Artist of the Week

I posted recently that my school is doing a fundraiser called Art to Remember. All of my students spent the last few weeks creating art for A2R. I was really happy with how the program went, because I was able to teach normal, standards-based, art history-infused lessons. I just had to use their "special" paper, and when I ran out, I cut our regular art paper (a similar weight) to the same size and used that. This way, most of my students were able to create 2 works of art, and pick their best. Some classes even had a choice of over 3 works of art!

The only down-side was, once we sent the art in, every student's best piece was gone....and I had nothing to put in my display case for "Artist of the Week". Until one of my very talented 4th grade students stayed after school to finish his lighthouse, which he'd put so much detail in that he didn't get done in class. Boy was I happy to see him! Here is his piece, which didn't make it into my lighthouse post since he didn't get done until a week or two after everyone else.

Animals in their Environment

While showing J. J. Audubon's blue heron, I asked my students what kind of habitat the heron may live in. In most classes, the first answer was by the water! There is just a little bit of water in the bottom left and bottom right of the painting,  but my students generally found it quite quickly. Then, I asked my students if any of them had seen a blue heron before. The ones that had shared where. By grandpa's lake, by the river on a canoe trip, by the creek behind the farm, and by the pond were common answers. J. J. Audubon's painting does show us the blue heron's habitat, but it doesn't show us exactly what kind of water the bird is by. I suggested to the students that perhaps the artist didn't want to be specific about what kind of water, since blue herons can be found by lakes, creeks, streams, ponds, and other bodies of water.

Then, we discussed Audubon's aesthetic choices in putting the environment he did in the painting. Then, I suggested other animals, and asked what kind of environment would be realistic and make a nice picture. For example, a butterfly could be fluttering across the sky, hovering over flowers, or sitting on a leaf. All of those ideas work, but as an artist, which one is the most aesthetic choice? We had some discussion about different animals' habitats.

Then, the students chose an animal to draw, and chose an environment to put it in. They could use markers or crayons for this. I had about 40 different animal photographs the students could draw from. Many of the photographs had bland backgrounds (i.e. a toucan sitting on a brown branch with a brown background), but the students knew the photograph was just for reference, and they were to create their own beautiful environment for the animal.

If the students wanted to draw an animal that I didn't have a photo of, I sometimes printed it for them from the internet, but I also told some students to draw from their imagination if they knew the animal very well.

This lesson was done with grades 3, 4, and 5. The main purpose was to create artwork for Art to Remember, a fundraiser I mentioned a few posts ago. The lesson was very successful over all, and most students created something they were proud of that was beautiful. Most children like animals, and have a favorite animal, so the students' level of interest was pretty high.

Van Gogh Sunflowers

This year, my school is participating in a fundraiser called Art to Remember. A2R give parents the opportunity to purchase things like mugs, plates, mouse pads, key chains, iPhone cases, and grocery bags with their  child's artwork on it. Part of the proceeds from each item purchased goes to the school's art fund (yay!). A2R sent me "special" paper for the students to create their art on. It's a sturdy white paper, 8"x10".

Since parents ordering keepsakes requires nice art, I had to think of lesson plans that every student could succeed at, and that were beautiful and colorful. A2R says to use bright art supplies, like markers, crayons, and paint, and to stay away from colored pencils and construction paper. I often "cheat" by having my students start their art on colored paper. This saves the students from having to color the whole background.

Usually, art projects that have very rigid rules and instructions produce the best results. Since I want keepsake-quality art, I needed a lot of structure. I decided that my 2nd and 3rd grade students would paint Van Gogh-style sunflowers. I introduced the lesson with plenty of art history. Then, the students drew their vase, and signed their name on it (like Van Gogh did on his). The following week, we added stems, leaves, and brown centers for the middle of the flowers (all in crayon). Then, we used a watercolor wash to paint the background. Finally, the last week, we painted the petals with yellow tempera.

I did Van Gogh sunflowers with 2nd grade 2 years ago, but the results weren't as nice because I did my typical colored-paper thing. Using colored paper for background color is partly a budget issue; paper comes out of general funds, and I have a mostly unlimited supply of it in the teacher workroom, whereas paint comes from my art money. But, if A2R is a success, I'll be able to afford a lot more watercolors!

Below are some finished sunflower vases by 2nd and 3rd grade. Nearly all of them are truly beautiful. But, I had one concern: what if some of the kids really didn't like their sunflowers, and didn't want to order anything with a flower vase on it? I really wanted to have my students create two pieces of art  for A2R, and choose their favorite to send in. But, A2R only sent us one paper per student, with just about 70-80 extras. So, I asked them if we could create art on a paper with a similar weight, cut to the same size. A2R said yes! So, after the sunflowers, we are going paint Homer seascapes. I think out of those two projects, all of my students will have at least one they love.