zondag 27 juni 2010

Op art cube

Made by students of 12 years old
You need:
  1. white drawing sheet 21 by 29 cm
  2. pencil
  3. ruler
  4. markers
  5. glue
Give students a copied print of a cube, or let them make their own. I did it with a guided instruction.
  1. Lay the sheet in front of you with the small side up.
  2. Draw a dot on top of the sheet on 7 and 14 cm.
  3. Do the same on the bottom of the sheet.
  4. Connect the lines from top to bottom.
  5. Draw dots on the right site of the sheet on 7, 14, 21 and 28 cm starting at the top of the sheet.
  6. Do the same on the left site of the sheet.
  7. Connect the dots with lines. You have 12 squares on your sheet now, and three small rectangles on the bottom (picture 1).

Picture 1

8. Number the squares very thin with a pencil from left to right. 9. Draw a cross in square 1, 3, 4, 5, 10 en 12 (picture 2).

Picture 2

10. Draw edges to the sides of square 2 and 5. Draw this line 1 cm from the edges. 11. Draw edges to the three sides of square 11. 12. Draw a cross in the remaining narrow strips at the bottom of the sheet (picture 3).

Picture 3

Draw six different styles of optical illusions on the six sides of the cube. Colour them with markers and outline with fine black marker.
Cut the cube and paste the sides together.

zaterdag 26 juni 2010

I scream for ice cream

Made by students of grade 1

You need:

  1. coloured cardboard A2 size
  2. brown construction paper
  3. white drawing paper A4 size
  4. tempera paint
  5. brushes
  6. saucers
  7. tissue paper
  8. salt
  9. scissors
  10. gold markers
  11. fiber fill or cotton wool

In this lesson, children use each other's work.

Divide the class into six groups. Give each group of children some white sheets, a saucer, one colour tempera paint, salt, brushes, a jar with water and blotting paper in a slightly darker colour than the paint. Mix tempera on a saucer with a lot of water to get a light (ice cream) colour. Each group paint a few sheets of drawing paper with this diluted tempera. Salt can be applied to create texture and small pieces of blotting paper with water will suggest chocolate chips or fruit in the ice. Be sure there are so many sheets of each colour that every student can get half a sheet of all six colours.

Hang the sheets outside to dry.

Cut the large sheets of coloured cardboard lengthwise into three, so you get three large strips of approximately 15 by 60 cm. Give each child a coloured strip and a sheet of brown construction paper. Each student cuts a cone out the brown craft paper by folding the paper and cutting a triangle from the fold . Then the draw a wafer pattern on the cone with a gold marker.

Give each student half sheet of painted paper of all six colours. Let them draw circles on the sheets by outlining a cup. Cut the circles. Paste the ice-cream cone on the large sheet of cardboard, and paste six different circles on it. Remember that the first scoop of ice cream has to be pasted partly in the cone. Finally cream may be added, by cutting half a circle out of fiberfill or some cotton wool.

zondag 20 juni 2010

Ocean animals

You need:

  1. black construction paper A4 size
  2. chalk pastel
  3. glue
  4. hairspray
  5. coloured paper for background

Which animals live in the ocean? These are not just fish! There also live mammals such as whales, walrus and seal. And what about jellyfish, crabs, octopuses, sea horses and sea turtles? The students make a choice for an ocean animal. They sketch the animal and his envorinmont with a pencil on black paper. Don''t draw too much detail, because the drawing has to be traced with glue. After sketching trace the lines with glue. Wood glue is very suitable. The glue is white, so visible during the drawing, and will turn transparent after drying. Practice drawing with glue first on another sheet: - Put the nozzle onto the paper; - Move the glue bottle away from you while you gently squeeze the bottle; - Don't get scared about stains, you won't see them later!

The glue is dry when it becomes transparent. This may take several hours. The drawing has to be coloured with chalk pastel. With a tissue the chalk can be wiped off the glue, so the black contours clearly remain. Finally, fix the drawing with hairspray. Do not panic if suddenly all the colour disappears, it will be back after the spray is dried (in seconds)! Paste the artwork on a coloured background.

All artwork is made by students of 11-12 years old

dinsdag 15 juni 2010

Check this insect!

Made by children of 7-8 years old
You need:
  1. drawing sheet A4 size
  2. colour pencils
  3. black marker
  4. scissors
  5. glue

Study the anatomy of insects using photographs. Insects have segmented bodies supported by an exoskeleton. The segments of the body are organized into three distinctive but interconnected units: a head, a thorax, and an abdomen. The head supports a pair of sensory antennae, a pair of eyes, and, if present, three sets of variously modified appendages that form the mouthparts. The thorax has six segmented legs and, if present, two or four wings. These characteristics of the insect must be processed in the drawing. For the rest it is free. Choose fancy colours and draw body or wings as you like.

Fold a sheet of A4 double the length. Sketch against the fold the half of a fantasy insect. If you're satisfied with your sketch, trace the lines thick using a pencil. Press firmly! Then fold your sheet and draw on the back half of what you just traced, your bug again. Press firmly again, to be sure the pencil lines will be visible on the other half.

Then fold the sheet open. You'll see that your bug is now very light on the other side of the sheet. Trace these thin lines with a pencil, pressing firmly. After this, your symmetric insect is ready to be coloured.

The colouring has to be symmetric too. Use colours you like, it doesn´t have to be realistic. Outline the drawing with a black marker. Then cut it out leaving about a half cm of white paper around. Paste the drawing on a coloured background. If you´re ready, show your drawing to your classmates: "Hey, check my insect!"

zaterdag 12 juni 2010

Liquorice Allsorts

Made by Malou, 11 years old

You need:

  1. Liquorice Allsorts
  2. grey construction paper A3 size
  3. oil pastels

Liquorice allsorts consist of a variety of liquorice candies sold as a mixture. These confections are made of liquorice, sugar, coconut, aniseed jelly, fruit flavourings, and gelatine. They were first produced in Sheffield, England. Allsorts are produced by many companies around the world today, and are most popular in Britain, continental Europe, and North America. The Dutch name for liquorice allsorts is "Engelse drop", and in Finland they are called "Englannin lakritsi/laku"; both literally translate as "English liquorice."

Make groups of two children. Buy some bags of liquorice allsorts (I used one bag for six students). Divide the liquorice so so that each group can make a different composition of them.

Give the children a sheet of grey construction paper. I chose grey, because the oil pastels alle kinderen een grijs tekenvel. Grey, because the oil pastel colours will be slightly less bright, and the white of the liquorice allsorts will be clearly visible. Ask children to make a composition of the liquorice; they may be stacked also.

On the gray sheet students draw the liquorice extra large. The liquorice must really be blown up! Don't use pencils, draw directly with the oil pastel. The whole sheet have to be filled with liquorice allsorts, with parts of them on the edges of the sheet. Colour everything and look carefully to the light: which part of the liquorice has to be dark, and which part has to be coloured lighter? Vary in dark and light colours by pressing harder or softer.

And of course you may eat the liquorice after finishing your artwork!

Made by students of 10-11 years old

woensdag 9 juni 2010

Op art line design 2: garlic cloves!

You need:
  1. white drawing sheet A5 size
  2. fine marker
  3. coloured paper for background
Draw little dots on the sheet and link them together with curved lines. Draw more and more lines, following the first one. Looks like garlic cloves!

zondag 6 juni 2010

Op art line design

With colour pencils

All credits for this lesson are for Mr. Ted Edinger. He has a good description of this lesson on his artblog, so I need only to display the results of my students. You need:

  1. drawing sheet A5 size
  2. colour pencils
  3. black fine marker
Please look at Art with Mr. E. for the full description of this lesson and a step by step guide to get these beautiful results!

Drawn and coloured with markers, by a student of 12 years old

donderdag 3 juni 2010

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

A day at the beach

Made by students of 12 years old

You need:
  1. white drawing paper A3 size
  2. markers, aquarelle pencils or colour pencils
  3. water paint
  4. glue
  5. coloured paper for background
  6. brushes
  7. jar with water
I'm going to the beach and I take …… Children draw themselves on a beach towel. On the towel are also the things that they are carrying when they go to the beach: sunblock, an Ipod, a book or magazin, a ball, a can of soda etc. The towel has bright colors and is recognizable for the person on it. Start colouring with the face and body. Use waterpaint or watercolour pencils to be sure to get a good skin colour. Colour the rest of the drawing with colour pencils (press firmly)or markers to make a colourful sunny artwork.