stick the pieces by wetting the sheet part by part and laying them in it. Watch out: no two same colour pieces next to each other. Be sure the tissue paper is wet enough to bleed.

• Let the artwork dry a little. When it's still moist a bit, pull of the tissue paper.

Works of art made by students of grade 3. 

Autumn leaves mandala

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size
2. compasses
3. pencil
4. oil pastels

Draw a circle with a diameter of 20 cm. Draw within about 1 cm another circle (the edge of the mandala). Cut out and fold into 8 pieces. Draw against one of the folds half of an autumn leaf using black oil pastel.

Fold the sheet and press firmly with the hands to get a print of the leaf on the other side of the fold. Trace this half with black oilpastel. Repeat this and draw the other three leaves. Colour the leaves and background with oil pastels in warm colours. Colour the edge with a nice pattern.

All works of art made by students of grade 6.

Sunflowers in pieces

by Neil 

Celebrate end of summer by tearing your sunflower artwork in pieces!

This lesson shows we can do more with our artworks dan stick them on a colored background. Pretty scary to tear or cut your drawing, but the effect is great! 

You need: 

1. white drawing sheet 
2. black construction paper for background 
3. pencil
4. oilpastels
5. liquid water color paint
6. brush
7. scissors
8. glue

Draw at least four sunflowers. Be sure three of them are over  the edges.  Color them with oilpastels. Paint the backgrond with liquid water color paint. 

Neil's drawing is torn in pieces. Those pieces have been re-glued for a spatial effect. Before tearing check which side of the paper is best. One side gives nice white tear lines, the other side does not.  

by Lyan

Lyan and Jurre have pasted black strips over their artwork, creating a window through which you look outside. 

by Jurre

Elements of art: color, space.

Prisoners in World War II

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size
2. ribbed cardboard
3. pencil
4. watercolour paint
5. brushes
6. jar with water
7. black wool 
8. glue

In Holland we rembember the victims of World War II on the 4th of May. The 5th of May we celebrate the day of liberation. In schools World War II is an important part of the history lessons. Students are always very interested in this topic.

"We had to draw one or more people in a concentration camp. Our drawings should show the fear and powerlessness of the prisoners. Most of all did well and the artworks were really beautiful. When the drawing was finished, we had to paint it with watercolour paint, using sad colours. We used black wool to make barbed wire and pasted it in front of the drawing. Finally we pasted the artworks on ribbed cardboard. It was an intense task, and it made us really think about that terrible time."

Artworks are made by students of grade 6

Thanks to Sylvia Versteeg

Like Romero Britto

Dutch tulips in the style of Romero Britto, by Malou, grade 6

This was one of my most successful lessons so far; students enjoyed it and the results were amazing. But hello copycats: Britto never painted tulips! So please don't copy this lesson (I saw a lot of them already on artblogs Pinterest), but create one yourself. Or at least: mention your source, kidsartists.blogspot.com! 

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size
2. permanent marker
3. colour markers
4. ruler

Romero Britto is a Brazilian artist. He was born in 1963 in grew up an extremely modest lifestyle amongst eight brothers and sisters in Recife Brazil. His drew and painted on any scrap of newspaper or cardboard he could find and filled them with colourful images of a beautiful world.  
In 1983 Britto travelled to Europe to study the old masters. After this trip, he traveled to the USA where Pop Art was flourishing. He opened a gallery in Miami. In 1989,Absolut Vodka selected Britto to design an artwork with their famous logo. From that moment the name Britto was known to a greater public. His artwork are now represented in galleries and museums across five continents.

Paris in the style of Britto, by Emmy grade 6

Look at artwork of Britto on his gallery. Discuss the salient features: bright colours, simple shapes, the work is divided into sections that are filled with patterns, thick black outlines. Discuss how you to see the difference between the drawn picture and the background. Ask about the stylistic characteristics and where to classify this artist (Pop Art, Cubism).

The students have to make a drawing with a topic of their choice. No details, but only the main lines. Divide the drawing surface with pencil and ruler in several sections. Trace all lines with a waterproof black marker and then colour them with markers in the way Britto did.

For the background we stamped circles with toilet rolls on a coloured sheet and pasted the artwork on it.

Flowers in the styleo of Britto, by Nadia grade 6

Self portrait like Alphonse Mucha

You need:

1. portrait photo of yourself
2. white drawing sheet
3. brown and grey construction paper
4. color pencil
5. gold pencil
6. scissors
7. glue

Alphonse Mucha

Alphonse Mucha (Czech republic, 1860-1939) is an Art Nouveau artist. Graceful women,  shapes from nature, soft colors and stylized letters  en  are the basis of his work.

In 1887 he moves to Parijs, at that time the center of the modern world: a vibrant night life, modern department stores, wide boulevards with artificial lights that illuminate the city  after sunset. Mucha isn't quite succesfull by then, but that changes when he gets his first assignment: a poster for the  v theater show Gismonda with the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt. Mucha paints a lifesize poster of a beautiful woman surrounded by stylized flower patterns and graceful lines. With this poster Mucha establishes his name as an artist  and is assured of sufficient work in the years that follow. His posters turn Paris into an open-air museum with art for everyone to see. 

Show some artwork of Mucha and discuss them: graceful wavy lines, organic shapes, no bright colors.

Task
Draw the picture of yourself  and color it with pencils. Cut out and stick on brown paper. Decorate the background with organic shapes using a gold color pencil. Cut a frame for you portrait and stick it on your artwork.  

Artworks are made by students of grade 5 and 6. 

Escher's tesselations

You need: 

1. white drawing sheet
2. thin cardboard 7 by 7 cm
3. pencil
4. scissors
5. color markers 
6. black marker
7. black construction paper for background 

Use this book for your lesson: 'Nadir en Zenith in the world of Escher' by Wouter van Reek. Publisher: Leopold. EAN: 9789025876920. 

Nadir and Zenith come to a place that is so strange they can’t even tell if it’s real. Their curiosity is aroused and they look further. And further. Going deeper and deeper into the weird and wonderful world of M.C. Escher, where nothing is quite what it seems. Fortunately Mr Escher helps them find their way. Or is it the other way round?

M.C. Escher

Maurits Cornelis (Mauk) Escher (1898-1972) is born in the Netherlands. After high school he goes to the graphics department of a technical college to become graphic artist. During a trip to the Alhambra in Granada he discovers the Moorish  mosaics. These have a major influence on his later artwork and are the basis for this lesson. 

View artworks from Escher and discuss them. Show for example the impossible buildings Belvedere or Waterfall. 
Look at some pictures with animal tesselations and talk about symmetry = two objects are each other's mirror image. You can show examples of the three basic types of symmetry. 

What do you see? How would Escher have made these prints? In which pictures do you see he has made different animals? And in which prints do you see the same animal? Where are the animals mirrored? Where do you see all animals heading in the same direction? Can you mention other symmetrical things? 

What should you do? 

1. Take a piece of cardboard from 7 by 7 cm. Draw a shape on two following sides and cut them out. 

2. Stick the cut pieces on the opposite site of the cardboard with tape. Make sure the distance from the edges is the same. 

3. Trace this shape with a pencil on a drawing sheet. Move the shape and trace again. 

4. Fill up your sheet completely, so also with half animals along the edges.  

5. Search for an animal in the shape. Draw details.  

6. Choose two colors and color the animals alternately. Outline the shapes with black marker and draw details with the black marker too.  

7. Stick your artwork on a  black sheet. 

Circle City

You need: 

1. white drawing sheet
2. compass
3. ruler
4. pencil
5. markers
6. colored sheet
7. glue

Explain the one-point perspective: objects further away appear smaller. If we draw a street towards the horizon, it narrows and trees get smaller. 

In one-point perspective you draw all lines parallel to the viewing direction to one point. You literally put a dot on the horizon. 

What to do? 

• Draw a circle of 20 cm in diameter using the compass. Mark the hole in the center with a dot.  
• Draw lines form the edges of the circle to the dot in the middle, using ruler and pencil. 
• Draw buildings in different heights using the lines.  Draw doors and windows. 
• Color with markers. Outline everything with a fine black marker. 
• Cut the circle and stick it on a colored sheet. 

Art work made by students of grade 4. 

Sail with the VOC

 

by students of grade 6

 You need:

1. drawing sheet A3 size
2. drawing sheet A4 size
3. liquid water color
4. brush
5. oil pastel crayons
6. scissors and glue
7. ice cream sticks
8. boxcutter
9. cutting plate
10. newspapers 
11. paper towels

Towards the end of the Golden Age, the Netherlands are at war with England, a battle that is being fought at sea. 

In this lesson students draw a sea ship from that time. 

Study paintings of ships in a battle. What stands out? How do you recognize the Dutch and English ships? Which flags do you see more? What do you see in the foreground of the first painting? What can you tell about the sails? How can you see those ships are in combat? 

Naval battle Anglo-Dutch war(1666). Painter: Abraham Storck

Burning of a part of the English fleet (1667). 

Painter: Pieter van de Velde 

What should you do?

Step 1

First you paint the background on the largest sheet with liquid water color paint. At the bottom (near by) the water is dark, further away it becomes lighter (add water). 

Step 2

Draw on the A4 sheet a VOC-ship with oil pastel and color it. Draw and color extra things which you also see in the water during a naval battle, such as fire,, aa life boat, an anchor etc. Do not forget tho color the sails white!

Step 3

Paint your drawing with blue water color paint. Wipe the excess paint off the white sails with a paper towel. Let dry. 

Step 4

Cut out all parts, leaving a blue edge. Stick ice cream sticks behind the loose parts. Take the large blue painted sheet and decide where you want hour ship and the other things. Cut slices of about 3 cm in this sheet. Insert the sticks into the background and the artwork is done. 

Source: Laatmaarleren.nl 

Portraits like Rembrandt

You need:

1. drawing sheets A4 size
2. charcoal
3. paper towels
4. black construction paper for background 

Chiaroscuro is a tecnnique in artworks which display an extreme contrast is between light and dark to create a dramatic effect. 

Titus, son of Rembrandt van Rijn (Rembrandt, 1660)

Narcissus, the man who fell in love with himself, Caravaggio (1597-1599)

Show these two paintings. What do you see? Where are the dark parts, where the light ones? Why is that? What's the artists goal? What do you feel when you see these paintings?

Students sit in pairs facing each other and create a portrait of each other using hatching and swiping techniques. Of course the background is dark, the face light.

by students of grade 4