Vincent's Stars by Kindergarten

This was a goodie I developed with this year for my Kinders and I think I will do it again. Drawing stars is a very magical thing for them. On the first day, we learned how to use different lines to draw stars and that was quite a challenge for those who had never tried before! Once everyone had their star finished, we worked together, adding patterns to one section of the star at a time. We used patterns inside the different spaces using a black crayon - stripes, polka dots, criss-cross, zigzag and then free choice. Once complete, they were colored with oil pastels. The following week, the stars were cut and glued and we added spirals and painted dashes to  the background a la Vincent van Gogh. 

1st grade Sunflower Pots

Vincent van Gogh's sunflowers were the inspiration for this awesome twist on the usual pinch pot project. The pieces were glazed for the finishing touch and I will continue this great tradition - the brilliant inspiration came from my colleague at Mrs. Knight's Smartest Artists!!

Here is a group all bagged up and ready to go home.....I secretly love this part even though it takes about 20 minutes of my time during the art class to prepare. After each kiddo decorates a bag with line patterns using construction paper crayons, I scrunch a piece of tissue paper into the bottom and then pop in the sunflower pot with an art statement about the project for parents to read. The bags are tied with yarn. 

3rd grade Bedroom Sculptures a la Vincent van Gogh

These sensational pieces were inspired by a project I read about at Mrs. Allen's Art Room!! She was so kind to collaborate through email with me and share some tips for teaching this lesson. I have been so anxious to share some results....and the pictures below are only one class! High success rate for each kiddo and they were *VERY* enthralled....
The bedrooms were made using 12x12 art paper and students worked as interior designers - designing two walls and a floor. They had to make sure to include at least one window. We talked about ideas extensively to get the creative juices flowing and boy, oh boy, did they come up with the most terrific ideas! On the last day, the dioramas were cut and glued into place and the beds were built from construction paper and fabric.

A few bulletin boards

There is so much going on in the art room these days and not enough time to post as frequently as I would like. I have so much to share and just realized I never posted any projects from our school art show back in March on top of our current multicultural units. I will slowly start adding one project at a time. For now, I will share a few bulletin boards that have been a success.

The Vincent van Gogh Sunflower bulletin board was made by piecing together paintings created by Kindergarten. The kids loved this project, and I really enjoyed the simple supply list, but it entailed quite a bit of work on my end since I had each student paint their sunflower on really heavy, thick paper that became grueling to cut (it made me realize I can be such a glutton for pain sometimes). This was large paper too, about 18x24.

The next bulletin board is comprised of paintings made by 1st grade. I found this Matisse-inspired still-life project on Artsonia years ago and have used it quite a bit. The success rate is always high and it enforces warm and cool color families, plus printmaking. I get a kick out of the bird's eye view of the apples on the plate and the kids always love the professional look they can create just by adding the simple shadows. This year, I tried changing up the color palette for one class. In the background we used turquoise, green, yellow and brown. Forgive me, I didn't take pictures, but I was pleased with the results. The red apples really popped against this color combination!

3rd grade: Blast Off!! with Vincent van Gogh

I'm not sure if I have ever let one year get by without doing a project based on van Gogh's Starry Night.....This year I decided to try something new with my 3rd graders after seeing a print that inspired me from Pinterest.

On day one, I had students trace yogurt lids on blue paper and add dashes and dots using the warm colors plus white. I also asked them to include a moon and anything else they felt appropriate to add to the night sky and the feeling of motion.

On day two, we talked about foreground, middle ground and background. Each student received three pieces of green paper in different shades and applied oil pastel in a dashing method. I asked them to cut off the top portion to create some interesting land forms before gluing down.

For the last day of this project, I showed some rocket ship illustrations and students got busy creating their own rocket ship/flying saucer/space shuttle using the collage technique. Oil pastel details were added last as well as an outline to really make everything pop!

3rd grade van Gogh Chairs

My 3rd graders have been working super hard on drawings of chairs in the style of Vincent van Gogh. We talked about how a drawing as simple as a chair can actually be very hard. After the kids spent some time drawing, I asked them to personalize the chair in an effort to make it their own. It was amazing to see them incorporating these ideas into their compositions. In effect, these really became chair self-portraits!!! This work will be on display for our annual art show coming up on March 15.

*Love how this student concealed her signature in the chair (it's hard to see in the picture, but it's there!)