Third Grade Expressive Paintings

Fred Babb is one of my favorite artists. His art is expressive, meaningful and above all, unique. It's a perfect description of what children's art should be. Fred's website features a book with pull out pages. It makes a fantastic accompaniment to this lesson. I urge you to purchase it. Not only is it great for the children, but the messages in the art will inspire every art teacher.
After talking about his art and message, I showed the kids how to make a simple face using a black crayon. I urged them to keep it very simple as the paints are the stars of this lesson.


Using a colorful palette of paint, the kids used the double loading technique (dip paintbrush in one color, then dip in another and paint both onto the paper) to paint their images. It's a good idea to leave a little room at the bottom for any message the kids might like to add later.
I encouraged the children to paint as they pleased. No instructions or rules. If they didn't like what they created, they painted right over it. They loved this freedom and I loved watching them.Finally, using a small brush dipped in black tempera paint (water down slightly), the kids added words and highlights to their painting.
The lesson only took 50 minutes but half the kids didn't have time for detailing. I'd recommend letting the painting dry and then return to it later to add words, details with a smaller brush.