Op Art Fun (w/ Video)!

 My 3rd & 4th grade students love creating op art!!  This is a great entry level op art project where students can experience a ton of success! It is a great lesson for those teaching online! 

Resurrected Art Project: Line Design

There are projects that we do year after year.  The kids might love it, you might love it, or it might just be the best project to teach a set of skills the students need.  I do like to change things up.  I don't think a bored art teacher is a good thing!! ha ha  I became known(well..my blog did) for the Line Design project.  I even have a Zentangle pattern named after me (NO JOKE!).  So for many years I did this project with my 4th grade students.  However, because of scheduling, programs, field trips., & such.....one year I decided not to do that project.
Somehow, it just kind of dropped off my radar.

CHECK OUT THIS LINK IF YOU AREN'T SURE WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT
http://www.artwithmre.com/2011/12/line-design-explained-deluxe-edition.html

After several years...I decided to resurrect the lesson, but this time I'm doing it with 3rd grade!  We just started this week, and it does take a few weeks to complete.  I'll post more pictures as we complete the lesson!  

Op Art: 4th Grade

Ms. Sanford, my SUPER student teacher, did an amazing job on this Op Art project! It is a great project for introducing point perspective, shading, reflection...and other art concepts.  If you haven't done this with your student yet...GO FOR IT!  

A Cup of Coco: 3rd Grade

                                   

The last class of the day before Christmas Parties start....WHAT DO YOU DO???

Well, I decided I'd do a full lesson with them & pray they'd stay focused enough to complete it!! 

!!!!!!!!AND THEY DID!!!!!!!!!!

I talked to the students about form, and how to create the illusion that something was 3-D when it was actually just flat.  We looked at the shape, how we colored, and shading.  I was excited to see them really get into it!   These are the ones that actually finished.  A few others were really good starts...but not far enough along to see if they were getting the shading or not.  

Line Design Explained : Deluxe Edition

I was asked if I could go into a bit more detail concerning the Line Design "process".  I think the easiest way is with a few more pictures than my previous post on "how to".  I hope this helps...and as always...if you ever have questions about anything on my blog...e-mail me at artwithmre@yahoo.com 

The materials you need for this project are good drawing paper(9x12...but could be done any size), Sharpie Marker, and your choice of media(see the bottom of this post for some ideas).

Start with a gentle curve line across the paper.  Don't go too crazy hilly with the line...it will make it difficult in the steps that are to come!

Place eight dots on the line spaced at different distances.

Go dot - to - dot across the entire line. Do not continue to do this however...or it will create a kind of boring column like work(going straight up & down).  

As you are going dot -to- dot, you need to "camp out" on some of the segments.  This will help them to balloon out & look oh so cool!  This will also cause others to be "pinched off"...and that is fine.  The lines need to continue off of the paper...and should not just stop cause they are close to the edge. As it gets bigger and bigger, the lines will have to be shared going back to the dot...and yes..they should really go back to the dot.  Going back to the dot each time creates the darker shadow"ish" areas that help create depth.

The two pictures above are the WRONG way to do this.  The lines should NEVER criss-cross each other.  I tell my students that the lines can share a path...but never cross over another line.  The second picture is the "RAINBOW CONNECTION".  It is a lot easier to do it that way..but it is not correct.  

So here you see the results of the ballooning out, pinching off, and going off the edge of your paper.

I thought I'd show you how different media works in this project

1. Watercolor Pencil - A little labor intensive, after you color it..you have to go over with with a brush.

2.  Watercolor - I like this a lot, but you would need to make sure the students understood to not put color beside color because of bleeding.

3. Crayons - This works much like colored pencils, but they are a bit chunkier so it's hard to get into the small spaces.

4. Colored Pencil - This is how I usually do the project with my students...I love colored pencils! 

5. Marker- This kind of takes the shading element out of the project, but if you were going more for color families and such...could work!  

Line Design w/Shading - 4th Grade

It's that time of year again!  The Line Design project I do with 4th grade every year is turning out wonderful!  I have some great artists in the 4th grade, and even some of the ones that struggle are doing well with this project.  I have included the link back to the steps so you can try it yourself!

http://artwithmre.blogspot.com/2010/05/line-design-w-shading-steps.html

NEW DELUXE EDITION
http://artwithmre.blogspot.com/2011/12/line-design-explained-deluxe-edition.html

Stealin' from a Thief

You know how in this bloggie world..we see a cool project & we just gotta try it ourselves!!!  Well, one of my best friends, Janet Malone (http://msmalonesartroom.blogspot.com/2011/04/one-point-perspective.html) ...stole the lesson from Mrs. Knight's blog ( http://dolvinartknight.blogspot.com/2011/03/highlights-from-this-week.html )..and I decided to try it out with my students.  Mrs. Knight's were done at the 5th grade level & Janet's were done with 4th grade.  I decided to try it out with 3rd grade.  They didn't do too bad, but the other two teachers' work looks amazing!  Maybe you wanna give this lesson a try.  Everybody's doin' it! :) ha ha

Tints & Shades 2nd Grade

This assignment is not for the faint of heart!  The images you are about to see are the best of my 2nd grade classes.  They are not representative of the WHOLE second grade! 

I love teaching tints & shades!  However, I wanted to try to change up how I taught/reviewed this topic.  I decided it would be a "great idea" to have the kids create these images.  I mean..really..how hard can it be...all you have to draw is a line and a circle...and the rest is paint!  Even with 2 demos, examples on the board, verbal reminders....this was not easy for 2nd graders!!!  Its always good to try new things...new ways of teaching old ideas...but sometimes...you are better off stickin' with your tried & true lessons!! ha ha

Line Design w/ Shading- Student Work in Progress