Line Drawings Part I:Turtles

Line drawings are a super easy way to start off your art curriculum. I usually do some type of line drawing with all my grade levels at the beginning of the year. Not only is the set-up simple and there is virtually no clean-up, but it gives me a chance to get to get to know my students and their art interest.

The projects may look simple, but in fact, there is a lot going on!
These turtle drawings develop fine motor skills: drawing with a marker, cutting and pasting, establish a sense of freedom with art (mistakes are not only fine; they make great art!) and finally they beautify your classroom during these first few weeks of school which makes parents happy and students proud. What more do you need?

Okay, so here's how to do it:

Supplies:
Drawing Paper
Black fine-tip marker (Sharpies make a dynamic statement)
Colored construction paper

Instructions: Drawing the Turtle


Directed line drawing for the turtle:
1. Draw a large upside down letter "U"
2. Connect the bottom with a slightly curved line. Then, make another line just above the bottom line.
3. For the belly of the turtle, create a scalloped edge by drawing little upside down bumps along the bottom line.
4. Add two letter "U's" for the feet.
5. Add a sideways "triangle" for the tail.
6. Add a head by putting your marker on the very bottom corner of the shell and drawing a large bubble shape. Make sure to keep the neck thin and the head big and round. If you want, you can add a mouth.
7. Fill in the turtle shell with lines, connecting the curved lines to make a patchwork of shells.
8. Now, fill in all the small sections in the shell with different patterns. Use hearts, zig-zags, bubbles, spirals, checkerboards, wavy lines, etc. Be creative!

Now, here's a tip: When making a pattern of lines, make sure to connect the lines to the outside of the shape. Don't stop short!


These sweet turtles were done by Kinders! Needless to say, they were very proud. One of the secrets to making the project appear easy, is to draw lots of pattern samples on the board. Ask the children what a line is and then draw some. Point out patterns on classmate's shirts, on the wall, etc. Get interactive!

Musical Medley...Music Art Collage

This lesson originated in Arts and Activities magazine, but the month and the year is lost to me. I clipped it and saved it for the perfect 3-week window for my fifth graders. This lesson would appeal to any upper elementary grade but it does require some patience, so the older the kids, the more sophisticated the project.

Supplies:
12" x 18" white drawing paper
Black oil pastels for each student
Oil pastels in a variety of colors to share
photocopies of sheet music (I asked the music specialist for some, but you could also download sheet music from the Internet)
Mod Podge
Large brushes for Mod Podge

Step One: Drawing the instrument
I found some photographs of musical instruments on the Internet but also "swiped" my son's black warlock electric guitar and his acoustics guitar for visual aids.
We took a few minutes to talk about musical instruments and how identifiable each one is. Most instruments are recognized by their shape: trombone, drums, guitar, so I encouraged the students to chose an instrument with a great shape.
Since I had guitars on display, guess which instrument they chose? Yup. Guitars. So, let this be a lesson to you: if you want variety either bring in lots of samples or provide a handout that shows different instruments.
Using a black oil pastel, draw one instrument in a variety of sizes and place in different parts of the white paper. Talk about composition and the benefits of drawing a one large scale instrument then picking a part of the same instrument (i.e. neck of the guitar) and drawing that off to the side. I'm not explaining this very well, but the point is to take one instrument, break it down into sections and vary the size.

Step Two: Coloring
Once the drawings are done, begin coloring the instruments using oil pastel. Once the students begin coloring, a few will complain that the black oil pastel lines are messing up their colors. To solve this problem, trace over the black oil pastel with the color they wish to use. This locks in the black and prevents it from smearing. It's not a perfect solution, but in the end, all lines will be traced in black anyways.
Use non-traditional colors. The brighter and more vibrant the better.

Step Three: Adding the Sheet Music
Once the background is colored in (takes along time to color this big sheet in well), tear a piece of sheet music into sections. Place the sections on the background, taking care not to cover the instruments.
Use Mod Podge to apply the sheet music. If you have a lot of mod podge, keep spreading it over the entire picture. It really gives the collage a cool sheen and hardens nicely. If you don't have mod podge, just apply the sheet music with a glue stick.

The winners are...

THANK YOU all so much for your wonderful comments for my First Ever Followers Contest. It was fantastic reading which art lessons you have tried, which ones you plan on using and the variations you adapted. I hope you all continue to make suggestions on different ways to approach these lessons and what your students and children enjoy.
So...onto the winners!

Selected by a very technical, complex method (names in a paper bag!), the winners are....

KM
Jenny
Kingstonmama

Congratulations!

Please send me your email addresses and I'll forward you a link to the PDF Art Lesson Booklet of your choice. Please specify "Eric Carle" Inspired Seahorses, "Fun with Portraits", or "Watercolor projects".

Thanks to everyone who entered!
Patty

Easy Sailboat Project for First Grade

Here is another quick and beautiful art lesson for early elementary children. I came across a souvenir sailboat that I purchased one summer thinking that it would make a great visual for an art lesson. Three years later, I finally put it to use.
I did this project in one 60-minute art session but you could easily do it in two.

Step One: Cutting out the Sailboat

I began with cutting out the sailboat in patterned paper (scrapbook paper). At this point in the year, the children know what a trapezoid is, so I showed them how to take a rectangle and then cut away the ends to make a trapezoid. This becomes the hull of the boat.

Next, demonstrate how to cut two sails with one bigger than the other. If the kids cut their sails too small, encourage them to keep them. They just started another boat!
I encouraged the kids to make at least one large sailboat but two are fine. If one is smaller; even better. This gives you the opportunity to demonstrate perspective (large sailboat close to the bottom of the page, small sailboat towards the top).

Step Two: Painting the Sunset and Ocean

Time to get out the paint palettes and brushes. I use reddish orange and yellow plus blue, green and purple tempera paint. Start with the yellow paint and brush a line across the middle of the paper. This becomes the horizon line. Mixing a bit of yellow paint with the red, blend the colors directly onto the paper. Encourage long, sweeping strokes.












Next, apply blue paint mixed with either green or purple to the paper. It's important to paint the ocean last so it'll still be wet when the kids add texture.
I use a craft scraper to create the waves but plastic forks work equally as well. make sure not to wait too long before scraping the paint and just as important, try to encourage the kids not to dump on the paint! Or you'll have a real mess!



The artwork is from Mrs. Hetrick's first grade class at Brandon School

Deep Space Sparkle's first ever Summer Contest!

Will you look at all my fellow Sparklers in the side bar? I can't believe what a fantastic group of parents, home-schoolers and art teachers we have in the blog world. I started Deep Space Sparkle two years ago with the intention of showing parents what their kids were up to in the art room. Since then, it has morphed into lesson plans for all of you guys.
What a great ride it has been and now I'm ready to thank YOU for all your support, links, shout-outs and comments.

What you have to do:
If you are a current follower (if not, you have until Sunday, June 21st to become one!), leave a comment in this post telling me what your favorite Deep Space Sparkle art lesson has been. Briefly describe what you like, tried, or changed about the lesson. Be sure to include an email address!

Contest will close Monday, June 22nd and winners will be announced on
Tuesday, June 23rd.

The Prizes:

Your choice of one Deep Space Sparkle PDF Lesson Plan!
Three winners will be able to choose one booklet from the following PDF lesson plans:
"Eric Carle" Inspired Seahorses
Fun with Portraits
Watercolor Projects

All valid names/comments will go into a jar and will be selected randomly. Winners will be announced on this blog Tuesday, June 23rd and will be contacted again through email, so be sure to include one.

Thanks again for ALL your support, encouragement and comments!

Inside the Art Room: Organization

Many of my fellow art teachers have asked about organization. I've hesitated to respond because I don't particularly feel that my organizational skills are worth writing about. But since school is out and my lesson plans are dwindling (although I still have a few more to post!), it feels like a good time to sit back and reflect on what I did well and what I think can be improved for next year.

Art room "must have": Tables, not desks.
Can you imagine prepping a station for every child that came into your classroom? Tables are absolutely necessary for keeping me sane. In my art room, I have 5 tables that sit 5-6 students per table. I also have an extra table in the back of the room for overflow or if I have a larger upper grade class or if a students needs to work "alone". For my two schools, grades K-3 average 20 students and grades 4-6 average 25.

Front part of my classroom.
I have a large white board that I keep free of clutter and two small tables close to the board for my own teaching prep. The sink (very small!) is on the counter under the window.

Back part of my classroom.
I have a desk off to the side, a round table in the back for "free choice" drawing (when children are finished of main project) and you can see the edge of my back table where I keep supplies for current projects or clear for extra kids.

Storing Supplies:
Large cupboards flank the perimeter of my art room. I fill them with paint bottles (watercolors, tempera, metallic, glitter paints, etc.), paint brushes, drawing supplies (markers, pencils, etc). I try to sort my tempera paint bottles by color and for most of the year it stays that way, but by the end of the year, it's just a big mess.

The drawers under my sink are perfect for pastels, painting and prep supplies (water containers, plastic trays for paint, palettes, sponges, etc.) When I'm prepping a lesson, this is where I stand. Everything I need is one drawer pull away.

Prepping a Lesson:
Occasionally, I'll do a lesson where the children are required to mix their own paints (colorwheel projects). If this is the case, I tend to use foam plates for each student. At one school, breakfast is served and I'll go dumpster diving immediately after and pick out all the Styrofoam trays for this exact purpose. Most are dry and clean and only require a quick rinse. Good for the environment and easy on the art budget. Some kids automatically save their trays for me and bring them to the art room.

This process takes more space than time. I prefer using the sharing method for most projects.

For painting projects, I set out two water containers and the appropriate amount of brushes at each table. this beats giving each child a water container. This might sound mean, but unless we're working with a lot of black paint, I don't encourage the kids to refill their container with fresh water. Most of the time, the water, even dirty water, is completely fine for the project.

I'm a fan of the hard plastic trays and muffin type palettes shown here on the right. They're easy to clean and stack really well. The trays can be used for everything: markers, pencils, pastels, paint brushes, etc. Whatever tools the kids need.

The tray on the left is permanently filled with essential art items. This makes set-up quick and easy. The only things that come out on a regular basis are the pencils and erasers. if you've been following my art lessons, you know I'm not a fan of pencil drawings, so I only make them available when the lesson really calls for it.

Foil trays are great to use if you don't have access to the plastic ones. I buy them in bulk at Costco and keep reusing them. I fill them with paper, oil pastels, embellishments, anything. I set one or two trays at everyone's table. The picture below shows how I organize a project using tissue paper. I decided to sort the tissue into colors for this particular project. I set the trays on the "back" table.

There. That's a start. Next week, I'll show you how I organize teh children's artwork!

Inspiring Blog: Painted Paper

I don't often (well, never actually) post about another blog but I have been so enamored with Painted Paper lately, that I just had to give art teacher, Laura, a shout out.
Her art is colorful and playful and I adore it. She posts photographs of her student's work and even though there aren't many at this point, I suspect that she'll be adding more.
Check out Painted Paper or her Flicker site here.

Royal Pooches:Part II Grade Three

Sometimes I like to experiment. Test out an art project at different grade levels. This lesson worked equally well with both age groups, so as a result, it's now included as one of my all time favorite art projects. For the full tutorial, Click here.
Here are the samples from third grade.

To purchase a PDF of this lesson including original handouts and drawing aids, click on the button below...ONLY $3

IMPORTANT DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS
To purchase the PDF, please follow the following steps: After clicking on the Google Checkout button below, fill out your email and password. Click "Place my order" and once your credit card is approved, you will be redirected to a new page. Make sure to click on the link in the yellow box. It will say, "Click Here To Retrieve Your Purchase."