vrijdag 8 april 2016

The sky is the limit

Golden Gate Bridge, made by Elize, grade 6

You need:
  1. grey paper A4 size
  2. white and black pencils
  3. pictures of famous skylines
During a visit to the Museum in The Hague, I saw an artwork that Escher had made on gray paper. The only colours he had used were black and white. Together with the gray, you do have a lot of colours at your disposal. The Escher drawing I saw then, was the inspiration for this lesson.


Show photos of some famous skylines. Discuss skylines, skyscrapers and remarkable buildings. Ask children to search a skyline on the internet. Print this in black and white and then copy it so you can see the shadows of the buildings (settings light - dark on copyer). Students draw with just white and black pencil on the grey sheet.

Sydney skyline by Adnan, grade 6

vrijdag 11 maart 2016

Printing African animals


You need:
  1. styrofoam
  2. pencil
  3. block printing ink
  4. paint roller
  5. flat piece of plexiglass
  6. coloured paper
Explain the principle of printing. Why is it that people started to print texts and pictures?


Draw an African animal with a pencil on the styrofoam. Press to get a print in the foam. Squeeze out “toothpaste” amount of ink on plexiglass. Roll ink out. The ink is ready when lines appear. Ink should look wet.
Put the styrofoam on a newspaper. Roll one colour ink onto the foam, working quickly to cover all areas. Lay a sheet on top of foam and press with a flat hand. Take away the sheet and your print is ready. Let dry and cut it with about 1 cm around. Paste one or more prints on a white sheet. 


 
All artworks made by students of grade 6

maandag 7 maart 2016

Bogolan - African mudcloths

Made by two students of grade 6

You need:

  1. black construction paper
  2. tempera paint in brown, white and gold
  3. brushes
Bogolan means: made from mud. A bogolan is a handmade Malian cotton fabric traditionally dyed with mud. It has an important place in traditional Malian culture. The cloths is nowadays being exported wordwide for use in fashion, fine art and decoration. 

Show this educational movie about bogolans. After this, show some pictures of bogolans and discuss colours, patterns and symbols. 

Students have to word in pairs this lesson. Two students get their own black sheet, but have to make one bogolan together - the sheets will be stuck together when finished. So they have to come to agreeements about colours, patterns and symbols. 



woensdag 27 januari 2016

Valentine - like Robert Indiana


Made by a student of grade 2

You need:
  1. drawing sheet 20 by 20 cm
  2. water colour paint
  3. brushes
  4. fine black marker
A lesson about the famous LOVE sculpture of Robert Indiana. I used the Dutch word LIEF (meaning Nice, or I like you) 
Fold the sheet in four squares. Draw hearts in each part. Draw fat letters on the foreground. Fill letters and hearts with patterns and paint with water colour paint. Outline with fine black marker. 

Blogwriter in NY!

zondag 12 juli 2015

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.

maandag 13 april 2015

Still life fruit

Made by a student of grade 4

You need:
  1. acrylic paint 
  2. canvas
  3. brushes
  4. bowl with fruit
Talk about still life paintings and show some artworks from famous still life painters. 
Tell students it's all about composition and colour. 
Place a bowl filled with fruit on a table. Students paint this bowl on their canvas. 

zondag 12 april 2015

Veggies

Made by a student of grade 3
You need:
  1. veggies
  2. white drawing sheet
  3. liquid watercolour paint
  4. crayons
  5. indian ink
  6. brushes
  7. jar with water
Talk about veggies and why we all have to eat them. Show several veggies.

Use crayons to draw several veggies on your sheet. No overlapping.  Just draw the outlines, don't colour them with crayons.
Colour with liquid watercolour paint. Use two colours to make the paint bleed.
Paint the background dark grey with dilluted indian ink.