Observational Drawings

"Observational drawings are drawing of what you SEE not what you THINK you see." (I will have said this to you 15 times by the end of the project!)

Here is a video I showed the older kids before we got into the zone of drawing from observation.  Even for me, a grown up artist, it is so difficult separate what we think we see from what we see. I think that mosy of the kids did a great job really concentrating on their leaf.

Dinosaur and Feather/Spaghetti and Sauce Coloring

In trying to explain how to have control when coloring, I asked students in my first year teaching to help me come up with names for the different techniques.  Thus "dinosaur", "feather", "spaghetti" and "sauce" were born! Here is a video that I show to 1st graders to introduce them to these techniques.

Mini Masterpieces (Grades 5 and 6)

Often students that complete their project early ask "what do I do now?" The answer is to work on "Mini Masterpieces"! During the second day of art for grades 5 and 6, we set up our paper for the project.  This project gets placed in the students' portfolios, to be pulled out and worked on when they are done with a project.  I tell them that DaVinci took years to finish Mona Lisa- now they know why it took so long! Here are the instructions for this project.

Portfolio Name Design (Grades 4, 5 and 6)

Portfolio Name Design

Welcome Back to School 2014

As summer was winding down, I was busy in the art room; unpacking supplies, getting my desk and closet spaces in order...and making movies! With the help of my three year old, we created a back to school movie that all of the kids watched during their first day of art class.

I made these movies (one for Boght Hills and one for Loudonville) for a few reasons:

• Students were engaged because of the subtle humor and action
• Students enjoyed seeing my daughter :)
• I knew that each class would receive the same information in the same way
• I knew that the movies and discussion lasted about 25 minutes
• I was able to move around the room to monitor students as the movie played

Here are the movies!

Boght Hills Version

Loudonville Version