3rd graders stamped a line landscape with black acrylic paint, then painted with pan watercolors. Allow two 40-minute sessions.
Do you want a landscape lesson plan that delivers gorgeous art with 100% success in only two 40-minute sessions? Try the Paul Klee lesson featured in the book Dynamic Art Projects for Children by Denise M. Logan. Students spent their first class using black acrylic paint and small pieces of mat board to stamp a jagged landscape. They painted with watercolors during the second class. Here are the results:
Dynamic Art Projects for Children is a fabulous book with many colorful, engaging lesson plans for kids in grades 1-6. I wrote about the book’s Kuna mola lesson plan in this post.
Can you recommend a book with awesome lesson plans? Leave a comment!
Its January. That means you want to get more organized, right? Here are a few products that make my art room life a little (or a lot!) easier.
Elmer’s triple-size glue sticks. Glue sticks – so much to love, so much to hate. Hate #1: the standard size sticks (.21 oz. each) run out so quickly! Solution: big fat glue sticks.
Elmer’s glue sticks: .77 oz. vs. .21 oz.
These are more expensive that regular sticks, but they are over 3x larger. Available in 12 packs of white and Goes on Purple/Dries Clear.
at office supply stores and Amazon (and maybe even your school district’s supplier!).
3M Command removable hooks
I used 3M Command removable hooks on my laminate cabinets. Instant rack!
Do you have laminate cabinets? Or some other vertical surface deemed off-limits to drilling/nailing by school officials? Try 3M Command removable hooks. These hooks have been in use for 3 years and none have fallen off.
2 oz. ‘salsa’ cups and lids
Glaze in 2 oz. 'salsa' cups
You will find many uses for these: glaze, leftover paint, glue, slip….made by Dixie and available at Costco , Smart & Final and Amazon (lids may be sold separately).
I read art room blogs for two years before starting my own….your organizational tips have been so helpful to me!!! Is there another tip you’d like to share? Leave a comment.
Lino cutter (student grade – we used the ones from this Soft Kut class pack)
Stamp pads
Watercolor markers (we used Crayola)
I teach this assignment with a packet of handouts…
Explain to students we will be cutting away the white portions of their design…..since they are beginners, the design should be fairly simple. No letters, no words, no numbers!!!!
Here are some sketches…I have to approve their final designs before they cut.
After approval, students transfer design to eraser. Placed traced design ‘dirty side down’ on the eraser and rub with edge of Popsicle stick to transfer.
Carve eraser:
Rules:
Stay seated.
Keep eraser flat on the table.
Grip cutter as if it was a pencil.
Make shallow cuts, not deep.
Your cutting hand should stay low, close to the table. Your wrist can go up about an inch above the table.
Direct cuts away from your body.
Rotate eraser so that cuts are directed away from your hand.
Cut away white portions of design.
Printing:
Time to print! Students could use a stamp pad or color their erasers with watercolor markers (we used Crayola markers). The stamp pad method is quick, but the marker method allows more variety.
Instructions on the board.....
Student Results:
Carved eraser stamps inked with watercolor marker.
6th grade artist thought overlapping colors 'looked 3D'
This student hand-colored her stamp with markers.
Group project with three stamps (hand-colored with markers).
Student hand-inked design inspired by Nike logo and colored negative space with marker.
Many students said this was their favorite project ever!!!! They are clamoring to go on to part 2, a design based on their initials. To be continued!
It is also a special joy for me to see the 6th graders complete the project – I have had about 25% of these kids since they were 5 years old and learning how to write their names.
This printmaking project is also great opportunity to discuss art principles and elements: repetition, unity, and variety. It is appropriate for grades 6-12.
Maybe you have used scratch foam for printmaking in the art room. I’ve seen a lot of beautiful art work using scratch foam and printer’s ink applied with brayers. But did you know scratch foam prints can look like this?
This set of four cupcake prints were all made from the same scratch foam plate during a single 40-minute class.
3rd graders used watercolor marker and scratch foam to create multiple prints. We did an easy directed drawing of a cupcake onto scratch foam, colored the foam with watercolor markers, and then printed the cards onto damp paper.
Materials:
Scratch foam, cut to desired size
sketch paper, cut to same size as foam
dull pencil
masking tape
watercolor markers in assorted colors (I use Mr. Sketch markers)
oil pastels or other embellishments (optional)
shallow tub (dishpan) of water
beach towel (several if you are teaching multiple or large classes)
plastic sleeve protectors for printing station
white construction paper for printing – cut larger than scratch foam
Prep:
Set up a printing station. Fill tub with water depth of 2-3 inches. Set out a folded towel. Tape a sleeve protector to the table. Slide in an alignment sample (see below). Cut a stack of printing papers, enough for each student to make at least 3 prints. Think about drying space (always an issue when printing multiples). Drying rack? Clothes line?
Drawing
draw cupcake onto sketch paper. Click here for my step-by-step how to draw a cupcake instructions.
Remind students: NO LETTERS, NO WORDS, NO NUMBERS.
tape sketch paper on top of scratch foam.
go over cupcake sketch with a dull pencil. The lines should transfer to the scratch foam below.
pull up the paper. Drawing directly on the foam, go over any lines you missed with the pencil. You can also add sprinkles or other small lines at this time.
discard the sketch paper and tape.
Tape sketch on top of scratch foam. Go over lines with dull pencil to incise foam below.
Inking
use the watercolor markers to ink the scratch foam. Students should use multiple colors. Fill the scratch foam completely with color.
Color in the scratch foam with watercolor markers.
Printing
take your foam to the printing station.
write your name in small letters on white construction paper. Use pencil.
dip white construction paper in water
put wet paper in folded towel to blot
align inked scratch foam on sleeve protector INK SIDE UP
put damp white paper on scratch foam NAME SIDE UP (align using the sleeve protector)
rub paper firmly without wiggling
PULL THE PRINT
Printing station. Students align foam with white rectangle, damp paper with blue rectangle.
The third graders were amazed!!!! Vibrant colored cupcakes for their beautiful birthday cards.
ARE YOU READY FOR EVEN MORE FUN?????
Re-inking
Students re-ink the scratch foam plates using a different color scheme. It doesn’t matter if the plate still has a little color on it – go right over the plate with a different color.
Print again!
Students should carefully sign their name on the back of the foam plate WITH PENCIL. Write small.
A word of caution: as always, test this project out yourself before attempting with your students.
1) The degree of dampness of the printing paper is critical. Too dry and the ink won’t transfer to the paper. Too wet and the ink will bleed and blur as the paper dries. For blotting, a fresh beach towel is ideal. My towel was too damp by the third class of the day. I wish I had a couple of fresh dry ones with me. Next year!
2) Size of drawing matters. Tiny drawings the size of a thumbnail just won’t look good.
Day 2: Embellish Prints with Oil Pastels
Students have the option of embellishing their dry prints. These cupcakes are decorated with oil pastel. This is a great way to rescue students less-than-perfect prints. Can you imagine these with a little clear glitter and/or a sequin?
Next we trim our cupcake prints and glue them onto colored construction paper. What fabulous birthday cards for all our family and friends.
Fun – colorful – successful – easy to clean up!
This would be a great Wayne Thiebaud lesson plan – it relates to his dessert paintings in terms of subject matter and repetition.
Wayne Thiebaud. Cakes. 1963
A huge thank you to Carol Catelano Webb, master art teacher, who taught this printing process at a San Diego Art Educators workshop back in 2005.
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