Mexican amate

You need:

1. 
   brown paper bag


2. tempera paint in fluoresecent colours and white


3. brushes


4. jar with water


5. black marker


6. coloured paper for background


7. glue or stapler

Amate is a way of making paper, done for centuries by Mexican Indians. Amate paper is made by cooking the inner bark of various trees. At the beginning of the 20th century the Nahua Indians of Mexico started making amatepaintings as a form of folk art, especially in order to exchange and sell them to tourists.

Show some pictures of Mexican amate paintings. Discuss the striking features: birds, flowers, bright colours and black outlines. A frame around the drawing with a pattern in bright colours too.

Tear the edges off the paper: use thumb and fingers on both hands and tear very slowly. Use a pencil to draw some (two or three) birds and flowers, add a patterned frame and paint everything with fluorescent tempera. When it's dry, outline everything with a black marker. Don't forget the name of the artist!


Paste or staple the artworks on coloured construction paper.

antidote for anger

back to my sketchbook, a photo by vickylw on Flickr.

Our local tulip thieves are at it again with the blooming of our late tulips. This time they didn't even carry them to the next block (as was done with our early tulips) --- after picking them, they just threw them down in our yard.

I was so angry . . . . I came right in and sketched them before they wilted anymore, and in the process of observing their beauty up-close lost my anger. Sketching is a wonderful antidote!

Nifty! I did the cover for this one...

Fun to see an old book still out there!  It brings back a lot of memories...and I can almost smell those gorgeous red carnations.  It came out in 1990, so that's quite a trick.

Lots of different artists in this one, myself included, but I think it's the only North Light book I did the cover for that was NOT my own book.


As I recall, it was a great deal of fun, and a real challenge--often the same thing!

It's on sale for $8.00 from the North Light Book Shop, if you're interested...and nope, I don't earn anything on sales of this one, just putting it up in case you're interested!

Sunflower batik

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size


2. oil pastels


3. pencil


4. tempera paint brown or black


5. liquid soap


6. brushes

Draw some sunflowers on the sheet and on the edges. Colour them with oilpastels, press heavily. Wrinkle the sheet into a ball; make sure the picture is on the inside.

Smooth the paper out. Use black or brown tempera with a tiny bit of liquid handsoap, and paint over the entire paper.

Then rinse the paper under cool water. The paint sticks in the little crinkle wrinkles giving it that batik look.

Leave the work to dry and press it flat between two books.

Made by students of grade 4

Sunflowers in five different materials

You need:

1. sunflowers or pictures of them


2. white drawing sheet A1 size, cut in strips of 30 by 65 cm


3. five different colouring materials, like colour pencils, tempera paint, watercolour paint, oil pastels, crayons, coloured ink, aquarell pencils etc.


4. brushes


5. pencil, ruler


6. coloured paper


7. scissors

Look with the students at some sunflowers or pictures of them. How thick is the stem, what can you tell about the leaves, how are the petals divided, what colours do you see in the heart of the flower, etc.

Divide the sheet with thin lines into five strips of 13 cm high. Draw some sunflowers. Make sure the flowers themselves are drawn at the demarcation of the strips. Make sure too that in each compartment at least half a sunflower or leave is drawn.

Choose five different colour materials. Use in every compartment a different material. Consider yourself the order of the materials, for example from bright (markers) to less bright (aquarelle pencils).

Paste the work on a coloured background. Or cut the five compartments and paste them with some space between on a coloured background.

Made by students of grade 5

Flowers behind fence

Flowers behind fence with fingerprinted flowers, grade 1

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size


2. masking tape


3. scissors


4. tempera paint


5. stencil brushes


6. bubble wrap


7. sponge strips

Create a fence with pieces of masking tape, about 2 cm from the bottom.

 

 

Cut a piece of bubble wrap that is as large as the sheet of drawing paper. Paint it with a thick brush, half blue and half green. Put the drawing sheet on top and rub with the hand, creating a bubble print. Use sponge strips (cut from an ordinary sponge) to stamp steals and leaves.

Use stencil brushes to stamp petals of use your fingers to print them. Stamp/print some flowers under the fence an between the poles of the fence. Leave the work to dry and gently pull off the masking tape.

Flowers behind fence with stamped flowers, grade 2

Three spring flowers, three materials

 

Made by students of grade 3

You need:

1. three white drawing sheets 10 by 10 cm


2. coloured origami sheets 12 by 12 cm


3. coloured cardboard 14 by 38 cm


4. tempera paint


5. brushes


6. crayons


7. colour pencils


8. tulips, daffodils, bluebonnets or pictures of them


9. glue

Students scetch three different spring flowers on three sheets of 10 by 10 cm: bluebonnet, tulip and daffodil. Colour the flowers with three different materials: crayons, tempera paint and colour pencils. Paste the drawings on coloured origami sheets and paste them then on coloured cardboard.

Weaving flowers

 

Made by students of grade 1

You need:

1. beer coaster


2. coloured yarn


3. weaving needle


4. paper plate


5. white sheet


6. coloured construction paper A4 size


7. scraps of coloured paper


8. tempera paint


9. brushes


10. glue


11. scissors

Cut notches in the beer coaster at intervals of 1 cm. Be sure it is an odd amount. Wrap cotton yarn around the tray, back to front, until the whole beer counter is wrapped. Start weaving in the middle. Use different colours of yarn. Don't weave too tight, to keep the work flat.

To make the flower you have to paint a paper plate with tempera paint. If you use plastified plates, the paint will give a wrinkly effect. Cut a circle ouot of a white sheet circle which is two cm larger then the plate. This will be the outer edge of the flower. Paint it too.

Paste the woven circle on the plate. Paste the plate on the coloured circle. Paste it all on a coloured sheet. Cut petals and a stem out of green paper and finish the flower. 

Origami tulips

You need:

1. origami sheets 10 by 10 cm


2. strip of green cardboard


3. scraps of green paper


4. scissors


5. glue

Fold the sheet twice, open and turn around.

Fold two diagonal lines and open it.

 

Fold the sheet double at a straight fold,

push the ends inward and push it flat.



It is a double square now.

Fold one point down.



Fold two points to the side.

Fold four tulips in different colours. Paste them on a piece of cardboard. Cut stems and leaves and paste them.

Printed tulips

 

You need:

1. cardboard of a box


2. scissors


3. block printing ink


4. flat piece of glass


5. linoleum roller


6. white or coloured sheets A4 size

Draw two or three tulips in different sizes on a cardboard box. Cut them. Shake the bottle of blockprint carefully to be sure oil will mix with the rest. Drip some paint on the glass and roll it out with the lino roller. Roll the paint on the tulips and press them on a white or coloured sheet, using a book. Remove the tulips of the sheet and roll them again. Add white to the colour on the glass for a lighter colour. Place the tulips tulips partly overlapping the first, and press again with a book.

Longing for spring: printing flowers!

You need:

1. piece of linoleum of 12 by 12 cm
2. several sorts of paper
3. lino knives
4. block printing ink
5. flat piece of glass
6. linoleum roller
7. lino press
8. coloured cardboard 34 by 12 cm
9. scissors
10. glue or stapler

Students draw one or more flowers on their piece of linoleum and cut it out. Then the flower has to be printed on three different sorts of paper. In this lesson I choose for coloured construction paper, a brown paper bag and white white woven towels from the dispenser.
Cut the prints with 1 cm around. Paste or staple them on coloured cardboard.
Spring can come!

Both artworks are made by students of grade 4

Wild flowers

You need:

1. black construction paper 20 by 8 cm
2. colour pencils
3. tempera paint
4. q-tips
5. saucer

A short lesson with great results!
Draw a lot of flower stems on the black paper with several colours green. Stamp the petals above and between the stems, using tempera and q-tips.

I love Holland

Made by students of grade 6

You need:

1. two pieces of linoleum of 12 by 12 cm
2. white drawing paper
3. lino knives
4. block printing ink in red and blue
5. flat piece of glass
6. linoleum roller
7. lino press
8. cardboard in red and blue
9. scissors
10. glue

What are typical Dutch things? Make a word web with the children. Think about cheese, canal houses, tulips, wooden shoes, cows etc.

The children create a drawing on a scrap of paper with the theme I love Holland. Not too many details, because the drawing will be printed. The drawing has to be copied on both pieces of linoleum. It doesn't matter if they don't match exactly; this is even fun while making a two colour print, because the drawing seems to shift a bit.


Use different linoleum knives. Cut the drawing from the first piece of linoleum. Cut the background from the second piece of linoleum, leaving the object. Lines within the object should be cut too.

Shake the bottle of blockprint carefully to be sure oil will mix with the rest. Drip some red paint on the glass and roll it out with the lino roller. Make 2 prints of your work on a white sheet. Rinse the linoleum clean and make 2 prints in blue in the same way.

Repeat this process with the second piece of linoleum: 2 prints in red and 2 in blue. There will be 8 prints if you're finished.

2 pieces of linoleum, 2 colours, 8 prints

Finally use one or more of those prints to make a two colour print. This has to be done by inking piece 1 red and printing it on a blue print of piece 2. See picture below.

Let students choose their best prints and let them decide how many prints they want to use for their final artwork. Cut the prints with 1 cm white aound them. Make a composition on blue or red cardboard and paste the prints with 1 cm between them.

Final composition I love Holland, by Malou, grade 6

A sea of flowers

You need:

1. white drawing paper A4 size
2. waterpaint
3. brushes
4. jars with water
5. black permanent marker

A sea of flowers is an expression used for fields with so many flowers, that you can hardly see the end of it. Let children see examples of 'a sea of flowers'. Have you ever seen a sea of flowers yourself? Where or when?

Tell the students they are going to paint a sea of flowers, but literally! Flowers in the water, a lot of them!

Let the children directly paint their flowers, so no pencil drawing first. They use water paint and (lots of) water. Choose different colours and shapes, and paint steals and leaves too. Do not only paint in the middle of the sheet, but also at the edge so you can see half flowers. (If you choose this lesson for a group work, children should make agreements about the places their flowers will come together and the colours of the flowers).

When the flowers are ready, students paint the background with light blue waterpaint. Paint as close as possible along the flowers , but do not touche them to prevent colours from running together. Leave the work to dry. Outline the flowers with a black marker. All spots and white edges are thus concealed.

Paste all works together to create a group work: our sea of flowers!

Fabric flowers

You need:

1. piece of cardboard 30 cm by 20 cm
2. different fabrics
3. glue
4. fabric scissors

Choose a background fabric and paste it around a piece of cardboard. Cut the different parts of a flower (stem, petals and leaves) from fabric and paste them on the background; be sure the petals overlap!

Both artworks are made by children of 10 years old

Auntie Annie's plants

Made by a student of 11 years old

You need:

1. one piece of linoleum from 15 by 15 cm
2. black construction paper
3. lino knives
4. mat
5. white block printing ink
6. flat piece of glass
7. linoleum roller
8. lino press

In auntie Annie's window you'll find a varied collection of plants. Plants in huge pots, small pots, big plants, tiny plants, a lot of leaves or just very little. As the evening darkness fills the room of auntie Annie, the plant collection may look like a group of creeps....

Draw the plants on a piece of linoleum and cut them out. Vary in the flower pots by cutting the whole pot away, of leaving just the edges. You may also cut decorations in the pots.

Shake the bottle of blockprint carefully to be sure oil will mix with the rest. Drip the paint on the glass and roll it out with the lino roller. Make several prints of your work. Choose the best one to be your artwork.

And, are Auntie Annie's plants really creepy?

Poppies in the wind

You need:

1. white drawing paper A4 size
2. tempera paint
3. puppies or pictures of puppies
4. brushes

Poppies are particularly in the United Kingdom, Canada and the U.S. symbol of the First World War because they flourished exuberantly on the battlefields of Flanders. In the famous poem 'In Flanders Fields' those poppies are mentioned. At the English National Remembrance Day, poppy wreaths are laid by the queen. Not real ones actually, because poppy petals fall very quickly.
Poppies in the Netherlands have no symbolic value, but they are very nice to paint!

View the brought poppies or pictures of them. Discuss the features of the flower: delicate satiny petals and a dark heart that shines through the petals. Because the flowers are very light, you see them always sway in the wind.

Students paint some poppies on the upper half of their sheet. Paint the steels with black paint. Draw a frame with a red pencil about 1 cm from the edge. Paste the artwork on a black background.

Artwork made by students of 9-10 years old

In the style of Georgia O'Keeffe

You need:

1. black construction paper 20 by 20 cm
2. wood glue
3. oil pastels

Georgia O'Keeffe (1887 - 1986) was an American painter. O'Keeffe was a major figure in American art from the 1920's. She received widespread recognition for her technical contributions, as well as for challenging the boundaries of modern American artistic style. She is chiefly known for paintings of flowers, rocks, shells, animal bones, and landscapes.
O'Keeffe played a central role in bringing an American art style to Europe at a time when the majority of influence flowed in the opposite direction. She found artistic inspiration in the rural Southwest, particularly in New Mexico, where she settled late in life.
In Santa Fe (New Mexico) is a special museum devoted to Georgia O'Keeffe.

Show paintings of O'Keeffe on the digital board. Discuss the remarkable things: fullscreen flowers, often painted over the edges, vivid colours and painted realistic. Watch how O'Keeffe denounced colours and shades in her work.

Children get a piece of black construction paper. They scetch a big flower with a pencil. The petals may be drawn over the edge. When ready, trace the lines with wood glue (clear drying). Wait until the glue has dried, and colour the flowers and background with oilpastels. Use different colours to make shades in the petals and the heart of the flower.

Dutch flower bulb fields

You need:

1. white drawing sheet from 20 by 10 cm
2. markers
3. fine black marker
4. ruler
5. pencil

Situated less than 30 miles from Amsterdam, the town of Lisse is widely regarded as the center of Holland's bulb district. Each spring, the area's sandy coastal plain becomes a sprawling blanket of fantastic color as millions of Dutch tulip, hyacinth and daffodil bulbs emerge in perfect rows. Show the kids pictures of these fields like these. Google on 'bollenveld'.

Draw a horzion line about 2 cm from the upper edge. Put a dot in the middle of this line, the vanishing point. Draw lines from the bottom and sides towards that vanishing point. Colour the bulb fields with bright colours. Colour walkways between the bulb fields.

Colour the sky. Draw with a black fineliner some buildings on the horizon, like farms, windmills etc.

Tile with flowers for Mother's Day

You need:

1. white tile 15 by 15 cm
2. china markers
3. paper towels

Younger children were helped by the elder ones to make a gift for Mother's day. They drew flowers on a white tile with china markers. A text can be add especially for mother. Our Dutch text can be translated as 'Mom the sweetest'.

All tiles are made by children of 6-7 years old