slide show for perspective landscapes

Wonderful news! 

This year I have become addicted to google presentations for a number of reasons. 

I have recently figured out that I can "publish them to the web", meaning the presentations/slide shows can be accessed without logging in. Wahoo!

If you were a fan of my middle school perspective landscape lesson from last spring I now have my slide show posted as a google presentation. You can access it directly here -

so now I do not have to email out my folder of resource images. 

Enjoy!

Please please please make sure you site back to my lesson post if you post projects on your own. It is the right thing to do- AND I would love to see other teacher's results and adaptations. 

mid year middle school art show

Last week I put on a mid-year art show just for middle school. This is the my second year at this school (the school is PK-12, I teach 6, 7, 8). My first year I hoarded all of my students work until the art show at the end of the year because that was the departing teacher told me to do.  Going into this year I had a better grasp of how much the kids would actually produce (more than I anticipated) and how much work I would need at the end of the year all-school show. The other thing I realized was that the parents basically forgot the kids even took art until the end of the year. This year I took on some new initiatives to make my art program more visible to parents and the campus:

-I have implemented Artsonia... it is awesome. 

-I sent home a couple pieces of artwork with each child before Christmas. 

-I held a middle school only art show in February in the middle school building.

Here is the breakdown of the art show projects. 

Our theme was LIGHT. 

Grade 6: 

Birch tree moonscapes

 Acrylic Lighthouse Paintings on small canvases

inspired by Edward Hopper

 s

Grade 7:

Lamps and Light Fixtures

 Acrylic paintings on small canvases

Inspired by the Rumi quote,

"The lamps are different but the light is the same."

 Interior Spaces using 1 point perspective

Grade 8:

Symbolic Silhouettes using Stippling

Students completed the sentence "Let light shine on _____ because _____." 

They had to choose an issue in the world of importance and should have more light shine on it. They chose a symbolic image to represent the concept.  

In a different room I had a "Special Exhibition" of 8th grade art. 

These were geometric relief sculptures the students worked very hard on.

It was really nice to be able to highlight their hard work and make the 8th grade feel special. 

Detailed posts of the projects will be up asap!!

Birch tree moonscapes for middle school

This was a very successful

mat board / cardboard strip black paint smearing/flicking birch tree project 

that I elevated so that it was appropriate for 6th grade and more challenging than I've done previously.

As (hopefully) all of you know, the birch tree trick project is a no-fail project that makes every student feel like a super-duper artist. The objective this time around was to

create a full landscape that demonstrated great depth and shadows. 

Before I start- I am so close to 200 followers(!) so please pass this along to friends

or colleagues so that I can hit a new milestone.

(I think it will also motivate me to do my blog design overhaul sooner rather than later.)

The lesson: 

 This was my favorite of my photo and print examples. 

It is a woodcut called "Northern Shadows" by Lisa VanMeter

who has many beautiful woodcuts and tree-themed work on her website. 

Project breakdown:

-Drawing-

1. Sketch closest trees

2. Add in horizon line and hills. 

3. Sketch in the rest of trees ( I required a minimum of 6.)

4. Draw in moon and shadows. 

5. Add in extras: houses, animals, footsteps, etc.

-Painting-

1. Use cardboard or mat board pieces to scrap thinned black tempera for the birch.

2. Paint in sky with liquid watercolor. 

3. Paint in shadows and create a "chalky moon texture" with a very light black wash. 

4. Use watercolor pencils for tiny things like houses, pine trees, animals. 

*To expedite the process I had three sky color options pre-made

and the shadow paint pre-mixed and ready. 

For elementary teachers I have a "wicked" old version of this project and a round-up of many other winter project ideas here. 

Farmland landscapes using perspective

I did this lesson with seventh graders, most of who have not learned anything about perspective drawing. This was a wonderful introduction to perspective drawing & landscapes. I would recommend it for 5th-7th grade. We did a 1 point perspective worksheet first. 

The use of soft pastel on colored construction paper is no fail.

I love setting the kids up with a project that is destined to look great. 

Students had to draw a landscape and include crop lines some how.

Tracing in sharpie before applying the pastel was optional. 

These were a few of the examples I showed the kids. If you'd like my entire slide show leave your email in the comments and I'll happily send it along to you.

*** I now have my slide show available via this link. ***

There are so many great Van Gogh examples, you could easily tie it in with a Van Gogh lesson. 

Some more great finished products:

winter shade and shadow landscape

I based this lesson on these two pins but gave it a winter twist:

 

Day one we worked on tints and shade mixing with blue for the sky around the moon.

Day two we discussed shadows, added on snowmen and their appropriate shadows and a small house in the distance demonstrating depth. 

(I apologize because these are some of the worst pictures I've taken in a long while.)

Overlapping Hot Air Balloons

First grade- hot air balloons

the goal was for students to demonstrate overlapping

and also depth by drawing the balloons receding. 

Traced with sharpie, colored with crayon, and sky was painted with tempera cake. 

Getting ready for winter - round up of past projects!

(image courtesy of bomobob.etsy.com)

Since the winter season is quickly nearing and I'm sure most of you are lesson planning I thought it would be a great help to post a recap of some of my past winter-themed lessons before I delve into this years. You can also click on the "winter" label and get more details. 

Penguins!

 

Model magic over wine corks, and cut straw beaks.

Penguin portraits.

Mittens!

Snowflakes printed with cardboard scraps and white tempera.

Snowy self-portraits.

pattern mittens and hot cocoa.

Collaged mittens and hat. Great way to use up scraps of random materials

and a very tactile experience for Pre-K, K, and 1st. 

Stars - Snowflakes - Landscapes !

Tissue paper collage, model magic border, crayon/watercolor resist.

Cityscape Snowglobe

Snowman paper collage.

Snowman painting and oil pastel.

Near and far winter landscapes- white conte over gray paper.

Collaborative installation: torn paper snowman, intro to snowflake cutting,

cut out hands for the trees.

Collage winter trees and watercolor stars.

Long Night Moon book, night time landscape with chalk.

Winter birch trees and snowy owls.

Nutcrackers!

For some pins I've had my eye for inspiration this coming winter season click here!