Happy new year!

What do you need?

1. white drawing sheet 
2. water paint color
3. brushes
4. liquid water color paint
5. crayons

What should you do?

1. Draw some Dutch canal houses. 
2. Color them with water color paint. 
3. Use crayons to draw fireworks. 
4. Paint the sky dark blue with liquid water color leaving the edges white. 

Works of art are made by students of grade 6.

Snowmen mandala

What do you need?

• white drawing sheet 
• compasses
• scissors 
• crayons or oil pastels 
• indian ink
• brush

What should you do?

Step 1

1. Draw a circle with a diameter of 20 cm. 
2. Draw within about 1 cm another circle (the edge of the mandala). 
3. Cut out and fold into 8 pieces. 
4. Draw against one of the folds half of a snowman using black oil pastel/crayon.
5. Fold the sheet and press firmly with your hands to get a print of the snowman on the other side of the fold. 
6. Trace this half with black oil pastel/crayon.
7. Repeat this and draw the other three snowmen. 
8. Color the snowmen and background. 
   
9. Make sure the snowmen are really colored white, otherwise they will turn completely black with ink after step 2.
10. Color the edge with a nice pattern.

Step 2

1. Crumple the picture into a ball. 
2. Make flat again. 
3. Paint the entire drawing with indian ink. Rinse the ink immediately after it in the sink. 
4. Let dry. The ink will rest in the folds and create a great antique effect.
5. Cut the circle and paste it on a colored background. 
   

Drawings made by students of grade 6. 

This lesson is a variaton on 'Autumn leaves mandala'. 

Winter tree in warm-cool colors

 What do you need?

• drawing paper
• crayons
• watercolor paint
• black tempera 
• brushes
• jar with water

What should you do?

1. With crayon: draw a horizon line.
2. Draw a tree trunk from the bottom of the sheet. 
3. Draw branches that touch the edges of the sheet. 
4. Draw a pattern in the landscape below the horizon line. 
5. With watercolor paint: paint the sky. 
6. Paint the surfaces between the branches in warm or cool colors. 
7. Paint the surfaces in the landscape: warm if you first chose cool, cool if you first chose warm. 
8. With tempera: paint the branches and trunk black. 

Works of art made by students of grade 4.

Elements of art: color (warm and cool), space, line (pattern)

Happy new year

What do you need? 

• white drawing sheet 
• blue liquid water color paint 
• brush
• crayons
• black construction paper
• leftovers of yellow and orange paper
• yellow chalk pastel

What should you do? 

1. Draw fireworks with crayons on a white sheet. 
2. Paint the whole sheet with blue liquid water color paint. 
3. Let dry.
4. Cut a skyline out of half a sheet of black paper. 
5. Paste the skyline on the blue sheet. 
6. Cut windows from yellow or orange paper.
7. Draw a yellow chalk line on the roofs and smudge it.   
   

Works of art made by students of grade 3, 4 and 5.

Silver and white Xmas tree

What do you need?

• green construction paper
• silver marker
• white pencil

What should you do?

1. Draw the trunk of a tree in the middle of the sheet, starting at the bottom and ending about 2 inches from the top. 
2. Color the trunk with silver marker. 
3. Draw lines from the trunk to the right and left. Don't use a ruler! The lines become shorter to create a triangle.  
4. Draw Xmas decorations on the branches with a white pencil. 

Works of art made by students of grade 6. 

Gingerbread man printing lesson

What do you need?

• two pieces of linoleum 10 x 10 cm
• lino knife
• block printing ink
• flat piece of plexiglass
• linoleum roller
• white sheets
• lino press
• scissors, glue
• colored paper

What should you do?

1. Draw a gingerbread cookie on both pieces of linoleum. 
2. Cut away the outlines of the first linoleum.
3. Cut away the background of the second one. 
4. Print in one or two (Christmas) colors.
5. Paste your prints on colored paper.

Works of art are made by students of grade 4. 

Colorful Christmas trees

This lesson is seen more than 144,000 times since the first day I posted it in 2010. If you use it on your own website, please mention your source: kidsartists.blogspot.com

And if you want to make money out of this lesson, realise it's my work. 

So ask me before sending it to Teachers pay teachers, Twinkle and all that other sites. 

What do you need?

• two white drawing sheets A4 size
• water color paint
• brushes
• jar with water
• tissue paper
• scissors and glue
• ruler
• pencil
• gold or silver marker
• white correction marker
• glitter

What should you do?

1. Paint a background on the first white sheet with water color paint. Use different colors and let them blend into each other. Use plenty of water for nice bright colors.
2. Choose three colors tissue paper. Fold the sheets several times and cut triangles. 
3. Wet the second white sheet with a brush. 
4. Place the triangles on it and leave it to dry. 
5. Cut long triangles. You may use the schedule. Cut a piece from the bottom of the triangles if you want trees of various heights. Cut some smaller triangles from the left overs if you want more trees.
6. Paste the triangles with overlap on the colored background. 
7. Outline with silver or gold marker and draw a simple branche stucture.
8. Draw snowflakes with a white marker or use chips from the hole punch. 
9. Sprinkle some glitter on the forest floor.
10. Paste the artwork on a colored background.

Works of art made by students of grade 7. 

Scratch a Christmas ball

What do you need?

1. drawing sheet
2. oil pastels or crayons
3. black tempera paint 
4. brush
5. aluminium foil 
6. ribbon
7. toothpick or skewer

What should you do?

1. Color the sheet with crayons. 
2. Paint it over with black tempera paint and let dry. 
3. Scratch with a toothpick a Christmas ball and fill it with patterns. 
4. Cut a small piece of aluminium foil and paste it on the ball with a folded ribbon under it. 

Works of art made by students of grade 6.

Elements of art: line (pattern)

Owl in moonlight

See the moon shining through the trees... and in the moonlight everything looks blue. 

What do you need?

1. white drawing sheet 
2. oil pastel
3. blue ink
4. brush
5. dish with water
6. scouring pad

What should you do?

1. Scetch a winter tree, so a tree without no leaves. Be sure your branches are thinner at the end. 
2. Scetch a moon between the branches. 
3. Draw an owl on one of the branches.
4. Color the tree with blue oil pastel. Make differences in color by pressing harder or softer, or by using a little black or white. 
5. Color the owl blue too. Use yellow or orange for eyes and beak. 
6. Color the moon white-yellow in the center and darker yellow at the outside.
7. Outline everything (even the smallest branches!) with white oil pastel. This is a difficult chore, because you barely see the white and you run the risk that the white crayon will get blue (scrape it then!).
8. Paint the background with blue ink, water and a scouring pad. The white lines will resist the ink. Put undiluted blue ink on a dish and dip the soft side of a scouring pad in it. Stamp along the outer edges of the drawing. 
9. Add water to the ink when you're nearer at the moon to make the blue lighter. Make a light blue circle around the moon.

Owls in the tree

You need:

1. grey construction paper
2. two thick and large white drawing sheets
3. brushes
4. scissors and glue
5. linoleum 12 by12 cm *
6. lino knives
7. flat piece of glass
8. block printing ink
9. lino press
10. linoleum roller

* Or use foam to make the prints.

Before the lesson: 

• Have two students paint a large sheet of thick white paper with brown tempera and accents in yellow and red to create a wood structure. 
• Let them paint another large sheet in warm autumn colours.

This painted sheets can be used by all students for tearing branches and tree trunks and cutting leaves.   

What should you do? Lesson one: 

1. Draw an owl on linoleum. 
2. Cut the outlines, wings, eyes, claws and beak. 
3. Decorate with small patterns. 
4. Print the owl several times in two colors and let dry.

Lesson two: 

1. Tear a tree trunk and branches from the brown painted paper. 
2. Cut leaves from the autumn sheet. 
3. When dry: cut the printed owls with a little edge (1 or 2 mm). 
4. Look for a great composition and paste everything on a grey sheet. 

Works of art made by students of grade 7. 

Ow ow ... owls!

What do you need?

1. white drawing sheet 
2. black markers in different sizes
3. yellow or orange marker
4. liquid watercolor
5. brushes
6. black construction paper
7. photographs of owls

Watching owls
Discuss external features of owls using photos.
Owls are nocturnal animals. They sleep during the day and hunt at night. Their face is round and flattened. The eyes are large, allowing them to see well at a distance, even at night. An owl can turn his head 270 degrees and can thus look in all directions. Owls have a hooked beak and powerful claws. Two claws are directed forward and two backward. You cannot see the ears, they are holes that are sometimes covered with an ear cover. Ears should not be confused with the ear tufts above the eyes, that, for example, the long-eared owl has.
Most owls have a mix of brown, black, white and grey feathers. These colors provide camouflage, so owls can easily hide.

What should you do?

1. Sketch an owl on a branch with pencil, considering the characteristics from owls as discussed. 
2. Draw patterns on the body parts of the owl, with black markers in various thicknesses. By drawing different patterns you will recognize the individual body parts of the owl. Make parts darker by drawing patterns closer together. 
3. Color the eyes and beak yellow or orange.
4. Paint the background yellow with liquid watercolor paint. Make sure you don't touch the drawing, to avoid the ink will bleed. Therefore stay about a half a centimeter away from the owl. 
5. Paste your work on black background.

All works of art made by students of grade 5.

There's a ghost in my bedroom!

Help, there are ghosts in my bedroom! Behind the wardrobe, under my bed, behind the curtains....

You need:

1. white drawing paper 
2. indian ink
3. dip pen
4. pencil
5. paper towel
6. black paper for background

What should you do? 

1. Sketch your room with a pencil: bed, wardrobe, toys, window, door. 
2. Draw ghosts on several places. 
3. Trace the drawing with indian ink. Leave the ghosts white, and fill the rest of the drawing in with various textures*. 
4. Paste the drawing on a black sheet.

* Look for a lesson on texture at this link: Exercise in drawing texture. 

Works of art made by students of grade 5. 

Positive negative pumpkin faces

You need:

1. black construction paper A4 
2. orange construction paper A5
3. ruler
4. pencil
5. scissors and glue
6. cutting knife

What should you do? 

1. Divide in four rectangles.  
2. Divide the four black rectangles each in two rectangles. 
3. Divide the orange sheet in four rectangles; each rectangle is as big as a half black one.
4. Draw half of a pumpkin against the edge of an orange rectangle. 
5. Draw one eye, half of a mouth and a nose and cut out with a cutting knife.
6. Cut the outline of the pumpkin. 
7. Paste the half orange pumpkin against the edge of a black rectangle. Paste eye and mouth on the opposite side of the pumpkin.
8. Repeat these steps to make the other three pumpkins.

Pumpkins like Yayoi Kusama

 You need:

1. black construction paper
2. colored paper
3. black marker
4. black fineliner
5. scissors and glue
6. white pencil

About the artist
Yayoi Kusama (1929) is a Japanese artist. She creates paintings, sculptures and large installations with mirrors and lots of light, symbolizing infinity. All her artworks have one thing in common: polka dots. That's why she's affectionately known as 'the princess of polka dots'. 

From an early age Kusama wanted to make art, but her traditional Japanese parents didn't like this. That's why Kusama left for NewYork and joined artists there, including Andy Warhol. 

By adding all-over marks and dots to her paintings, drawings, objects and clothes she feels as if she is making them (and herself) melt into, and become part of, the bigger universe. She said:

‘Our earth is only one polka dot among a million stars in the cosmos. Polka dots are a way to infinity. When we obliterate nature and our bodies with polka dots, we become part of the unity of our environment’.

View and discuss artwork of Kusama. 

• use of large and small polka dots 
• backgrounds are often filled with triangles
• use of bright colors
• her installations suggest infinity

What to do?

1. Draw three pumpkins on the colored sheets and cut them.
2. Draw bigger and smaller dots on the segments using black markers.
3. Draw triangles on the black sheet with a white pencil - start with a zigzag line.
4. Paste the pumpkins on the black sheet.

Works of art are made by students of grade 4. 

Whirling leaves

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size
2. watercolor paint
3. brushes
4. jar with water
5. small and broad black marker
6. colored construction paper for background
7. glue

Ask students to take some flat dried leaves. Every student chooses one of his own leaves and outlines it several times with a pencil. Remember to draw not all the leaves in the same way on the paper, because they whirl down from the tree. Make sure some leaves go over the edge; these will later be finished on the background.

Paint the leaves with watercolor paint. Use water to dillute the paint less or more. Choose warm fall colors and try to make transitions in the colors by using wet in wet technique.

Paint the background blue. Use again the wet in wet technique, and/or choose for wet on dry. You don't have to paint exactly against the leaves, because they will be outlined later.

Leave the work to dry and paste in on a colored background. Outline the leaves with a thick black marker. Use a fine black marker for the veins, while observing carefully the real leaves. Don't stop with outlining and drawing veins when you reach the background, but go on with it there.

Works of arde made by students of grade 6.

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.

Stained glass, like Theo van Doesburg

 

 You need:

1. firm white drawing paper  
2. ruler
3. pencil
4. color marers
5. waterproof black marker 
6. salad oil
7. brush 
8. paper towels

Theo van Doesburg (1883-1931) was a Dutch painter, architect and writer. He was charmed by the abstract art of Kandinsky and Picasso's cubistic work. In 1917 he founded the magazine De Stijl, in which he and other artists could publish their innovative ideas about art. Famous Dutch artists who belong to the Stijl are Piet Mondriaan, Bart van der Leck and Gerrit Rietveld. 

Theo van Doesburg, abstraction of a cow (1918)

Van Doesburg also designed stained glass windows. Abstract art thus became a functional part of a building. 

For this lesson I used his stained glass window Composition VIII. It was designed as an upper window for the front doors of houses built in 1918 in Rotterdam. During the restoration of the houses in 1989, the windows were removed and a number of them were purchased by museums. 

Composition VIII

Discuss what stands out:

• only rectangles and squares 
• rectangles can stand or lie
• maximum 3 colors plus white
• never two of the same colors next to each other  
• black outlines 
• a long horizontal line through the center  

What should you do?

Step 1

Use a ruler and pencil to draw a horizontal line through the center of the drawing sheet. Then draw rectangles and squares. Measure carefully to be sure your shapes are really symmetrical.  

Step 2

Choose 3 colors of markers and color the shapes. You can use white too, by leaving shapes white. No two of the same colors next to each other. Trace the dividing lines with black permanent marker; use a ruler! Draw thickenings at the intersections of the lines, just like in stained glass windows.   

 

Step 3

Place your work on a newspaper and pour a dash of oil on it. Spread it with a brush. 

Step 4

Remove excess oil with a paper towel. Let the work dry. This can take some time!  

Elements of art: color, shape, line.
Techniques: measuring, working with a ruler, coloring.