Building up to my sixth grade student’s big unit on watercolors, I wanted to remind them of the various ways in which they can use watercolor paint. Even though I use watercolors in every grade level and I have taught these children since first grade, it never hurts to remind the children, through their own experiments, of the unique qualities of watercolors. To begin, each student received a 12″ x … Read More →
Double loading is a painting technique I use in all my art classes. It’s super easy, eliminates some common painting problems like using too much water , plus it’s truly beautiful. After many requests asking me to explain how I teach this cool technique, I have finally done it! Here is a short video (1:45 seconds) showing how the the process works… Here are some art lessons that use the … Read More →
The best watercolor projects start out as great drawings. Learn my simple techniques for creating wonderful pen drawings and the best approach to enhancing each project with pan and liquid watercolors. Designed to enhance upper grade units of study, the booklet can also be purchased with access to three video lesson tutorials! This 21-page booklet offers THREE art lesson plans: The White House: Learn to draw the White House using … Read More →
How do you encourage children to produce images large enough to paint or color? It’s a great question, isn’t it? One of my DSS Facebook readers asked this very question so here is my response…. How you choose techniques and tools will greatly determine how “big” a child will draw. Pencils are not a regular part of my art room for the mere fact that they encourage details and details are … Read More →
Painted paper is my very favorite art supply and you make it yourself! All you need is some paper, paints and a paint brush. Purchasing texture tools is optional but if you want some for free, look no further than your recycling container. Plastic forks, plastic containers/cups and even old sponges make the best texture tools. Making your own painted paper sure beats the heck out of store bought craft … Read More →
I received this question via email today and thought my answer, plus any comments from readers, might help Megan out. Here is her question: Hi Patty, First I want to thank you for sharing all of your ideas! As a new teacher, with so much to learn and a lot of other things to juggle, it’s nice to try things out that I know have worked in the past. … Read More →