Christmas Bulbs

My 7th grade finished a project with just a few days left before Christmas break so we squeezed a little holiday project before school let out.  

First, we drew the bulbs on white paper.  There were so many smears and smudges happening.  So we drew pine branches on a black piece of paper and cut out the bulbs.  We used glue and 3D dots to put the bulbs back together on the black paper.  The kids were super excited with their results.   

Trees, trees, and more trees...

My first year of teaching I made the mistake of creating a "Santa" themed project.  I had one kindergartener that shouted out "He aint weel!"  I was shocked and responded right back, "He is too weel."  After this project was over I promised myself, no matter how awesome the project, I will never do a "Santa" themed project again.  Instead I try to have each grade do some sort of a Christmas tree.    

4th graders completed this patterned tree.

 3rd graders completed this Christmas music project.

5th grade complete this Picasso inspired tree.

Mooseltoe

I introduced this project to my second grade by reading the book "Mooseltoe".  We used 18x24 white paper (when making something as large as a moose you go big or go home! :) ), tempera paint,  watercolor paint, oil pastels, glitter, and permanent markers.  The kids were so excited about the the size and loved how they turned out.   

Abnormal Colored Portraits

Here is another Advanced Art project students were able to choose from this nine weeks.  They chose a portrait of a person, drew it, and colored it with oil pastels.  I required the students to use unusual colors.  It was difficult for many of them to think out side of the "normal" box.  

Here are a few of the results...

Candy Canes & Christmas Lights

My 5th graders loved this quick holiday project.  We used oil pastels and it only took us two class periods!  They looked great framed in the display cases and elementary office. 

Most successful Art 1 project yet...

When I introduced this projects my Art 1 students couldn't quite grasp what I wanted them to do.  FInd a picture (of almost anything), draw it, paint it with watercolors, trace every "puddle" with a thin black sharpie marker.  This project really showed what students payed close attention to detail.  I framed a few of them and hung them in the library and high school office.  Here are some of the results....

Keith Haring Inspired Social Issues Poster

I really enjoyed this project with my Art 1 students.  I introduced Keith Haring, and we talked about his life and artwork.  They were all given the same size paper and they had to come up with at least four social issues that they thought were important.  Of the four they picked one and made it into a poster.  I couldn't believe how much I learned about their lives, and beyond.   

"Teen Pregnancy"

"Save Yourself for Marriage"

"Obesity" 

"Biracial Relationships"

"Obesity in America"

"Texting While Driving"

"Outweighing Healthy Eating Habits"

 "Troops Overseas"

 "Racing for a Cure"

 "Overcoming Hate"

"Same Sex Marriage"

 "Defeating Drugs"

"Preventing Teenage Smoking"

High School Handscapes

Four this nine weeks my Advanced Art students are given a four different projects to choose from.  They are left open ended enough so each student can have a finished artwork that represents themselves.  The students need to have three projects completed by the end of the nine weeks.  One of the projects on this nine weeks was themed "Handscapes".  They could basically take that theme and come up with their idea of a "Handscape".  They used a variety of media; colored pencils, watercolor pencils, watercolor paints, tempera paints, pencil, markers, oil pastels, etc.  

Here are a few results...

This student was inspired by Dali.  

This student wants to go to college for art.  He was struggling to come up with an idea for this project, writer's block if you will.  He ended up with this and I loved the meaning of it.  This eyeball represents his mind, the fist is cracking open the "mind" to let out all of the ideas that he sometimes has trouble just getting out.