Henhouse

You need:

1. coloured cardboard for the henhouse


2. white cardboard for the chicken


3. yellow cardboard for the eggs


4. red cardboard for the wing


5. fabric from onion or potato bag


6. hay


7. scissors or cutter+mat


8. glue (possibly a glue gun)


9. markers


10. pattern henhouse


11. pattern chicken


12. carbon paper

Print the pattern of the henhouse. Use carbon paper to copy the henhouse on the cardboard. Cut the house twice. Place the onion bag fabric between the two houses and paste the houses together with the fabric in between. Cut away the fabric parts that hang out the house. Print the pattern of the chicken or ask children to draw one.

Use carbon paper to copy the chicken on white cardboard and cut it out. Colour the comb, beak and eye with a marker. Copy the wing with carbon paper on red cardboard or draw a wing. Cut it out and paste it on the chicken. If you use a glue gun, drop some glue on the wing to harden. After this paste the wing on the dollop of glue to create some space between wing and body. Cut out some eggs of the yellow cardboard. Paste the hen in his house, and paste hay on the bottom. Put the eggs in the hay and paste them.

Winter mittens and cap

Made by a student of grade 2

You need:

1. coloured construction paper


2. markers


3. white sheet


4. glue


5. scissors


6. oil pastel

Students draw a face on a large sheet of white paper and colour it with oil pastels. Be sure the eyes are not on top of the head, but in the middle. The space between the two eyes is as wide as an eye.

From coloured paper students cut mittens and a hat (or trace templates first and cut them). Draw patterns on the hat and mittens with marker. The patterns on both mittens should be similar, as well as the patterns on the hat.

Paste hat and mittens on the drawing. Make sure the thumbs point to each other!

Golden Christmas

Made by a student of grade 6

You need:

1. white drawing sheet 20 by 20 cm


2. ruler


3. pencil


4. silver and gold marker


5. black construction paper


6. glue

Children divide their sheet with ruler and pencil in 16 squares from 5 by 5 cm. In each square they draw a Christmas figure: tree, candy, snowman, skates, mitten, sock, candle etc. These figures have to be coloured , just like a checkerboard, with gold and silver marker.  Paste the drawing on a black sheet.

House in cubist style

By a student of grade 4

You need:

1. drawing paper A4 size


2. colour markers


3. pencil


4. ruler

Draw a house simplified house with windows and a door. Add one or two trees. Divide the sheet in with three horizontal and three vertical lines. Colour the surfaces with four different coloured markers.

In the style of Pablo Picasso

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size


2. watercolour paint


3. brushes


4. black marker


5. ruler and pencil


6. scissors and gluetekenpapier op A4 formaat


7. black construction paper 

Show some cubistic works of Picasso on the digital board. What do you see? What does the face look like?



Students draw a portrait. In this lesson we made a portrait of Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), the helper of our Dutch Sinterklaas. We called him Pietcasso! Of course this lesson can be done with any other portrait.

Colour the portrait with watercolour paint. Paint a background too. Outline with black marker.

Measure the face between hair and neck. Divide it in three and draw the lines with ruler and pencil on the drawing. Cut the three strips. Divide the strips in quares.

Paste the top of the face on a black sheet. Make a composition of the little squares; be sure there's not a facial square on the outside of the face. Paste the squares. Finally paste the lower face. 

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Patterned leaves

You need:

1. drawing sheet A4 size


2. pencil


3. black marker


4. water colour paint


5. jar with water


6. brush


7. white pencil


8. coloured sheet

Draw contours of leaves with a pencil on a white sheet. Don't forget some half ones on the edges. Draw veins. Trace the leaves and veins with a black marker. Fill the spaces between the veins with as many different patterns you can.

Paint the space between the leaves with water colour paint. Leave a white edge around the leaves. Let dry. Paste the artwork on a coloured sheet and finish the half leaves with a white pencil on this frame.

Outlined autumn leaves

Made by a student of grade 5

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size


2. liquid water colour yellow and red


3. brush


4. colour markers


5. glue


6. scissors

Paint a wet white sheet with red and yellow liquid water colour. Leave to dry.  Outline some autumn leaves on this sheet, cut them and paste them on a new sheet.

Choose three markers in wamr (autumn) colours and outline the leaves until the sheet is full. Draw the veins with a fine marker.

Blob creatures

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size


2. tempera paint


3. scissors


4. glue


5. black marker


6. black paper for background

Start by folding the white sheet of paper in half and open it up again. Then drop blobs of tempera paint in three different colours somewhere around the middle of your paper. Don't put the paint to close to the edges. Fold the sheet and press by firmly moving hands around. This movement will move the paint around more than just folding.

Open the paper and dry flat.

Look carefully at this creature. Outline the creature with a black marker. Look for typical shapes, like arms, eyes, ears etc. and trace them with a marker. The drawing should be totally symmetrical.



Cut the creature, leaving half cm white around the black lines. Paste it on a coloured background.

Made by students of grade 4

Halloween scene

Made by a student of grade 6

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size


2. liquid water colour yellow and orange 


3. brush


4. jar with water


5. black markers


6. black construction paper for backgroud


7. glue or stapler

This lesson is about silhouettes. A silhouette is a shadow, you can only see the outside lines. Show  some silhouettes or shapes made with your hands. Show that sometimes the light comes through openings in the silhouette, so it is not just black.

Make the drawing sheet wet and paint it yellow and orange with liquid water colour to suggest a sunset. Draw a horizon line. Draw a house or a tree, and draw Halloween things around. Colour the silhouettes black and let light where it can. Paste or staple the artwork on a black sheet.

Gnomes

You need:

1. some sturdy branches


2. saw


3. scraps of wool


4. felt


5. scissors


6. markers

Saw before the lesson starts for all students from a piece of the branche in different lengths, between 5 and 10 cm. Saw one side bevel and the other right.

The bevel side is the head of the gnome. Cut threads from the wool for the hair De schuine kant is het hoofd van de kabouter. Cut strands of wool for hair and beards, and paste them on the branch. Cut a triangle out of felt and shape into a pointed hat. Paste the hat on the head. Draw a face with markers.

In the style of Henrique Matos

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size


2. liquid water colour


3. jar with water


4. compasses


5. ruler


6. pencil


7. black waterproof markers

Henrique José Teixeira Matos is a Portugese painter. He is born in 1961 in Oporto.  Matos painted landscapes, portraits and abstract works, but is best known for his op-art work.

Show pictures of Matos's work on Wikimedia Commons. Look especially the op-art works and discuss what you see.



More op-art lessons on this blog can be seen following the link Op-art.



Paint a white sheet of paper with liquid watercolour and a lot of water a plain background.

Drip some liquid water colour on the surface while it is still wet. Use more water if the colours won't flow. Leave the sheet to dry.

Use compasses to draw some small circles (2 cm average) on the sheet. Draw wider circkels around them. Fill the sheet with those circles and half ones near the edges.

Draw lines from the middle of the circles to the edges. Be sure it's an even number of lines and  Kkeep the lines as much as possible equidistant from each other. Color the squares alternating with a black marker or pencil.

By a student of grade 5, coloured with pencil

Outstanding name

By Vincent, grade 3

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A5 size


2. waterproof black marker


3. colour markers


4. black fine marker

Every year we make a birthday calendar in the classroom. For the calendar of this year, we used this lesson. The drawings were pasted on a coloured sheet with the date of the anniversary of the student.



Write your name in elegant letters with a black waterproof marker on a white sheet. Outline the letters with markers in different colors. Divide the background into pieces, by drawing lines from top to bottom and from left to right. Fill out the individual surfaces with patterns drawn with a black fine marker. Make sure that your name really stands out!

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

Artist Trading Cards exchange with Australia

Another Artist Trading Cards, this time with Anna Pietrolungo from Essendon North Primary School in Australia.

Contact with a school contact with a school on the other side of the world is so exciting for my students! We searched the school on Google Earth, visited Anna's art blog and the school's website.

Many ohs and ahs when they saw the Australian students wearing school uniforms. That's inconceivable in the Netherlands and it took quite a time to discuss the the pros and cons (although most of my students didn't see any pro at all!).



My students made about 35 cards. Subjects and materials were their own choice. I laminated them and sent them to Australia. Hopefully their cards are almost ready, because we only have two weeks school to go before my students leave us to go to highschool!

In the style of Keith Haring, group work

Group work, made by students of grade 2 and 3

You need:

1. drawing sheet A1 size 



2. pieces of cardboard 10 by 15 cm



3. pencil



4. scissors



5. glue



6. colour markers



7. permanent black marker 

We worked in groups of five students.

Each student draws a figure on a piece of cardboard in the style of Keith Haring: no details, movement, a figure like in a comic. Cut the figures and trace them several times with pencil on the big sheet. Working together is required!

Instructions:

- Draw not twice the same figure next to each other.

- Vary the position: upright, horizontally, diagonally. Turn the cardboard to get a mirror figure.

- Do not start in the middle, but work from the side and place the figures as close to each other.

- Outline all figures with a permanent black marker.

- Divide the intervening areas into smaller areas by straight lines drawn with black marker.

- Choose one colour per person and colour the areas with these five colours.  

- Put your signature on the work, just as Keith Haring did!

Connected shells

Warm colours, made by Emmy, grade 6

You need:

1. white drawing sheet 20 by 20 cm


2. colour markers


3. fine black marker


4. pencil

Draw a few lines on the sheet to divide the paper into sections. Draw several shells on those lines. Be sure the shells touch eachother. Trace the shells with a fine permanent black marker. Colour the sections between the shells with colour markers in warm or cool colours.

Cool colours, made by Bjorn grade 5

In the style of Romero Britto

Dutch tulips in the style of Romero Britto, by Malou, grade 6

This was one of my most successful lessons so far; students enjoyed it and the results were amazing: In the style of Romero Britto.

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size


2. permanent marker


3. colour markers


4. ruler

Romero Britto is a Brazilian artist. He was born in 1963 in grew up an extremely modest lifestyle amongst eight brothers and sisters in Recife Brazil. His drew and painted on any scrap of newspaper or cardboard he could find and filled them with colourful images of a beautiful world.  

In 1983 Britto travelled to Europe to study the old masters. After this trip, he traveled to the USA where Pop Art was flourishing. He opened a gallery in Miami. In 1989,Absolut Vodka selected Britto to design an artwork with their famous logo. From that moment the name Britto was known to a greater public. His artwork are now represented in galleries and museums across five continents.

Paris in the style of Britto, by Emmy grade 6

Look at artwork of Britto on his gallery. Discuss the salient features: bright colours, simple shapes, the work is divided into sections that are filled with patterns, thick black outlines. Discuss how you to see the difference between the drawn picture and the background. Ask about the stylistic characteristics and where to classify this artist (Pop Art, Cubism).



The students have to make a drawing with a topic of their choice. No details, but only the main lines. Divide the drawing surface with pencil and ruler in several sections. Trace all lines with a waterproof black marker and then colour them with markers in the way Britto did.



For the background we stamped circles with toilet rolls on a coloured sheet and pasted the artwork on it.

Flowers in the styleo of Britto, by Nadia grade 6

Puzzle drawing

Made by students of grade 5

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size


2. markers


3. black construction paper


4. glue

Students draw organic shapes on a white sheet and colour them with markers. Then all shapes have to be cut out and pasted with a little space between them on a piece of black construction paper. Be sure to lay down the cut pieces directly on the right place, to avoid hours of puzzling!

Printed birds

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size


2. two potatoes, middle and small size


3. knife


4. sauzer


5. tempera paint


6. piece of corrugated box cardboard  


7. paper towel


8. fine black marker


9. brush


10. watercolour paint

In 'The Usborne Complete Book of Art Ideas' I found this great lesson.

Place a paper towel on a saucer and spray a stripe of brown paint on it. Use the side of a piece of corrugated cardboard of about 7 cm to stamp branches.

Cut the medium potato in half and cut this half again. Stamp the bodies of the birds using red tempera.

Cut the half potato in two pieces. Use the quarter to stamp the tails.

Cut the small potato in half and stamp the faces of the birds.

Clean this half potato with a tissue and cut it in two. Stamp the wings.

Paint beaks, eyes and legs. Leave the work to dry. Paint the background with watercolour paint. Outline the birds with a fine black marker.

To make spring art work, you can add leaves by stamping them, cutting them out of green paper, using real dried leaves or .....use Paint shop pro, like I did!

Fantastic felines in the style of Laurel Burch

You need:

1. pink or purple constrution paper A3 size


2. oilpastels


3. tempera paint


4. brushes


5. gold and silver markers


6. glitter


7. glue

Laurel Burch (1945 –  2007) was an American artist, designer and businesswoman. As a 20-year-old single mother she found metal in junkyards to hammer into jewelry to support her two children, and went on to launch her business, now called Laurel Burch Artworks, in the late 1960s with the help of a small staff that worked out of her house. She began making paintings and was commissioned by restaurants, businesses and private collectors. Burch designed, among other things, beads, jewelry, paintings, T-shirts, scarves, coffee mugs and tote bags, but 90% of her designs derived from her original paintings.



Especially Burch's cats are recognizable. Few some of her paintings on the website of Laurel Burch and discuss the salient features: bright colours, bold pattersn, eyes and nose are drawn out of one line. use of silver and gold.

 

Students draw a cat on purple or pink paper in the style of Laurel Burch. Colour the cat using different materials like tempera, oilpastels, gold and silver markers. Outline the cat with silver or gold. Draw a frame around the artwork. Use glitter to accentuate lines.

All artworks are made by students of grade 5