Inchies

Inchies are small matching artworks that make one artwork together. The name is derived from the original size of the inchie, one inch (2.54 cm). By choosing a theme, a material or a colour, you ensure that your inchies match nicely together. Inchies can also be used to learn certain skills, like embroidery or sew on a button. Variatons are endless.

The base is an MDF board or canvas on a frame. The inchies are cut (measure carefully) from a shoebox lid or other cardboard and then covered with coloured paper or fabric. Little things have to be pasted or sewn on these squares.The inchies are pasted on the background with double-sided tape.

Of course those squares don't really have to be an inch. Let the size depend from the size of the background. All examples in this lesson are made on a canvas frame from 20 by 20 cm with squares from 4 by 4 cm.

This artwork is made on a canvas frame. It is covered with white wallpaper. The squares are covered with different kinds of wallpaper too (ask for a pattern book in the wallpaper store). Different things in matching coloures are pasted on the inchies.

On the artwork above you'll see inchies that are covered with different materials: wallpaper, lunchbag paper, embroidery linen, rope and teddybear fabric. Skills that are practiced: embroidery, sewing a button and wire wrapping.

This artwork's theme is 'shells'. The variation lies in the background here: ribbed cardboard, painted sandpaper, plastic, wrinkled paper, fleece line etc. A list of things you need isn't easy to give! Ask children to take things from home to paste or sew on their inchies. Ask a patternbook in a wallpaper store for nice backgrounds.

Basic supplies:

1. mdf board or canvas frame
2. shoebox lid or some other cardboard
3. ruler and pencil
4. scissors and glue
5. several sorts of paper and/or fabric
6. doublesided tape
7. decoration supplies
8. needle and thread

By letting kids make one or more inchies in a specific theme or colour, you'll make a terrific group work!

Christmas trees collage

By Silke, 10 years old

I found this idea on Artsonia a collage of Christmas trees coloured with different materials on music paper. You need:

1. white drawing paper A4 size
2. different colouring materials, like crayons, oilpastel, watercolour paint, tempera, colour pencils, markers, aquarelle pencils etc.
3. music paper
4. chalk pastel
5. green paper for background
6. scissors
7. glue
8. black marker

Divide different colour materials in your classroom. One place with paint (water paint and tempera paint), one place with crayons and oil pastel, one place with pencils and markers. Children draw three overlapping triangles on a white sheet, the Christmas trees. These trees have to be coloured with different materials and patterns. The only colour they may use is green, in all its nuances. To colour, children have to take place at the table where the material of their choice is. When finished, the trees and patterns have to be outlined with a black marker. The trees (with the black outline) must be cut out. Then kids have to tear pieces of music paper and paste them on a new white sheet. Colour the background with light blue chalk pastel. Do not colour the music paper, just rub the edges with the chalk pastel. Paste the trees on the blue sheet and paste this work on a green background.

This work can also be done as a group work. All trees (or groups of trees) have to be glued then on a large background of music paper.

By children of 10-11 years old

Christmas carolers

You need:

1. green construction paper A2 size
2. scissors and glue
3. leftovers paper or Christmas scrapbook paper
4. fine marker in black and silver

A Christmas Carol is a book from the English writer Charles Dickens, which tells about an old and bitter mister Scrooge. Scrooge is a banker and money changer whose only goal is to get more and more money. He hates friendship, love and the meaning of Christmas. Just before Christmas he has a number of dreams in which spirits make him change his mind.

Made by kids of 11-12 years old

This art project is about the Christmas carolers; the singers who sing their typical English Christmas songs under the streetlights in cold and snowy villages. Children cut the parts of the singers: head (mouth open, nose up!), legs and arms (thin!), dress or suit, shoes (old fashioned, like lace-up boots) and of course the music book with the title Christmas Carols and some staves. Glue the different parts on a large piece of paper. Paste threedimensional if possible: paste the dress with folds, the arms have to come out of the sleeves and are pasted on the 3D pasted music book. Use a fine marker for the nostrils and a silver one for the shoe laces.

Make a large group work of these Christmas carolers!

Take a walk with a line

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size
2. markers
3. fineliner

Start with a thick black marker and draw an interesting line horizontally across the paper. Repeat your line with rainbow colors to show emphasis and repetition. Fill your paper up with interesting line patterns in the background. Use a black fineliner. When ready it seems the coloured line looks like jumping off the page. This could also be a nice group project. Children have to discuss with eachother about the places their lines will come together and continuing the patterns.

Autumn prints

You need:

1. pieces of linoleum from 15 x 15 cm
2. lino knife
3. mat
4. block printing ink
5. flat piece of plexiglass
6. linoleum roller
7. construction paper
8. lino press

After searching autumn leaves and taking them in the classroom, we take a careful look. What can you tell about the form, the veins, the colour etc.
Draw a leave or mushroom on your linoleum. Remember what you cut away will not print. It is not important to carve deeply into linoleum, just enough so that carved area is lower than the linoleum surface. Always carve away from your hand, always keep your hand behind the back edge of linoleum. When you want to check your printing block, place a piece of paper on the linoleum and rub over the paper with a crayon. This will create a “rubbing” and will give you an idea of what the final print will look like. Squeeze out “toothpaste” amount of ink on plexiglass. Roll ink out. Ink is ready when lines appear. Ink should look wet. If ink starts to look velvety/dry, sprinkle a little bit of water over the ink and add more ink. Put your linoleum block on a newspaper. Roll ink onto linoleum printing block, working quickly to cover all areas. Lay the block on a sheet in the printing press and press. Take away the block and your print is ready.
To make a group work, all kids have to cut out their prints. Ask some students to make a collage of all autumn leaves.

Polka dots from Staphorst, Holland

Table cloth, group work

Staphorst is a a town in the eastern Netherlands. The town is famous for about 600 women who are still wearing traditional dress. Until now, utensils and cloths are designed with characteristic 'Staphorster Stipwerk', translated: Staphorst polka dots. Staphorster stipwerk is made by nails stuck in corks and then tipped in paint. The stipwerk is mostly done on a dark surface.

Benodigdheden:

1. black fabric
2. textile paint
3. nails in different sizes

Show some examples of Staphorster Stipwerk (Google image searcher). Discuss what you see: colour use, size of the dots, motives, patterns etc. Let children practice first in making patterns. Use a scratch paper and colour pencils for this. If they understand the principle of making flowers out of polka dots, they can start stamping with the nails. This lesson can be done individually, but making a group table cloth is maybe much more fun! And: in stead of stamping on cotton, it is also possible to stamp on wooden utensils, like a small chipboard box or a wooden plate. Before stamping, the box has to be painted black of course. And, don't use textile paint but use tempera. Lacquer with vernish for shiny result.

Part of the table cloth

Hot air balloons

You need:

1. white drawing paper A4 size
2. markers
3. fineliner
4. watercolour paint
5. brushes
6. coloured paper for background
7. scissors and glue
8. yarn

Look at several photo's of hot air balloons and discuss what they look like: use of colour, shape, size, advertisements. Look at the baskets and discover that, when we look up in the air we' ll see the bottom of the baskets. We also note that hot air balloons look smaller when they're further away.
Students paint their white sheet light blue with watercolour paint, using lots of water. When the sheets are drying, balloons have to be drawn and coloured on another sheet: a big one, a midsize and one or two small ones. After this students have to draw some baskets, with silhouettes of people (use a black fineliner!). Cut the balloons and the baskets.
Paste the painted blue sheet on a background paper. Make a composition of the balloons with one or two overlaps. Use the frame too. Paste balloons and baskets, but do not paste the people. Just bow them a bit, as if they're looking over the edge of the baskets. Glue small pieces of yarn between balloons and baskets. Eventually clouds can be made out of cottonwool.
This is also a nice assignment for the whole class or a group of children.

Picknick quilt

What kind of things do you think of when you hear the word summer? Which of those things are easy to be drawn? An ice cream will be easy to draw, but a drawn beach will be less clear as part of a quilt. Is it better to choose objects that belong to the beach such as shells or beach toys. Each group receives a large sheet of coloured paper and white squares of paper from 11 by 11 cm. We're drawing summerquilts together!

Discuss how you can get a group work: choosing matching colours or choosing the same subject.

You need:

1. pencils
2. sheets of paper from 10 by 10 cm
3. scissors and glue
4. big cardboard for background

Every member of the group makes some drawings for a summerquilt. Those little drawings have to be coloured with colour pencil. When all drawings are ready, they have to be glued on the coloured background. Possibly the edges of the large sheets can be decorated with sticky buttons or drawn patterns.

Picknickkleed, door Oscar, Ozan, Yorn, Fabian en Richard, groep 7

Just like James Rizzi

Houses in the style of James Rizzi, group work, grade 6

James Rizzi was born in 1950 in Brooklyn. He studied art in Florida (Gainesville), where he started experimenting with printing, painting and sculpting. Rizzi’s work often shows his birthplace New York. His paintings look sometimes childishly naive, with the bright colours and brilliant gaiety. In the art press Rizzi is often described as "Urban Primitive Artist '. Rizzi himself says he is influenced by Picasso, Klee and Dubuffet.

Show some paintings of Rizzi and discuss the characteristics:

• bright colours
• no gradations within colours
• evertything is outlined with a black marker
• houses have human faces/characteristics
• the artwork is full and busy
• background is full too

You need:

1. white drawing sheets A4 size cut lengthwise
2. markers
3. scissors and glue
4. blue cardboard A1 size for background

Students draw a house in Rizzi style, a house with human characteristics like cloths, limbs, eyes etc. It must be a house, that means students must not draw a square human being! This can be done by drawing basic elements of a house in any case, like windows, doors etc.
Colour the house with bright colour markers. Outline the details with black fine marker. Cut the house and outline it with a black marker. Draw things in the air: stars, a moon, globe, hot air balloon, ufo's etc. Look carefully at Rizzi's paintings to discover what he has made.
To make a group work, every student has to draw one house at least. Make a composition of all those houses and paste them on blue cardboard. Start pasting with the second row of houses, so the first row can be pasted overlapping the second one. Be sure you don't paste two houses with the same colours next to eachother.
Paste the stars and ufo's on the background.     

Rizzi houses group work, grade 5