Art Lessons for Kids
James Rizzi has left his mark on the world. His amazing illustrations has made an indelible impression on me and my students. Last Fall, my sixth graders did a unit on James Rizzi which included Faces and Simple Birds. This time we had fun with James Rizzi Inspired Skyscrapers. This is a super easy lesson [...]
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A while ago, I stumbled across the most adorable children’s books. Do You Have a Hat? written by Eileen Spinelli and illustrated by Geraldo Valerio features the hats of some very famous individuals: Goya, Lincoln, Carmen Miranda to name a few. It’s a great read for the classroom; funny, brief, historical and visually dynamic. Since the [...]
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Here is a great lesson that uses oil pastels/crayons and watercolor for a classic resist lesson. Very easy to draw, this Princess and The Pea project can be achieved in two, 45-minute class sessions. This project was inspired by a Princess and the Pea art project on the Easely Amused website, a children’s art workshop in Mississippi. [...]
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Here is an easy art project that takes minutes to complete. After studying Friedensreich Hundertwasser, and creating a colorful collage, some of my fifth grade students finished early. Instead of doing random free-choice art, I handed them a small piece of watercolor paper (9″ x 12″), some colored waterproof markers and a pan of watercolor [...]
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Artist James Rizzi has been providing my art students with fabulous inspiration this Fall. After finishing another James Rizzi art lesson before class was over, some students continued on the Rizzi path and created these adorable birds. The 2012 James Rizzi Wall Calendar (English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch Edition) is a great visual aid [...]
James Rizzi is a dynamic artist/illustrator who lives in New York City. His animated art style, rich in detail and expression, has a massive following. The simple black lines with bold dashes of color make a perfect style for my students to imitate. My 6th graders loved this lesson. I mean, loved! I used the [...]
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Is there anything more adorable than watching little kids paint? Only if its watercolor paint! The brushes might be the smallest these five-year-olds have ever worked with and I sense the paint feels dainty to them. They are oh-so careful! This art lesson is a great introduction to the world of color. Paint mingles, spills [...]
Clipper ships glide over the ocean at top speeds. The tangle of nets, ropes and sails, however, can make drawing a clipper ship daunting. Breaking down the ship’s parts into basic shapes helps with the drawing efforts. By the end of the drawing lesson, my students felt empowered with their impressive achievements. I detailed the [...]
One of the most common questions and personal email queries I receive concerns liquid watercolors. As hard as I try to incorporate information into my posts, questions from readers still linger. So here it is. My official post about liquid watercolors! Cue the fireworks! Liquid Watercolor Paints Questions: What are they? Liquid watercolors are [...]
Here is another art video made during my last class with my fourth grade students. This is a super fast and fun lesson that involved drippy watercolors. Mistakes are encouraged and enthusiasm expected. All you’ll need is some watercolor paper, liquid watercolors (if you don’t have liquid watercolors, try food coloring. I hear it works!) [...]
My last class with my first and second grade students was on Tuesday. I only had 15 classes with them, so when the last class arrived, it felt very sad and short. Most of my lessons are designed to fit into 2, 45-minute sessions, so when I need a one session lesson, I really need [...]
Woohoo! My first attempt at an “art video”! My second grade students completed these in one 44-minute class. It’s a pretty simple lesson… no-fuss bird drawing using oil pastel then paint with liquid watercolors. Perhaps the simplest lessons are the best? Enjoy! Second Grade Watercolor Birds
This is a lesson I did last year with my third grade students. It’s featured in my PDF Art Booklet “Art & Literature”. My second grade students are studying dinosaurs right now and even though I created a new dino lesson for them (featured later this week), I wanted to show you these cute little [...]
I’ve done this architectural drawing lessons for the past few years. It’s a great way to teach how math and art collide. Rectangles, triangles, perspective….you name it, this project has it! As a new spin, students colored small areas with markers and painted larger areas with pan watercolor paint. We spoke about monochromatic colors, but [...]
Everyone has done a birch tree art lesson. They are such a lovely tree, stripped of their leaves and shimmering with black and white bark. Most kids in Southern California have never seen a forest of birch trees, unlike my 10-year old self who collected the bark to someday build my own birch-bark canoe like [...]
