Primary Color Parrot Painting Lesson

Parrots are an art room staple..for lessons, I mean. They are easy to draw and even more fun to paint. I love this lesson because, no matter what the child's perceived artistic ability, most will be totally surprised with how well they did.

1. For this lesson, which took three-45 minute class times, we started with learning how to draw a basic parrot. I use the "shape" strategy. Draw a circle for the eye, draw an arrow for the beak, etc. Most kids find it easy to draw when a confusing and seemingly difficult image is broken down into basic shapes.
2. After the kids draw a parrot on scrap paper, I give them a large sheet of white 12 x 18 sulphite paper. They are free to draw whatever bird they like. I plaster the white board with pictures of tropical birds and give them black and white drawings of birds, used as a drawing aid, for their table.
3. I encourage the kids to use a black marker for drawing. Pencil and erasures take up too much class time. Most kids will spend the entire class period erasing their lines.
   
4. By the second class, each kid will have a completed bird drawing. At this point, I give them a tray with the primary paint colors on it. We go over how to mix the colors to make the secondary colors and then the kids are free to paint their tropical birds.

By the last class, some kids need to finish their painting but all others can add a black marker detail to their painting. Outlining the leaves, feathers and other details really make the painting come alive!

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!

Kinder Cows!

I had a request from one of my kinder teachers to teach a class on drawing animals. Not exactly my forte, but I remembered a cute lesson in the Art Projects for Kids Blog. Kathy created an adorable cow, complete with a graphic on how to draw the little Holstein. Here is Kathy's post.

I experimented with the instructions, but with only 30 minutes to draw and paint the cow, I knew my instructions had to be fool proof.
I debated whether or not to use a pencil. As you might know, I'm not a fan of pencils for most elementary art projects because it gives the kids a chance to No. 1, draw too small and No. 2, be too perfect.
But I knew if the kids drew directly onto the paper with a black crayon, there would be lines where lines shouldn't be (neck and legs).


I threw caution to the wind and decided to try both methods. For my first class of kinders, I handed out crayons and proceeded to show them how to draw the cow. I drew it on the white board and used lots of adjectives so they'd remember the steps. Then, I let them go to it. Some kids eliminated steps on their own, thus didn't have the extra lines. (Unfortunately, I didn't take photo's of this step).
For the next wave of kinders, I used pencils and we drew the cow together in direct line sequential. Here, I found my original theory to be accurate. The legs looked like toothpicks and a few kids added way too many details. Not a bad thing mind you, just harder to paint. After the pencil drawing (and yes, many requests for an eraser), the kids traced over their pencil lines with a black crayon.


I encouraged the kids to add clouds, a sun, flowers, large back spots, etc.
The painting part was super fast. Set out large wash brushes and premix some blue and green watercolor paints. Easy peasy.


So, the lesson in all this? Don't use pencils.







I saved my best tip for last: If you're in a time crunch, use a cardboard template to trace for the cow's body. I set a couple of these per-cut templates on each table and gave the children the option of using them. Some kids turned up their noses at the extra help, while others dove right in. For teachers, it's really a quick way to get the project started and makes for a good sized cow.

The artwork featured here is from Mrs. Moore's and Mrs. McCabe's Kinedr class at Mountain View School

For more watercolor lesson ideas, check out Deep Space Sparkle's "Watercolor Projects" PDF booklet.

Owl Paintings for Second Grade

Here is a great alternative to the Torn Paper Owl lesson that I posted last month. Using the same directed drawing lesson, draw the owl onto a piece of black paper using a white oil pastel.
Provide a palette of grays, browns, white and black tempera paint.
I demonstrate how to double-load two paints onto their brush to blend paint directly onto their paper. This is a great technique since it eliminates the time and mess of having the children blend the paint on a palette. I find when they do this, it takes them along time to find just the "right" color.
Show the kids how to make short brush strokes to imitate feathers.
Lastly, add a moon and stars.

"Painted Ladies" : Drawing Victorian Homes

Drawing detailed architecture can be difficult for any age but for elementary students, it can be daunting. These beautiful Victorian homes were created by fifth grade students. We decided to start the drawing in pencil and work to add finishing details with a black marker. It's one of the few art projects that begins with a pencil and eraser but a necessary one.
I can't give a step-by-step tutorial since I didn't take enough pictures along the way, but I will offer a few pieces of advice.
I start the lesson by explaining the defining elements in Victorian Homes and talk about the Painted Ladies in San Francisco. I explain how detail is important, especially around the roof tops and window frames.
Then, I pass out an assortment of cardboard templates. I use these templates for my Castle Drawings and they work wonders. Using tag board, I cut out an assortment of squares, rectangles and columns. Use whatever size is good for use. You don't have to be precise. Then use the cardboard templates to trace sections of the homes.
Looking at the student's artwork below, notice how each section of their houses is basically one of these shapes. The idea is to get them thinking in terms of quadrants. A square for the door area, a square for the windows, a rectangle for the roof, etc.
Have the students trace the templates in pencil, creating and building a house. After all the floors and sections are added, they can add windows, steps, doors, balconies, rooftops, etc.
Use a black marker to trace over all lines and add finishing detail such as brickwork and roof top shingles.

San Francisco's Painted Ladies










These Victorian homes were drawn by the fifth grade students in Mrs. Bosse and Mr. Ranson's Class