The best nest

1. drawing sheet
2. oilpastel
3. liquid watercolour paint
4. brushes
5. 3D tape

The best nest for birds in winter is a colourful one! This birdhouse will protect birdies against snow and cold.

Students draw a birdhouse and colour it in with oil pastels. Perhaps there's also a  peanut pendulum on the house. Draw  snowflakes (white oil pastel) and also a layer of snow on the house.
Paint the background with liquid watercolor. Leave about 1 cm white on the edges for an extra winter look. Draw (or print) a bird on another piece of paper and cut it. Paste it in the house using 3D tape for a spatial effect (the pads that are used to create 3D cards).

Made by students of grade 1/2

Patterned tree

Made by a student of grade 6

You need:

1. drawing sheet 21 by 27 cm 
2. ruler
3. pencil
4. colour pencils
5. fine black marker 

Draw a grid from 3 by 3 cm. Trace a sourcer for a circle. Draw a tree and be sure the branches are within the cirle. Draw patterns in the the tree using a fine black marker. Colour the squares in the circle in warm colours and the other squares in cool colours. Be sure the difference between under and above the horizon line is visible.

Source: Tiny Artroom. 

Autumn birches

Made by a student of grade 6

You need:

1. drawing sheet
2. masking tape
3. tempera 
4. stippling brushes
5. charcoal
6. chalk pastel 

See photos of birch trees and discuss the salient feautures : the long white stem, the gray black lines as a result of the horizontal peeling the bark, the many autumn colours of the leaves. Talk about the colours of the leaves on the floor: in front uou see a lot of different colours, and looking further away they merge into one colour.

Explain how to work with a stippling brush: no mixing colors, but put the brush in several colours at once and then stamp lightly. 

Paste from above a number of strips of masking tape on the sheet in various lengths. Draw a horizon line. Stamp the bottom in several autumn colours, merging into one colour near the horizon line. Stamp the remaining leaves in the trees. There may be green there too! Leave the artwork to dry and then colour the sky with chalk pastel. Pull the masking tape off carefully . Draw with charcoal the specific birch dashes .

The man with the big mouth - Paul Klee

Made by a student of grade 3

Benodigdheden:

1. drawing sheet A2 size
2. brushes
3. tempera paint
4. pencil
5. black marker
6. scissors
7. glue
8. coloured wallpaper

Paul Klee (1879 – 1940) is a German/Swiss painter. His work belongs to modern art. Klee developed mainly as an autodidact and left more than 9000 artworks. In 1912 he saw the work of Picasso and Malevich and met Robert Delaunay, who believed colour is the most important element in a painting. After a trip to Tunisia in 1914 Klee started to paint more colorful and abstract. He painted landscapes, portraits, animals, mythology, mysterious machines. In his work he combined abstract and figurative shapes. Klee 's work cannot be described in one single word. Surrealism, cubism, abstraction are terms which are applicable to his paintings. He is classified by expressionism. (Source: Wikipedia)

Show the painting 'The man with the big mouth' on the digital board. Write 'yes' on the left and 'no' on the rigth. Type the following sentences on the board:

• He has a big mouth
• His nose is exactly as long as his chin
• He has curls
• He can smell good
• He is afraid
• His nose looks like a knife
• The eyes are blue
• He doesn't seem nice
• He looks pissed off
• He has no ears
• He has white teeth
• His face is composed of puzzle pieces
• The colours are bleak
• I only see bright colors

Have students drag the sentences one by one to the right spot.

The students draw a face from the side. The nose has to be as long as the chin. Draw two eyes. Divide the face in surfaces. Colour each part with tempera using only mixed colours just like Paul Klee did. Only the eyes should be painted in clear blue.
Wait until the work is dry and outline all color patches with a black marker. Cut and paste the artwork on a coloured piece of wallpaper.

This project was done in grade 3/4. For higher grades: draw the face with only one line, so without lifting the pencil.

 Door Zahra, groep 5

Source : Paul Klee voor kinderen, by Birgit Brandenburg 

Singing in the rain

Artwork made by a student of grade 1

You need:

1. white drawing sheetA2 size
2. crayons
3. liquid watercolour
4. brush

Students draw a person under an umbrella and colour it in with crayons. Then they draw raindrops with white crayon. Paint the entire drawing with liquid watercolour.

Be sure that:

• rain falls from top to bottom;)
• under the umbrella is no rain
• rain is transparent, so we draw with white on white!
• rain forms puddles on the ground

One colour city - group work like Alisa Burke

You need:

1. drawing sheet A1 size
2. drawing sheets 10 by 20 cm (A4 size cut in three) 
3. various colouring materials: crayons, oilpastel, colour pencils, watercolour paint, markers, tempera etc. 
4. fine black marker 
5. liquid water colour paint 
6. big brush
7. scissors
8. glue

An artwork I came across on Pinterest from Alisa Burke was the inspirations for this lesson. Show Burke's work and discuss it: all houses in the same colour, windows are white, everything is outlined with black marker, houses uizen hebben één kleur, de ramen zijn wit, alles is zwart omrand, the houses aren't just next to each other but behind each other and (overlap). That means you cannot see the bottom of the houses that are not on the first row. 

Students form groups of four and discuss together the colour they'll choose. One of the students paints the background: use white crayon to draw stars or clouds and then paint the entire sheet with with liquid watercolor. Leave about one inch white along the edges.

On the smaller sheets students draw high houses, with windows and doors and decorations. Colour with the material of you choice. Outline the house and windows with black fineliner and cut it out. Be sure the group draw together about 15 houses.
Lay the painted houses on the large sheet to get a beautiful collage. Note that you do not see undersides of the houses that are not in the front row.

Made by students of grade 5/6

Eyecatcher

You need:

1. drawing sheet A5 size
2. colour pencils

See each other's eyes. What components does an eye have? How is the shape of an eye? What colours do you see in the iris? How can you do this in a drawing? What is characteristic for the pupil? How can you draw the highlight in the eyes? 

See videos on YouTube, How to draw an eye / How to draw eyes.

Kids drawing one eye and colour it in with colour pencil. Wipe the colors with your fingers to mix them. Accents can be applied with a black fineliner. 

Artworks are made by students of grade 7. 

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. 

This is ME!!!

You need:

1. drawing sheet A4 size
2. watercolour paint
3. brushes
4. black marker

A great lesson to start a new year of school! Students draw a self portrait using a black marker and colour it with watercolour paint.

Made by students of grade 1

Castle and Sun, like Paul Klee

Artworks are made by students of grade 4

You need:

1. printed drawing sheet 
2. crayons
3. watercolour paint 
4. brushes
5. jars with water

On the Italian art blog  Arteascuola from Miriam Paternoster, I came across this terrific art lesson about Paul Klee. Be sure to visit Miriam's blog, it's great!

Paul Klee (1879 – 1940) is a German/Swiss painter. His work belongs to modern art. Klee developed mainly as an autodidact and left more than 9000 artworks. In 1912 he saw the work of Picasso and Malevich and met Robert Delaunay, who believed colour is the most important element in a painting. After a trip to Tunisia in 1914 Klee started to paint more colorful and abstract. He painted landscapes, portraits, animals, mythology, mysterious machines. In his work he combined abstract and figurative shapes. Klee 's work cannot be described in one single word. Surrealism, cubism, abstraction are terms which are applicable to his paintings. He is classified by expressionism. (Source: Wikipedia)

Print any text on drawing sheets or choose an old book page. I had chosen the Wikipedia page about Paul Klee. Show Klee's artwork 'Castle and sun' and discuss the characteristics: Klee used just squares, rectangles and triangles. What colors are used?

The students use a crayon in a color that contrasts with the watercolor paint (sharp point to make thin lines) and draw a frame around the text. Then they draw a building consisting only of rectangles, squares and triangles. Do not use a ruler, because the text provides sufficient support.
Paint with watercolour. Choose cold or warm colors. Do not allow the same colour next to each together.

Houses - like Ton Schulten

Made by a studenty of grade3

You need:

1. drawing sheet A4 size
2. tempera paint in red, yellow, blue and black
3. brushes
4. jar with water
5. pencil 
6. ruler

Ton Schulten (1938) is a Dutch painter living in Ootmarsum. After his work as a graphic designer, he decides in 1989 to try to make a living as a painter. His main inspiration is the open landscape of Twente (a part of Holland):  an open landscape divided in parts by hedges and hedgerows, looking like a stage with curtains.

Painting like Ton Schulten in lower classes can be done, but you have to keep it simple. Show artworks from Ton Schulten and discuss them.

• his use of colours  
• the 'curtains' on the sides
• simple shapes
• divided in rectangles

The students divide the sheet of drawing paper in 24 squares (4 by 6). With the primary colours yellow, red and blue and the mixed colours, they paint the squares. Each colour may be used just three times. If the work is dry, paint simple houses across the dividing lines with a small brush and black paint.

Shout it out, like Andy Warhol

Made by a student of grade 6

You need:

1. coloured paper 10 by 10 cm, four different colours
2. crayons
3. scissors 
4. glue

Talk about Andy Warhol and his art. Show his artworks and discuss them. What is typical for Warhol?

Draw four identical mouths and colour them with crayons in the same colours as the four sheets. 

Cubist portrait like Pablo Picasso

You need:

1.  blue or brown construction paper A4 size
2. oilpastel crayons
3. white chalk pastel

Show some cubistic works of Picasso on the digital board. What do you see? What does the face look like? What happened with eyes and noses? From what point of view do you see the facial parts?

Artworks made by students of grade 6

Students draw with white chalk pastel a portrait in cubistic style. This means eyes or nose or mouth should be drawn from another point of view.
Divide face and hair in several parts. Colour them with oilpastels. Outline face, hair and facial parts with black. Outline the facial parts, face and hairline with black.
 

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

Melted clocks, Salvador Dalí

Made by students of grade 4

You need:

1. clay
2. clay plate
3. clay roller
4. knife
5. glaze
6. brush

More information about Salvador Dalí, see the lesson High legged elephant in the style of Salvador Dali.

Look at the painting The persistance of memory of Salvador Dali. You can read about this artwork on Wikipedia. Discuss the melted clocks and the symbolism.

Students make a melted clock of clay, like Dalí painted in his artwork. Roll sthin strips of clay for the numbers and hands of the clock.

Bake the clocks in a clay oven and glaze them. Bake again.

Thanks to Willem Wienholts 

Starry night, like Vincent van Gogh

Artworks made by students of grade 4

You need:

1. rectangular canvas
2. acrylic paint
3. brushes
4. color page Starry Night

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) was a Dutch post impressionistic painter. His work falls under the Post-Impressionism. When he starts painting, he paints ordinary people like poor farmers who do heavy work. The colours of his paintings are dark (The Potato Eaters).
He moved to Paris and is impressed by the work of French painters: light and colours are the important things in their work. Van Gogh exchanged the darker colours for brighter colours. The painter Pissaro learns him to paint like the impressionists. Van Gogh changes the dots into stripes.
After two years in Paris, Van Gogh moved to southern France, where he paints orchards and cornfields.
In the garden of the hospital in Arles, where he's treated for his depressions, he paints his most beautiful and famous artworks: Starry Night. In 1890 Van Gogh commits suicide.

Show images of Van Gogh's artworks on the digital board, including Starry Night. Discuss these works: bright colours, litte dashes next to each other in stead of mixed coloures. 

The students use a colouring sheet of Starry Night to draw on their canvas. This has to be painted like Van Gogh did: short brushstrokes (lift your brush always if you have put a dash)! Do not mix the colours, but put two colours simultaneously on your brush to get the Van Gogh effect. The key is: do not paint like you always do, make little dashes!
Note: when using acrylics - rinse your brushe is okay, but be sure to dry that brush! The paint is the best when it is used undiluted.

Surrealism with eyes

You need:

1. camera
2. drawing sheet A3 size 
3. aquarelle pencils 
4. markers 
5. brush
6. jar with water 
7. scissors and glue 

Surrealists like Dali painted images in a hyper realistic style accompanied often with unexpected surprising or even shocking additions. Surrealists let their imagination run wild and painted dreams.   

In this lesson students will make a surrealistic artwork with eyes. Paul Miró, the Spanish surrealistic artist, painted often eyes in his work.

Eyes are meant to look with,  but how can we use eyes in our imagination? Maybe you can play soccer with them ... Or they are on the shelves of a refrigerator .... What tot think about a bouquet of eye flowers to give your mother...

Each student invents a surreal situation of which he or she is part of, and draws it. On a separate sheet several eyes have to be drawn, coloured in bright coloures with markers. The teacher takes a picture of the child as it sees itself in that situation and prints it. The drawing has to be coloured with aquarell pencils. Use water and a brush to smoothe the colours. Paste the photograph in the drawing and then paste the eyes. 

All arworks made by students of grade 4. 

Flamingo in Art Nouveau

 

Made by students of grade 5

You need:

1. white drawing sheet 
2. metallic gel pens
3. glue and figure scissors
4. coloured construction paper for background

Gaudi House, Barcelona

Art Nouveau, also known as Jugendstil an international style of art, applied art and architecture that was most popular during 1890-1914. It is also known as Modernism in Catalonia - Spain, with its most notable contributions by the architect Antoni Gaudi.

Art Nouveau was applied to everyday objects like jewellery and furniture, but also on fences, balconies and facades. Art Nouveau artists used organic shapes, like plants and birds, eggs and women. The lines express emotion. In Paris you will discover Jugendstil in some accesses to the subway. Gaudi also designed his buildings in this style: elegant whimsical shapes, decorated with mosaic tiles and wrought iron.

Show Jugendstil / Art Nouveau pictures using the digital board. Discuss the features: elegant lines, rounded shapes, often asymmetrical, organic shapes, exuberant.

Outline a saucer on a white drawing sheet and cut it. Draw Art Nouveau shapes and lines using metallic gel pens in three colours.  Paste this drawing on a second sheet of white drawing paper. Draw legs, tail and head of a flamingo bird and decorate these parts also with gel pen. Cut the bird with figure scissors leaving a white edge. Paste the art work on a long piece of coloured paper that matches the colour of the flamingo.

Salvador Dali's mustache

You need:

1. drawing sheet A3 size
2. oil pastel crayons
3. pencil 
4. black marker 
5. pipe cleaner 

More information about Salvador Dalí, see the lesson High legged elephant in the style of Salvador Dali.

Show some surrealistic artworks of Dali and discuss the surreliastic parts of it.  Show The melting clocks. Discuss the shape of the clockes. What happened to these clocks? Are these clocks that you can hang on the wall? Why not? Why do we call this surreal?

Using a step by step method, the students draw a face. I opted for the method of WikiHow. Interchange in this method step 1 and 2 by folding the sheet in four parts and then draw an egg shale according to the measures in the figure below. Then continue following the steps on WikiHow.

This is the face of Dali. Draw some melting clocks around it. Draw also some half ones on the edged of the sheet.

The clocks and face have to remain white. Colour the background with warm colors and the clothes of Dali with cold colours (or vice versa).
Outline the clocks and face with black oil pastel. Use a black marker for the numbers and hands of the clock and the parts of the face. Colour the iris of the eyes with a bright colour.

Pierce two holes under the nose and put a piece of pipe cleaner through them. Bend it into a nice mustache. Sign your artwork with your own name. Put the name Dali with a small mustache anywhere at work.

Artworks made by students of grade 4

Thanks to Anne Farell from Use your coloured pencils who gave me the idea of the pipecleaner mustache! 

High legged elephant like Salvador Dali

A great lesson from colleague blogger of Artisan des Arts.

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size
2. markers (not waterproof)
3. brush
4. jar with water
5. chalk pastels
6. felt
7. scissors and glue 

Show some surrealistic artworks of Dali. Show The elephants. Discuss the realistic (the body of the elephant) and the surrealistic parts (house on the back, high legs) of this work.

Students draw a Dali inspired elephant and trace it with a marker. I gave them some 'how to draw' templates. Take a wet brush and go over the lines, so the water turns into watercolour. Let dry.

Draw a horizon line and a sun. Colour the background with chalk pastels and blend with your fingers. Draw shadows of the elephant's legs. Maybe they don't have the right direction, but that's part of surrealism!

Cut a piece of felt for a blanket, decorate it and paste it on the elephant.

All artworks are made by students of grade 4