Art Making from Kindergarten to Graduation
One of my favorite art styles to teach is surrealism because it pushes a lot of students out of their comfort zones. Surrealism, an art period in the early 20th century, focuses on combining art literature, dreams, and the unconscious in interesting ways. One of the most familiar surrealist artists and artwork is Salvador Dali and… Continue reading Surrealist Eyes Drawings
My high school printmaking class continued making printing pates with common art room materials as we introduced different print methods and techniques. Glue was an obvious choice to use for our printing plates since most classrooms have an abundance of it. Materials Glue (white, tacky, or hot glue) Cardboard or card stock Brayer Brush Block… Continue reading Printmaking with Glue
After a break from school, I like to get the students back in the swing of things with a fun project to jump start their creativity and get their artistic juices flowing. I have done this project before with elementary school, but I was really excited to introduce it to my high school students to… Continue reading Chris Piascik Inspired Doodle Drawings
Pablo Picasso (photograph) by Beaton, Cecil is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 Picasso is a great artist to teach to young kids. I like introducing him to kindergarten students because he was a very skilled, technical artist, even considered a prodigy. He mastered realistic drawing early in his life and began exploring abstraction during a time… Continue reading Picasso-esque Self Portraits
I have always loved alebrijes with their bright colors and patterns. It wasn’t until I wanted to teach alebrijes as an art project that I learned the history behind their creation. Back in the 1930’s, paper mache artist, Pedro Lineras Lopez, had a nightmare where mythical creatures were following him around a forest chanting “alebrije”.… Continue reading Color Scheme Alebrijes
Mandala, Sanskrit for circle, is a design made up of geometric symbols and can be used for spiritual meditation and focusing one’s attention. Mandalas can be found in several religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, and can be dated back to the first century BC. Due to its repetitive nature, mandalas make a great printmaking project… Continue reading Printmaking Mandalas
When teaching art, it is important to go over the elements of art early and one of my favorite is the element of space. Space in art is the area within a composition while positive space is the subject or areas of interest in a piece making anything in the background or surrounding the subject… Continue reading Positive/Negative Silhouettes
One of my kids favorite books to read is Yayoi Kusama Covered Everything in Dots and Wasn’t Sorry. The book, written by Fatsu Gilberti, gives a great background on the artist with fun cartoon illustrations making this book a resource for elementary age kids. While reading, the author discusses Yayoi’s love of pumpkins. While I… Continue reading Yayoi Kusama Inspired Pumpkins
This project is one of the first lessons I do with my kindergarten classes. Color is an important element of art and one of the easiest for the students to feel successful with. Introduction Primary Colors A great way to intro this lesson is to first ask if anyone knows what the primary colors are.… Continue reading Primary Colors and Piet Mondrian
In the Art Room with Mrs. D 