Starry Nights-- kindergarten

This was one of my FAVORITE lessons this year.  I just loved how each and every one of them turned out.  They are so expressive and colorful.  This is a new spin on a Starry Night lesson.

I started by introducing Vincent Van Gogh's art by showing prints of his art and by showing a movie:

Then, the students drew swirls, dashed and dots to create MOVEMENT using markers.  I told that this would be their night sky, so they could add stars or other "sky things" if they wanted.

These could be interesting and beautiful artworks on their own!

Then, the kids cut out buildings, trees or anything from black paper to create silhouette forms.

Finally, to add extra color, the kids added colorful shape stickers for windows and other details.  I ordered this huge pack of shape stickers from Discount School Supply.  These should last us a LONG time.. the package of stickers is HUGE!

Here are some of the finished masterpieces!

I am HAPPY to share my ideas with you and give you some inspiration.  Pin it, bookmark it, print if off...  Heck, copy the lesson exactly!  But, if you decide to copy the lesson exactly and repost it on your blog.. please link back to me!  I know a Van Gogh lesson isn't original, but this one was my own unique take on a Starry Night lesson.    When I was searching for inspiration for my lesson... I found these two projects which I LOVED:  Starry Night Idea #1 and Starry Night Idea #2.... 

Winter Landscapes

2^nd Grade Winter Landscapes

For this project, we read a book about Grandma Moses: 

Grandma Moses (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists)

We discussed how to draw a river or road showing depth (by drawing it converging to a point in the distance).  We talked about using size variation to show distance while drawing houses and other objects. 

The students cut out mountains from gray paper and a snowy patch from white paper (I walked them through this step-by-step).  Houses were cut from construction paper and details were added with crayons.  Trees and snow were painted with watercolor cakes. 

American Landscape Paintings--3rd/4th Grade

 American Landscapes  The 3/4s learned about Colonial times and Westward Expansion.  The students watched a video about American landscape artists during the 19th century and they painted their own landscapes.  One of the goals was to use inspiration from the environment to create a painting.  The students chose a landscape scene from pictures of America.  Painting lessons include how to add texture with a fan brush, how to mix colors and how to add shadows on a mountain.

I showed them my painting of a rolling hills landscape and demonstrated how I created those textures through sponges, fan brushes and using the edges of a flat brush.  

Women Artists

I would like to introduce to you some of my favorite women artists.  Molly, over at Her Speak, posted about some of her favorites. 

Without further introduction, here are some to get you thinking, exploring and looking.

Shinique Smith

Media:  Fiber, Mixed Media Installation

Status:  Alive

I just discovered her artwork this year.  She had a solo exhibit at the contemporary art museum here in Madison.  Her work is totally up my alley.

 

Sandy Skoglund

Media:  Installations, Photographs, Conceptual

Status:  Alive

I had the opportunity to hear her speak at an art convention and get her autograph and a photo taken with her.

This is so amazing, because it is not an artwork created by a computer, it is an actual scene made of cheese puffs! 

Eva Hesse

Media: Sculpture, Painting

Status:  Died in 1970

More to come later!!

Old School Lesson Plans

During the summer, I'm going to dig back to some of my old lesson plans that I had posted on artsonia.com to show to you.  Maybe I will revisit these again during the upcoming school year.  This was favorite of mine and I don't know why I stopped teaching it. The pictures all turned out gorgeous.

CUBIST CATS  for Second Grade
The kids learned about Picasso and his dynamic, fragmented Cubist artwork.

1.  First we did a step-by-step drawing of a cat.  I demonstrated, then they drew on their paper.  The cats all ended up having their own personality even though we followed the same steps.
2.  Next, take a ruler and draw diagonal lines through the cats.  Divide up the space to create the fragmented feeling.
3.  Go over the lines with a black marker.  Finally color in each of the sections with a different color colored pencil.

Teacher Tip:  Demonstrate how to color with colored pencils in an even and solid manner.
The artist books by Mike Venezia are awesome.

American Gothic-- Third Grade

This is a tried-and-true art teacher lesson plan.  The students enjoyed learning the story behind Grant Wood's American Gothic painting.  We read an article about his famous painting.

They also enjoyed seeing various parodies of this artwork.  They envisioned their own parody of this famous masterpiece.

  

You can also read this book about his artwork: