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

Line Design: 4th Grade

I've not done this project for a couple years.  It really is the post/project that blew up my blog...and still much traffic comes to Art With Mr. E because of it.  I'll include the links to the explanation for it if you are interested!  I have the basic directions, do's & don'ts, and examples of different media.

Line Design Explaination: Deluxe Edition 
http://www.artwithmre.com/2011/12/line-design-explained-deluxe-edition.html

Line Design: 3rd Grade

I posted a week or so ago that I was going to be the Line Design project with my 3rd grade.  I've never done it with 3rd grade before....so I wasn't totally sure what to expect.  THEY ARE DOING AMAZING!!!!  I will hopefully add more pictures to this post as students finish up their project. I've included the link to the "Deluxe" explanation of the project in case you'd like to do it with your students.  It is a great way to end the year...has that "zen" quality!!

http://www.artwithmre.com/2011/12/line-design-explained-deluxe-edition.html

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!  

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- The Steps

Another MNPS art teacher showed me this project several years ago, and I really liked it.  I tweeked it a bit here and there, but it is basically as he showed me.  The students LOVE IT!  I do this with 4th grade, but I guess you could try it with other grade levels.  All you need is paper, Sharpie, and colored pencils! 

Start by drawing a curve line across the paper.  Think rolling hill...not roller coaster!

Add 8 dots across the line.  They could be(should be) at different lengths apart.  You need a dot at realtively close to the edges of your paper. 

You will then start connecting the dots.  The dots close to the edge will go off the edge of the paper to an imaginary dot.  You can not cross over any lines.  However, you can share a line as you begin going up and out.  The lines should be taken off the edge of the paper as you extend outwords.  Some sections may be pinched off as other sections grow larger...and that is totally ok. 

This is a students work that's a great example of what it should look like.  The students should pick a group of colors they feel work well together.  The will press harder in the corners...and as they near the center get lighter and lighter.  This is a great way to get them practice with pressure control!!! 

I HAVE A ZENTANGLE NAMED AFTER ME!!!!

Several weeks ago I was contacted about the Line Design project I do with my students.  Shawn asked me if she could submit the design to the Zentangle pattern site & name it after me.  I made sure to tell her it was not my original project...but it seemed to be a popular project that has brought many to my blog.  I did not want to take credit for a project that has probably been around for decades!

Soooo...here it is...the Mr. E! 

http://tanglepatterns.com/2013/04/how-to-draw-mr-e.html

Op Art/Line Design

OLDY BUT A GOODY

If you want another op art style project with shading....try this one out.  I did switch to using pencil this year instead of sharpie to draw it because I had so many students with anxiety.  Was not worth stressing them out!  All you need is pencil, paper, colored pencils, and patience! 

Line Design Complementary Colors

The students are really enjoying creating these works.  I will say..at first they were kind of intimidated when it came to creating the background. Once they got into it though...they LOVED it.  

Great for those of you teaching virtually! 

?!?!?!800?!?!?

Pure nuttiness?!?!  800 of you wonderful people are following Art With Mr. E!  That just blows my mind.  

I decided to tip my hat to the Line Design lesson.....I know that (and Pinterest) is what has brought many of you to my blog.  Hopefully you've not found me to be a one trick pony though....and have enjoyed the other content I've "put out there".  I would have never guessed 4 yrs ago when I started this blog...that I'd has such a wonderful community of people.  The questions, sharing, & ideas have challenged & encouraged me.  Thank You!

Line Design w/ Shading- Student Work in Progress

Art Vocabulary

I THOUGHT I WOULD POST THE VOCABULARY SECTION FROM MY OLD WEB SITE. I KNOW THAT SOMETIMES IT'S GOOD TO LOOK THROUGH THE WORDS THAT OTHER TEACHERS ARE USING IN THEIR ROOMS. I DO NOT CONSIDER THIS LIST COMPLETE...BUT A WORKING LIST THAT I'LL CONTINUALLY ADD NEW WORDS. The following words are only a part of the vocabulary we use daily in the art room: Abstract, Architecture, Assemblage, Asmmetrical, Background, Birds Eye View, Cityscape, Clay, Collage, Cool Colors, Details, Environment, Expression, Exterior, Geometric, Hatching, Horizontal, Imagination, Interior, Landscape, Loom, Media, Mixed Media, Monument, Mosaic, Mural, Neutral Colors, Ornate, Organic, Overlapping, Palette, Perspective, Portrait, Primary Colors, Realistic, Relief, Repetition, Sculpture, Secondary Colors, Self Portrait, Simplistic, Still Life, Symmetrical, Texture, Warm Colors, Waterscape, Warp, Weaving, Weft, Worms Eye View These art words are grouped in a user friendly way: Land, City, Water Scapes- Foreground, Middleground, Background Cool Colors- Blue, Purple, Green Warm Colors- Red, Yellow, Orange, Peach Neutral Colors- Gray, Black, White, Brown Primary Colors- Red, Blue, Yellow Secondary Colors- Green, Purple, Orange Weaving- Loom, Warp, Weft THE FOLLOWING WORDS ARE FROM THE MNPS VOCABULARY LISTS. I PERSONALLY USE MORE VOCABULARY THAN ARE CONTAINED IN THESE LISTS, AND INTRODUCE SOME WORDS EARLIER ON THAN THE LISTS HAVE HERE. YOU KNOW YOUR STUDENTS & WHAT WOULD BE BEST FOR THEM. AS ALWAYS, USE YOUR DISCRETION. *************************************************************************** VISUAL ARTS ACADEMIC VOCABULARY Grade Kindergarten artist, background, coil, color, cool colors, craftsmanship, detail, draw,horizon line, illustrate, imagination, line, museum, pattern, primary colors, sculpture, self-portrait, shape, slab, space, texture, warm colors *************************************************************************** VISUAL ARTS ACADEMIC VOCABULARY Grade One abstract, architecture, balance, collage, composition, contour line drawing, contrast, culture, diagonal, genre painting, horizontal, medium/media, mood neutrals, original, outline, palette, portrait, realistic, secondary colors shade, tint, vertical *************************************************************************** VISUAL ARTS ACADEMIC VOCABULARY Grade Two asymmetry, cityscape, depth, emotion, environment, focal point, form geometric shape, gesture drawing, landscape, motif, movement, negative space, observation, organic shape, overlap, positive space, repetition, scale, sequence, sketch, still life,studio, subject, symmetry, tactile texture, three-dimensional, two-dimensional, unreal color, visual texture *************************************************************************** VISUAL ARTS ACADEMIC VOCABULARY Grade Three aerial view, artifact, creativity, critique, description, design, embroidery, emphasis, exhibit, foreground, frontal view, functional art, kinetic art, mask, middle ground, monoprint, perspective, portfolio, print, printmaking, proportion, radial symmetry, reflection, rhythm, style, unity, variety, viewpoint, weaving ************************************************************************** VISUAL ARTS ACADEMIC VOCABULARY Grade Four abstraction, additive sculpture, atmospheric perspective, brush strokes, coil, color wheel, complimentary colors, craftsmanship, embellishment, exterior, facial proportion, interior, intermediate colors, judgment, linear perspective, mixed media, monochromatic, neutrals, organic shape, perspective, portfolio, profile, relief print, shading, subtractive sculpture

Chihuly Inspired Paintings

After watching a video on Chihuly & looking at some images I had from the St. Louis installation we were ready to begin our project. Providing background knowledge to your projects is important for your students to view it as more than just an odd skill their odd teacher is making them do.

  My students revisited the idea of our project from last week, and recreated the line drawing that they would eventually paint.  I introduced analogous colors & revisited complementary colors.  Students then picked out the analogous colors they wanted & received white to tint the image.  While they were painting I allowed the Chihuly video to play in the background.  After students were finished with their analogous color, they received their complementary color to make a line/ripple design on their image. 

This is image is from the Chihuly exhibit at St. Louis.

Draw It! Book Review

Draw It! (Series) Written by Patricia Walsh/Tiffany Peterson & illustrations by David Westerfield/Mark Adamic. Growing up in an area that did not have art instructors till high school, I’d often go to the library to find art books that could be my teacher. How To Draw books were the beginning of my “formal” art training! I gained so much from spending hours with those books, and will forever be grateful. This drawing series, Draw It!, provides young artists(and artists young at heart) an easy to follow...STEP by STEP…way of drawing anything from Dinosaurs(I LOVE DINOSAURS!!)to Fashion Design! Though it is not practical for me to use these books in the art room(other than maybe an art center), I would defiantly recommend Draw It! to my students to check out of the library! The use of simple line & shape allow most to find a level of success that will build confidence & interest in drawing. I believe by using these types of books, it will allow young artists to begin breaking down other objects mentally into shapes & lines. This is extremely beneficial, and I view these books as great exercises in art. As with an athlete, exercise is not the sport, but allows you to perform your sport to the best of your abilities by developing different parts of your body. The skills you gain from Draw It! can allow you to perform at a higher level within art by building different areas of your artistic skills & mind. I also truly appreciate the use of the art vocabulary within the series. I would say these are some of the finest How To Draw type books I have seen. If you have a student that loves to draw, please don’t hesitate to recommend a book from this series!

Jumpin' on the Zentangle Bandwagon : 4th

 Yes...I mocked Zentangles when I first started seeing them pop up all over on the web.I couldn't understand what the big deal was..."Aren't they just glorified doodles?!?"  Though I still feel the answer is yes to that question...I have a greater respect for it now after doing some research.  I watched probably 20+ videos on YOUTUBE & went to countless sites trying to learn more about the process.  I (being the OCDish person I am) like the structure of a Zentangle over just random doodling.  I really love the attention to patterning and design!!!  With this new found respect...I decided to give them a go for my 4th graders.  The twist I put on them was a contour line drawing of a fruit or veggie in the center of the page.  The Zentangle would then take place on/in/over/around that contour drawing.  The images here are day 1 of the project.  I'll share more after the students have finished them up!  OH...and they Zen part of the Zentangle is no joke!!  My 4th graders were as quiet and focused as they are when we do weaving!!!(which is AMAZING!)