Old Bear: Leaf Print and Bear Painting

While looking through the library one afternoon, I stumbled across Kevin Henkes's picture book, "Old Bear". The adorable illustrations inspired me to create a combination bear painting and leaf print art lesson for my fourth graders.
We used one 50-minute period to draw and paint the bear and another period to print the leaves.
This lesson was a huge hit with the kids.


Supplies Part I
12" x 18" white paper
Brown and black tempera paint
Black oil pastel
Scissors/glue

Step One: Drawing the bear

I don't have any easy way to tell you how to draw a bear. I demonstrated two ways: the contour method (drawing the outside line first and then filling in the details) and the shape method (using shapes to identify different parts of the bear). Ultimately, I let the kids chose which method they preferred and gave them some photocopies of the book pages for inspirations.
Using a black oil pastel, the kids went at it, crossing out the lines they didn't like and moving on with the ones they did. Most kids found it helpful to start with the nose, then put in the eyes and then draw the head around that.

Step Two: Painting the bear

This part is super easy. Just paint the bear brown.

Then, with a small brush, make small strokes around the bear, filling in the face, the nose, the underbelly, etc. It's really helpful to look at the illustrations from the book.

After the paint dries, cut around the bear, leaving a small amount of white paper showing.

Supplies Part II
12" x 18" Black paper
Fresh leaves snipped from trees
White, orange, gold and bronze tempera paint
Smooth, flat brushes
Scratch paper

Step Three: Leaf Printing

Using leaves found around the school yard, I place a variety on each table. Start by painting the underbelly (the vein side) of the leaf with white paint. Then, place the leaf, paint side down onto the sheet of black paper. Place a piece of scratch paper over the leaf and rub gently. Sometimes it's helpful to press down as well. Carefully peel away the scratch paper and leaf to reveal the white painted leaf print.

It's okay to use the same leaf more than once. Now that the leaf has a white base coat, paint some color on top of the white paint and press onto the black paper. The creaminess of the white combined with an orange works really well on the black paper. Just using orange for instance, doesn't produce as pleasing of a result.Continue to make leaf prints on the entire paper especially around the edges.

Step Four: Adding Details

It's fun to use the back end of a brush dipped in white paint to create snowflakes. Some children painted snow and others, stems for their leaves.

Step Five: Putting it all together

Glue the bear onto the leaf printed paper and enjoy! I love this art...so beautiful. My fourth graders were very impressed with themselves!

Fantastic Fourth Grade Bears...

Fall leaves in Tissue Paper

Nothing is more beautiful than a tree emboldened with crimson and pumpkin colored leaves. In Santa Barbara, we have few trees that display this wonderful show but our imaginations make up for this lack of seasonal change.
I was inspired by Kathy's art journal pages from Art Project for Kids and wondered how I could translate this lesson for my second grade class.
I found a perfect line drawing of fall leaves, cut some squares of red, orange, yellow, green (and yes, I'll admit it...) purple and let my students enjoy the color of autumn.

Supplies:
6" x 9" white drawing paper
Tissue paper cut into 5" x 5" squares
Mixture of white glue and water
small paint brush
Black marker (waterproof is best)

Time: One 40-minute class

The Set-up

Step One: Tracing the Leaves

Step Three: Arrange the leaves on the paper and brush
smooth with the glue mixture

Step Four: Pick your next leaf and do it again!
Encourage overlapping!

The Results!

Tortuga Time

Based on the book "Manana Iguana" by Ann Whitford Paul, this adorable collage lesson is perfect for little kinders. Children learn how to draw Tortuga the Turtle as drawn in the picture book and paint a desert background.
I do this lesson in three thirty minute classes.

Supplies:

• 12" x 10" white paper
• Oil Pastels
• scissors and glue sticks
• 12" x 18" blue paper
• Tempera paints: brown, white, yellow, light green and dark green
• paint brush and water

Step One: Drawing "Tortuga"

There are some great turtle drawings in this book. Cute, simple and artsy. I love how Tortuga's eyes stick up from his head. That is what we start with: the eyes. Draw two ovals on one side of the paper. Draw a big oval around the eyes taking care not to draw through the eyeballs! Add a neck. For the body, draw a curved line from the neck all the way to the back of the paper. Kid's will know instinctively how big to draw their turtle, so let them. Much cuter this way!
Then add a bottom and four legs.

Step Two: Cut out Turtle

This step is a challenge for many kinders. Some kids have cutting experience but if your group struggles with this part, don't be surprised. I've taught second graders who can't cut well, so consider this lesson great practice! The hardest part for little hands is navigating around a curvy bottom. To avoid this, encourage the kids to draw a straight line for the underbelly. Believe me, much easier for them.

Step Three: (or day two) Painting the Background

This is how I set up for the class. The cut-out turtles are in a pile on a separate table. So when the children finish painting their background, they can glue the turtle on right away.
I must say however, that this particular group had a hard time finishing the background in the allotted time and most didn't finish coloring in their turtles from step one. So I'll add another class so that everyone can have a finished piece.
Doesn't always work this way. The next group of kinders finished everything. Many variables involved: talkative children, late getting to class, etc. None a problem. Just need to be flexible!

With an oil pastel, the kids drew a straight line across the middle of the page. They added a sun plus a cactus for an authentic desert landscape.

Step Four: Putting it all together

By now, the kids should have a finished background and a cut-out turtle. Most of my students needed to finish coloring in their turtles, so we will add an extra class to do this. A nice extra detail would be to add spikes on the cactus, and outline the oil pastel lines again.

The results!

"Matisse" Portraits for Fifth Grade

My fifth grade students at Brandon School have been working very hard on these dynamic portraits for three weeks. Yesterday, most finished. I'm so proud of their work!The finishing steps require attentive students and these children did a marvelous job of doing just that. You can find a complete tutorial in my "Fun with Portraits" PDF Lesson Plans (right sidebar). Meanwhile...enjoy the works of these talented artists!