Monochromatic Flower Paintings

My first graders are rocking this monochromatic painting lesson. No drawing. All painting.They were scared at first...but totally proud at the end!!

I did a tiktok about the "process" & placed it on IG. Find me @ArtWithMrE

 

Overlapping Snake Paintings

We are working on possible art show pictures. This years theme is PETS! I know that snakes aren’t everyone’s favorite pet, but I thought my second graders would enjoy creating one. Plus, it gives me a chance to reinforce overlapping. I had theme make their snake look like

 

1/2 Hour Class...Painting K-5th

This is what I did during our 2 hr delay day that changed my classes from an hour to a half hour! 

Crazy or Genius....YOU BE THE JUDGE! ! ha ha

Dollar Tree Hacks: Tempera Cakes Container

I love Dollar Tree!  So many great things that can be used in the art room.  I think my Cumberland University students think I'm secretly working for Dollar Tree because I'm a walking advertisement! You share what you love, right?!?! 

I purchased these muffin tins from Dollar Tree about 2 yrs ago.  They are the perfect size for the tempera cakes I have in my classroom.  I have one for primary & one for secondary colors.  They are compact in size.  Both trays will fit in the center of their table, and still leave plenty of room for students to work. The trays I saw online for the tempera cakes was much more expensive, and my school budget would not allow me to purchase those. 

I always feel like.....

I always feel like ....some dino's watching me! 

(If you don't know this reference....just move along to the pictures?!)

My student teacher did this lesson with my 3rd graders.  The kids LOVED this project!! Even though this COULD be a lesson that yielded look-a-like/copy cat art.....the students really created unique works that expressed personal style & choice.  Ms. Witt started the lesson by looking at images of reptile eyes & artist renderings of dinosaur eyes. They discussed the parts of the eye & texture of the surrounding skin.  Students started by drawing the eye and scales. They then used tempera cakes to begin painting their projects.  This was a two week lesson(our classes are an hour in length).

SIDE NOTE:  I have a student that rarely gets into her art, but this time did not want to stop! She came back during her free time to finish it.  It is such a joy to find something that sparks the imagination, heart, and interest of a student! 

Abstract Expressionism: 3rd Grade

I love doing Abstract Expressionism with my 3rd graders!  We look at a huge collection of images so they can see the many different approaches artists used within the movement.  I focus in on the shapes, colors, and movement of the work that help to convey emotion in a work.  

I allowed them to use a pencil to draw in some basic shapes/lines they wanted in their work, but encouraged them to create most of the work using their brushes.  They were nervous about this(we usually draw before painting), but they embraced the challenge and really seemed to enjoy this out of "our" box approach.  

After many years of thinking about it...I finally ordered tempera cakes.  This is the lesson we broke them in on!!!  I limited their palette to the primaries, white, and black.  I encouraged them to use the black last to do more expressive line work with it using their small brush.  

Here are some of the results!  Many of the students used the colors in their pure form and did not explore color mixing much.  

Homemade Tempera Cakes?

In my mind...anything is possible!  However, when it comes to figuring it out....things don't always come to fruition.  I am trying to make my own tempera cakes.  TRYING being the word!  I've tried letting them air dry. I've tried baking them.  I've tried adding dish soap.  I've tried adding extra powdered tempera to the liquid tempera.  So far, nothing has worked.  I tried Googling it, but found nothing.  Anyone out there tried to make their own tempera cakes?  How did it work? What did you do? 

It does look cool...but not what I wanted!!!!!!!!