Swimmer - like David Hockney

I found this lesson on the blog 'Use your coloured pencils' of Anne Farrell. I used this lesson to tell about artist David Hockney and his swimming pool paintings.

What do you need?

• white drawing sheet 
• oil pastels
• liquid water color in blue and green
• brush
• jar with water

If you want a frame: 

• dark blue sheet
• toilet roll
• tempera paint

About the artist

The successful British artist David Hockney (1927-2026) was born in Bradford, England. He studied at the Royal Academy in London. His first works were anecdotal and ironic. In 1964 Hockney moved to California, where he developed a more realistic way of painting. The main themes at this time, are pools, landscapes and portraits.

From 1966 David Hockney increasingly used photographs for his paintings. He made ​​collages containing just photographs. After 1980, Hockney's work became a more expressionistic character. His work shows influences of Picasso. Besides paintings, Hockney also makes drawings and etchings. 

Hockney died ont the 11th of June in 2026.

Instruction
Look at artwork of David Hockney, especially those with swimming pools. Discuss how people look like under water - flowing hair, lighter skin. What causes the shimmering surfaces on the water and what do they look like?

What should you do?

1. Draw yourself in swimsuit and color with oil pastels. 
2. Use white oil pastel to draw a water pattern of wavy horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines in the background .
3. Paint the picture with blue and/or green diluted colored ink. The oil pastel will resist the ink.
4. If you want a frame: stamp circles with a toilet roll and tempera paint on a dark blue sheet. 

Artworks made by students of grade 4 and 6. 

My collection from the sea

Before

After summer holiday it's fun to draw objects you found on the beach: shells, starfish, crabs etc.

What do you need?

• white drawing sheet 
• aquarel pencils or watercolor paint
• brushes and water
• black paper
• scissors and glue
• black fine marker

What should you do?

1.  Divide the white sheet in four strips of 7 cm. 
2. Draw horizon lines in the strips. 
3. Draw things you may have found on the beach and sketch as lightly as possible. 
4. Color the shells with watercolor paint or aquarel pencils. Make shades by diluting the colors more or less. 
5. Paint the beach yellow/gold and the air light blue. 
6. Let dry.
7. Outline shells and horizon line with a fine black marker. 
8. Cut the four strips and paste them with 1 cm between on a black sheet.

Artworks made by students of grade 6. 

Sailboat regatta

What do you need?

1. two sheets drawing paper
2. sandpaper
3. tempera paint in blue, green and white
4. brush
5. colored paper
6. brown paper (grocery bag)
7. glue
8. large blue sheet

What should you do?

1. Spray blue, green and white paint on a saucer. 
2. Lay a sheet of white drawing paper on your table, small size up. Paint it with colored waves. Don't mix the colors on the saucer, but dip the brush in two or three colors. 
3. Let dry.
4. Take the second white sheet and lay it on the table with the small side up. Cut a piece of sandpaper as wide as the sheet and 8 cm high. 
5. Paste it on the bottom of the sheet.
6. Tear the painted sheet in wavy strips. Be sure all strips have two wavy sides. 
7. Place the strips overlapping on the white sheet. Start below. Place the second strip partly under the first one, the third under the second etc. Paste down the short sides of the waves only on the left and right side of your sheet.
8. Cut boats out of a brown paper bag; bigger ones below, smaller ones at the top (perspective). 
9. Cut masts out of the paper bag and sails out of colored paper. 
10. Paste the boats between the waves and paste the long sides of the waves at the same time. 
11. Paste sails and masts on the boats. 
12. Paste your artwork on a blue sheet. 

Artworks made by students of grade 4.

Sunglasses

What do you need?

• black construction paper 
• white drawing sheet
• color pencils or markers
• scissors
• glue
• silver and gold marker

What should you do?

1. Draw half sunglasses against the fold of a black sheet. 
2. Cut out. 
3. Draw a summer scene on the white sheet and color it. 
4. Put the glasses on it and slide until you see the best part. 
5. Paste the glasses on the drawing and cut them again. 
6. Decorate the glasses with gold or silver marker.

Made by students of grade 6. 

A day at the beach

What do you need?

• drawing sheet 
• white drawing sheets
• tempera paint
• brushes
• scissors
• markers and/or pencils
• glue

Before

Talk about a day at the beach: things (to do) on the sand, things (to do) in the water and things (to do) in the air. Talk about people standing in the water: they seem to have half legs!

Cover four tables with newspaper and put three containers with paint on it:

• yellow and a little brown besides (beach) + two big brushes
• blue and a little green (seawater) + two big brushes
• blue and white (air) + two big brushes 
• white (surf) + two brushes to stamp

Instruction
Show how to paint the beach: a lot of yellow on the brush and a little brown for the beach (do not mix!). Do the same with blue and white for the air, and blue with green for the sea. Make wavy motions with the brush to accentuate the water. Finish with a white stamping brush for the surf.

While four students are painting, the others can start with the drawing part of this lesson

What should you do?

1. Paint the beach and let dry. 
2. Draw people and things you see on the beach.
3. Color with markers or color pencils.
4. Cut your drawings and paste them on the beach, in the water or the air.

Artworks made by students of grade 5.

Sunflowers in pieces

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

What do you need? 

• white drawing sheet 
• black construction paper
• pencil
• oilpastels
• liquid water color paint
• brush
• scissors and glue

What should you do? 

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

The first drawing is torn in pieces and pasted on black paper with a bit space between them. Before tearing: check which side of the paper is best. One side gives nice white tear lines, the other side does not. 

In these two artworks black strips are pasted on the drawing, creating a window through which you look outside. 

Artworks made by students of grade 6. 

Monet's waterlilies pond

What do you need?

• drawing paper A3 size
• tempera paint in green, blue, white, red and yellow
• two brushes per student
• two spunges per student
• paper towels
• oil pastel crayons 
• saucers 

About the artist

Claude Monet (1840-1926) is considered one of the most important painters of Impressionism. Typical for Impressionists:

• they choose subjects from ordinary life 
• special attention for light and color
• work in the open air
• smooth brushstrokes
• dashes resemble a sketch
• it's about the impression!

Discuss the term impressionism. Show some paintings by Monet and zoom in on a work with water lilies in Arts & Culture. Do students see the characteristics of impressionism in this artwork?

Monet had a large garden with a pond and a Japanese bridge in Giverny France. He liked to paint in that garden. His works of water lilies are therefore famous and are the basis of this lesson.

What should you do?

Lesson 1

1. Squeeze blue, green and white paint onto a saucer. 
2. Dip your sponge into the blue paint. Stamp on the sheet. 
3. Do the same with green paint and stamp all over the sheet. 
4. Finally do this with white. You can use the green side of your sponge,  to get a light green color also. 
5. Let the work dry.

Lesson 2

1. To paint the water lilies: mix a little bit of red with white paint. Paint ovals spread across the sheet. Not too neat, it's all about impression!
2. Paint a green border at the bottom of the ovals: the leaf. To make it fresher, you can mix some light green paint. You don't have to clean the green brush first. 
3. Paint a yellow heart in the flowers. 
4. Let the work dry. 
5. Finally draw lines in your lily with a dark red or purple oil pastel: the petals. 

Artworks made by students of grade 1 and 2.

A field full of daisies

What do you need?

• white drawing sheet 
• tempera paint in blue, green, white, yellow and red
• brushes
• jars with water
• colored paper for background

Instruction 

1. Make your own green colors by mixing blue, white and yellow. Paint the entire sheet with small vertical strokes and let dry.
2. Paint the daisies; in the front of they are larger  then further away. Use a small brush and a lot of paint, to make sure the grass is really covered with the paint of the flower. Use a different color green for the stalks or take the unmixed color green directly from the bottle. Paint the hearts of the flowers with big yellow blobs.
3. Paste the artwork on a dark green background.

Artworks made by students of grade 4 and 5. 

Fun flowers

What do you need?

• white or colored drawing sheet
• scraps of colored paper 
• scissors
• glue
• black markers

What should you do?

1. Cut several circles from scraps of colored paper and paste them om the sheet. 
2. Paste smaller circles on the bigger ones. 
3. Draw petals using black markers in several thicknesses.   

Source: Krokotak.com

On Monet's bridge

You need: 

1. drawing sheet A3 size
2. tempera paint
3. brushes
4. white construction paper
5. scissors
6. oilpastels
7. glue

Claude Monet (1840-1926) is considered one of the most important painters of Impressionism. 

 Typical for Impressionists:

• they choose subjects from ordinary life 
• special attention for light and color
• work in the open air
• smooth brushstrokes
• dashes resemble a sketch
• it's about the impression!

Discuss the term impressionism. Show some paintings by Monet and zoom in on a work with water lilies in Arts & Culture. Do students see the characteristics of impressionism in this artwork?

Monet had a large garden with a pond and a Japanese bridge in Giverny France. He liked to paint in that garden. His works of water lilies are therefore famous and are the basis of this lesson.

Lesson 1

Draw a horizon line above the middle of your sheet. Paint the pond and the sky with short brush strokes, like Monet did. Do not mix the paint, but take two colors on your brush.  Make sure the blue color of the pond is not the same color as the sky.

Paint trees on both sides of the sheet in the same way. Paint water lilies in the pond. Be sure that they are larger in the front of the pond than in the back.  

Lesson 2

Have someone take a picture of you that shows you all the way. Print the photo and cut it out. 

Cut three parallel arcs from about 1,5 cm wide from the construction paper.  Then cut four straight pieces of 1,5 cm wide. Paste the photo on the work and paste the bridge over it. 

All artworks are made by students of grade 6

Source: MaryMaking.blogspot.com

Water lilies on a plate

 

By a student of grade 1

Claude Monet (1840-1926) is considered one of the most important painters of Impressionism. 

 Typical for Impressionists:

• they choose subjects from ordinary life 
• special attention for light and color
• work in the open air
• smooth brushstrokes
• dashes resemble a sketch
• it's about the impression!

Monet had a large garden with a pond and a Japanese bridge in Giverny France. He liked to paint in that garden. His works of water lilies are therefore famous.

Discuss the term impressionism. Show some paintings by Monet and zoom in on a work with water lilies in Arts & Culture. Do students see the characteristics of impressionism in this artwork?

You need:

1. paper plates
2. tempera paint in blue and white 
3. stencil brush
4. white drawing sheet 
5. tissue paper in green an light green 
6. water and sponge
7. tissue paper in pink and yellow
8. mold of a water lily leaf
9. glue
10. scissors

Step 1:

Dab the plate with blue and white.  

Step 2:

Wet the white paper with a sponge. Cut squares from the green tissue paper. Place them on the wet paper and let the bleed. Let dry.

 

Step 3

Remove the tissue paper. Trace the mold of the lilyflower leaf and cut it out.  

Step 4

Fold the tissuepaper for the lily twice diagonally. Cut a flower shape. 

Step 5

Grab the flower shapes in the middle. Crumple them into a flower. Put a drop of glue on the lily leaf and stick the center of the lily on top. Roll a wad of leftover tissue paper and stick it in the center of the flower.

Elements of art: texture, color, space. 

Paint like an impressionist

This lesson is an exercise for painting an impressionist work.

What do you need?

• white drawing sheet
• tempera paint in red, blue and yellow
• small brushes
• paper towels

Instruction

View impressionist paintings, for example from Claude Monet or Van Gogh. Zoom into Starry Night from Van Gogh using this link. 

What do you see?

• the painting is made out with loose dashes.   
• the dashes indicate a direction or movement, they are not just placed.
• you can see the canvas between the dashes. The color of the canvas is therefore part of the painting. 

View a sunset picture. You see the sun reflected in the water and the sun's rays point left, up and right. 

Exercise before you get started: 

• Practice painting short dashes on a scrap. To do this, always lift the brush from the paper.
• Practice with two colors on your brush; do not mix!
• Make narrow/wide dashes by turning/not turning your brush.
• Clean the brush with a paper towel for a new color, do not use water!

What should you do? 

1. Fold the sheet in half lengthwise, this is the horizon line.
2. Draw a semi circle on the horizon line: the sun.
3. Paint the sun. Apply red and yellow to your brush. Do not mix!
4. Paint the sun's rays with yellow and very little red. Put something on your brush of both colors and make short strokes by lifting the brush from the paper each time. Leave a bit of white between the strokes.
5. Make the reflection of the sun in the water. The direction of the brushstrokes must be horizontal now, just like the water.
6. Paint the sky with blue and white (add two colors to the brush). Use white to make a lighter blue. Follow the direction of the sun's rays. Leave again a bit of white between the strokes.
7. Paint the sea with blue, white (and maybe green). Do not mix! The direction is horizontal here. Think of the white space between the lines.

Elements of art: line, color, nuance.

Same insect - different colors

 

made by student of grade 1

You need:

1. drawing sheets A5 size
2. crayons
3. liquid watercolor paint 
4. brush

Draw two the same insects and color them with crayons: one with cool colors, the other with warm colors. 

Paint the background with dilluted watercolor paint: warm colors for the 'warm' insect, cool colors for the 'cool' insect. 

Element of art: color.

Oscar the Octopus

You need:

1. drawing sheet A2 size
2. oilpastels
3. liquid watercolor paint
4. jar with water
5. brushes
6. salt

After a story about Oscar the Octopus and viewing some pictures of squids, students draw a squid in the sea. Big head, big eyes at the bottom of the head, eight tentacles that go over and under each other. These things should be seen in the drawing.

Color with oil pastels and draw patterns. Be sure the tentacles are going over and under each other - this has to be seen in the patterns.  Outline when necessary with a dark color.

Drip some liquid water color on the background after you made it wet. Sprinkle salt  for a great 'watery' effect.

All artworks are made by students of grade 3

Popsicles

Made by a student of grade 5

You need:

• water colour paint
• drawing sheet 25 x 25 cm
• brush
• white crayon
• jarswith water

Dras six popsicles with a white crayon on a white sheet. Paint them with watercolour paint. Paint the background blue, leaving an edge from about 2 cm white.

Buzzzzzing bees

Made by a student of grade 2.

You need:

1. bubblewrap
2. paint roller
3. drawing sheet 
4. yellow and brown tempera 
5. yellow pencil
6. fine black marker 

Roll a piece of bubble wrap in with yellow paint and print it. Let dry.
Make fingerprints in brown paint and let dry.
Draw lines with yellow pencil on the body of the bee.
Draw wings and legs with black fine liner.

Flowers in front of the windows

You need:

1. coloured construction paper  
2. tin foil (cut in pieces before lesson starts)
3. strips of white paper, 2 cm 
4. black  construction paper 
5. white drawing sheets 
6. tempera paint
7. brushes
8. scissors
9. glue 

This lesson is about the flower pots you'll see in spring and summer.
The students get a large piece of oloured construction paper  for the background. Paste the window in the middle of it, with the white strips on it as a inner frame. Cut a pot from black paper. Draw and paint flowers on the white sheet. Cut them after drying with an edge of 1 cm. Paste them in front of the window. Paste the pot on the flowers. Decorate the pot with paint.

Source: Pinterest.

Busy bees

You need:

1. white crayon
2. markers
3. liquid watercolour paint
4. brush

Fold the sheet of paper in half. Draw on both halves a bee. Colour the body with black and yellow marker. Colour the head black, keeping two white dots for eyes. Draw with black marker six legs and two wings. Use white crayon to draw veins in the wings.
Paint the background and the wings with liquid watercolour while keeping the edges white for about one cm.

Made by students of grade 3/4

Source: Artsonia. 

Rollercoaster fun

You need:

1. oil pastels
2. drawing sheet
3. watercolour paint
4. brush
5. jar with water

After a school trip to an amusement park, these drawings were made. The goal was to draw what you liked most in the park and make sure you're part of the drawing.
Coloured with oil pastel and then painted with a brush and watercolour paint.

Made by styudents of grade 4

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