Mini Camouflage Abstracts

Our last project of the year was this little camouflage abstract. 

I say camouflage because each little painting started with a cut-out from a cereal box or catalogue that was glued in the center of the 6" square illustration board. I had a lot of precut recycled cut-outs so kids had quite an assortment to choose from. I tried to have some with several colors and some with only 2 or 3 for kids who wanted something easier.

Then, using Sharpie pens, the kids extended lines from the cut-out to the edge of the board wherever two colors met. You can see what I mean in the above photo. Where the red changes to white, that is the start of one Sharpie line. Kids just moved their finger around the edge of the cut-out, looking for where one color met another.

I also made the rule that one Sharpie line could not cross another.

Then students used water color to try to mix the exact color on the cut-out and extend that color out to the edges of their board. I also said they, as artists, might choose to leave some sections white.

You can see in the first painting in the above photo how this student worked to achieve the variations of blue. These were done by 2nd graders and the concept of making tints using more water instead of adding white was a new skill for many!!

I love the graphic variety in these little gems!! I also told the kids that one of the reasons we were doing them now, was to remind them that they could easily do pictures like these at home during the summer using recycled cut-outs to start them out.

This is one of those absolutely "no fail" projects where everyone is successful. I think they did a GREAT job -- as I look at the photos above I am having a hard time finding some of the camouflaged shapes and I know where they are!!!!

Happy Summer!!

Fall Leaf Art - Audition

Fortunately I have some great trees right outside my home that I can visit to collect motivation for this leaf painting project. 

 Last year I used them for this totally different kind of lesson (here).

This year kids will be using the leaves to experiment with mixing primary colors to make the colors they see in the real fall leaves. Part one of the lesson is to encourage students to keep some colors clear and strong as they paint, rather then ending up with a muddy mess. To do this they start with 4 blobs of yellow in each of 4 quadrants (good math vocabulary) of their newspaper. They have the other 2 primary colors (red and blue) to mix in with the yellow to create their fall colors.

 I like using newspaper for this because a) it provides some texture to the leaf, b) it allows me to reinforce that we can recycle and use found papers at home rather than buying paper to use, and 3) it is really easy for little hands to cut.

On a separate sheet of newspaper kids can experiment with mixing any combination of the three colors, discovering that this is where brown comes from!! Once one discovers it, they all catch on and the muddier the better! Success for everyone.

While these color sheets are drying, each student gets a piece of card stock to experiment with watercolors. This can be done on the same day or a second day, depending on your time constraints. I actually like to do these on two different days, making a whole lesson on the differences between painting with tempera/or acrylics and watercolor. This is also a good time to let kids experiment with what happens when you blot watercolor with plastic wrap, sprinkle salt on it, or spray it with water drops.

When all the painted papers are dry, the composition begins. Kids can trace around the real leaves to make the leaves they will cut out. They can also paint the back of real leaves with various colors (I used white here) and make leaf prints.

When leaves are cut out, students can experiment with composition. I like to talk about size, direction of leaves, and overlapping, depending on the grade level. Sometimes I like to talk about setting one leaf apart (that is why there is only one white leaf in my sample) like Van Gogh had just one white iris in his painting of irises.

I am thinking about having kids cut out around the blue area and gluing the whole thing on another piece of board, like this:

. . . but I haven't quite decided about this step yet:)  That is what auditions are for!!

Beginner Papier Mache for Autumn

Back when I taught in a regular classroom (mostly primary grades, but sometimes 4^th) I ALWAYS did at least one papier mache project with my students every year. That was when I had my own classroom and room to spread out for storage. My hat is off to art teachers who juggle many classes and still find a way to dry on-going papier mache projects!! And teachers who manage to do papier mache from a traveling art cart have my undying appreciation!! If you haven’t seen Phyl’s papier mache posts over at There’s a Dragon in My Art Room, check them out Here!!)

Anyway, when I retired from my regular classroom after 40 years and started teaching art 2 days a week as a volunteer, I asked one of my first 5^th grade classes how many of them had done papier mache in their lifetime at school. I was shocked when only a few hands went up! So, of course, we launched into a Wayne Thiebaud cupcake project. (see it HERE and Here) That was when I had my own art room, albeit shared. When I lost the art room and transitioned to teaching off of a cart (with no storage space anywhere) papier mache went by the wayside for awhile.

For a while now I have been thinking how challenging the process of papier mache can be for “first time papeir mache-ers” – using the right amount of paste on the newsprint, getting the paper to lay smoothly, etc. So here is an easier project that can be adapted to various grade and/or skill levels.

Part 1 is creating simple papier mache leaves.

Ideally we start with an assortment of real leaves that students can use (either tracing or observational drawing) to create their base. Cereal boxes are great for drawing these on, but cardstock works as well. If you don’t have great fall leaves in your area, you can get artificial leaves from a craft store, or just pre-cut some leaf templates for students to use. I like to cut some really simple shapes for kids who might have difficulty applying the paper strips to leaves like maple or oak.

I pre-tear the newsprint strips. If you use plain newsprint (with no writing on it) you’ll end up with a nice whitish surface for painting later. Since I am into recycling, and my used L.A. Times is free, I usually use regular newspaper. If you don’t know it, there is a trick to tearing quick, straight strips if you tear with the grain of the paper. I tear a whole section in half on the pre-folded horizontal fold line of the paper. Then, from that torn line, measuring 2 finger spaces each time, tear vertically until you have a pile of strips. I fill a carton with these so kids can just take what they need. For this leaf project they can tear their strips in half to make shorter lengths.

There are many variations for papier mache paste. At school I usually buy liquid starch – the old blue kind (although it is getting harder to find)! At home, where I don’t keep liquid starch on hand, I just put some flour in a pie plate and add warm water, stirring with my fingers, until it is the consistency I want (sort of like thick heavy whipping cream). In a pinch, I have actually have done this at school, too, with kids mixing their own paste and it has worked fine.

Then the kids are ready to start wrapping their moistened strips around their leaves, smoothing as they go. Since the leaf shape is flat, it is easier for little hands to manipulate the paper strips around. You will have to model how much paste is the “right amount.” I show them that I like the newsprint to look “slick and shiny” but NOT dripping wet. Some like to plunge their strip into the paste, fingers side first, and then smooth the paste with their other hand. (I call this the "dive into the pool" method.) Others prefer wetting both hands with paste and just smearing the strip with the paste. Either way works. For these leaves we could do 2 layers all at once.

Here, the kids crumple a piece of foil for their leaves to drape over until dry (over night for sure, it depends how wet the leaves are), The idea is to drape the leaves in shapes so they look like they have fallen off a tree and started to bend. You can quicken drying time by placing the leaves near a fan.

Lesson Planning Tip:

One thing to think about before you start this project is whether you want kids to have a variety of leaves to work with or all one type. For example,  you might intend to connect this art with a Science lesson reinforcing different kinds of trees, perhaps hanging the leaves from a branch (mobile-like). In that case, you would probably want students to create one type of leaf for their mobile. If, however, you are discussing how there are many different types of trees and want your project to show that variety, you could select different leaf types with that in mind.

Next week we'll explore some different options for applying color to our leaf collections.  And in 2 weeks I'll share some special ways to display the painted leaves. See you then:))

Camouflage Collages

Back in January I wrote about this lesson (that I had originally planned to do with 5th graders focusing on color matching and composition). You can see it here. Well, I didn't get to try it with the older kids, so I plunged in with 2nd graders this past week, changing the focus a bit,  and I loved what happened!! They all created little abstract gems!!!

We started with a brief lesson on the Smartboard where students found the lines created where two colors meet and practiced extending those lines. We did a lesson last week where students extended lines out to the edges of their board, so this was easy.  I was using cut up pieces of food boxes (cause you know how I like to recycle!:)) Phyl, over at There's a Dragon in My Art Room, recently posted about artist Michael Albert, who makes his art from cereal boxes, too. So we looked at some of his work before starting our ideas. 

After extending their lines using Sharpie markers, students used watercolors to try to match the colors on the edges of their collaged box piece, and paint that color out to the edges also. They were trying to camouflage the collaged piece, much as animals use camouflage in nature to protect themselves. I taught children how to make tints with watercolors by adding more water to the pigment and mixing in their lids. They were working on a painting mat (just a piece of white cardstock) that they could use to test their mixed colors. I was absolutely delighted to hear kids talking about what colors they might use to mix the exact hue they were trying for.

Sometimes kids ended up with areas that weren't adjacent to the cereal box. I said they could either leave those areas white or choose any color that they thought looked good to paint them. That is why there is blue in part of this painting.

One little practical consideration -- once they were done painting, students had the final job of using a DRY paper towel (I actually cut them up into smaller rectangles so as not to waste paper) to vigorously and completely clean their paint lid so it is ready for the next artist to use.

Here are a few paintings drying on the patio:

It was so hard for me to choose just a few examples to share with you, so I'm posting more than I normally would. Hope you enjoy!!

 Once these were done and displayed, they provided great opportunities for discussion regarding SO MANY elements and principles of art!!!!!!

Color Matching and Composition

Here's a little one day project that incorporates using a lot of art skills: composition, color matching, line, balance, repetition, mixing colors, brush techniques, -- you get the idea.

Perhaps best of all, it starts with recycled boxes/magazines -- my favorite!! This means I get to reduce the size of my saved cereal box stash!!

This example started out with a raisin bran box. Kids can cut whatever shape they like, although I found that areas where different colors meet (like the stripes in the cereal bowl here) are easier when it comes to finding lines to extend.

 I forgot to mention that this project provides yet another opportunity to practice making SMALL glue dots!

 Then come the lines. Everywhere that two colors meet provides a line to extend onto the background. I like when the recycled piece offers the inspiration for variety in the lines. Notice straight vs. curvy, crinkly vs. smooth, etc. Kids have so many choices to make. They can stay with the direction the line has in the original drawing, or let their imagination go as they extend their lines in whole new directions.

 Mixing the colors to try to exactly match the original color is a skill that students perfect as they mature, but I think it is good to start practicing early. It gives them an awareness of subtle gradations of color and they can start to develop their ability to manipulate the paint colors.

 Some areas may not be exact extensions of original color and students have the opportunity to use balance or repetition as they select colors with regard to the whole composition. For example, the areas in the lower right below are trying to balance the yellow-oranges in the upper left corner.

I think some of these make great compositions with just the recycled picture and the black and white line background.

 Many of the original pictures provide opportunities for students to experiment with reproducing textures. The lower left example below started out as a cake box. Getting the bumpy texture of the cake was a challenge to mimic with watercolor!!

The only problem with this project is that it is a bit addicting and once you have done one, you start looking for other great pictures to start cutting up. As I am eyeing the last cookie from this Trader Joe's holiday cookie box I am already getting the scissors ready!! Just look at all those luscious lines!!

Enjoy!!