Apple Art Project

Apple-Art-Project

If you are looking for an engaging book to pair up with an “apple” art project, Nikki McClure’s Apple is a lovely option. Crisp paper-cut illustrations pair with single word text engages children to fill in the storyline with their imaginations. I asked Nikki some questions and she graciously agreed to provide some answers. You [...]

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Watercolor Leaves Resist Project

Fall-watercolor-art-lesson

A simple, yet lovely art lesson that builds upon the principles of watercolor applications. My fifth grade students used liquid watercolor paints, “black” glue (white school glue mixed with black paint) and 9″ x 12″ 90 lb watercolor paper to achieve this lovely project. To start, the students drew leaves onto their watercolor paper with [...]

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Starlight Pumpkin Art Lesson

Nightime-Pumpkin-Art-Project

These beautiful, glowing pumpkins have a lot going on: drawing from observations and sequence, primary color mixing, adding highlights, cutting and pasting skills and composition. I have a very strong group of Kinders this year and they did exceptionally well following this multi-step project.  Here’s what we did…. Using a black oil pastel and a [...]

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Paul Klee Art Lesson

Klee-castles-art-project

Paul Klee has quickly become one of my favorite artists to showcase in my art room. Purchasing The Cat and the Bird by Geraldine Elschner and Peggy Nille is a big reason for this excitement. It’s so much easier holding up an exquisitely illustrated picture book than coming up with my own powerpoint or dry explanation [...]

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On embracing change…

family

Blogs often act as a personal journal for the blog author. When I started blogging in 2008, I did it to record my journey towards publishing a middle grade novel (you can still read my blog here). I loved recording my thoughts, my revelations about writing and my creative experiences with my critique groups. I [...]

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Easy Picasso Faces Art Project

Easy-Picasso-faces

Everyone is looking for a quick and easy art lesson that children can complete in under 45 minutes. This oil pastel and watercolor painting fits the bill! The supplies are simple: 9 x 12′ 90 lb watercolor paper, black oil pastel and liquid or pan watercolor paints. Start by showing how to draw a simple [...]

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Gustav Klimt Art Project

Klimt-art-project

Despite the detailed elegance of Gustav Klimt’s “Tree of Life” painting, this quick, calming art lesson can be completed in under an hour.  You’ll need metallic paint for this project. I used Sargent Metallic Tempera paint but other brands work just as well. There is a quality to the metallic paints that makes the paint glide [...]

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Diego Rivera’s Mother’s Helper Art Lesson

Diego-Rivera-art-lesson

Diego Rivera is one of the most famous painters in the twentieth century. After studying in Spain and France, he returned to his homeland of Mexico. There he travelled across the country, exploring the cultures, architecture and history of the different regions. Returning to Mexico City, Diego began painting murals for which he became famous. [...]

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Modern Masters e-Book with video!

Modern-Master-video-art-lessons

Deep Space Sparkle is pleased to announce our first e-book with video tutorials! Modern Masters for K-2nd grade contains three lesson plans that will check off all your art room standards. Easy and dynamic, the lesson now include the option to purchase the e-book with or without the video supplements. Modern Masters for Kinder-2nd grade [...]

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Pinch Pot Monsters

ceramic-monster-art-project

I’m a planner. I like to be prepared. So whatever happened during those last few weeks of school that left me staring at  200 pieces of unglazed bisque, I’ll never know. I’m blaming Star Testing and the mutual decision to abandon the art schedule during testing and just tack 2 weeks on the end of [...]

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Watercolor Resist Tropical Fish

Fish-resist-art-lesson

Fish are easy to draw and the color opportunity is fantastic. My fifth grade students always do a few watercolor lessons and this year I wanted to use good old fashioned crayons as my resist tool. I have a variety of crayons: construction paper, glitter crayons and plain crayons. My students loved getting all variety [...]

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Painted Paper Tropical Birds

Parrot-art-project

 Even though by the end of the year my art room is  overflowing with painted paper scraps, I couldn’t resist using up my stashes of mixed paints to create this colorful assemblage of painted paper birds. My first graders created these birds in two, 40-minute sessions. A bit of a race I must say, but [...]

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Ancient Greece Mural Project

ancient-greece-mural

Capping off the 6th grade promotion festivities was the reveal of the annual 6th grade mural. This year we chose to do Ancient Greece, with many student’s incorporating mythological creatures into their tile creations. We used terra cotta clay to create our tiles. To save time and to take advantage of the sgraffito technique, we [...]

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Teaching Art 101 e-Course Update

ecourse-graphic

The summer e-course is SOLD OUT. Please join me on October 15-November 2, 2012 when I offer the course again. Registration will begin early September. Thank you!   I am thrilled to announce that the Teaching Art 101 e-Course is almost filled to capacity! I will be accepting only 20 additional students. I hadn’t planned [...]

Ceramic Elephant Art Lesson

ceramic-elephant

These baby elephants are adorable. My third grade kids created them in the very same manner as the ceramic pigs, but instead of little ears and a snout, the children created big flapping ears and a trunk. In order to be successful with the hollow form method of making an animal, the children must have [...]

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