I’ve always loved Chinese artwork that is often black and white with a pop of color. These pieces were inspired by Chinese cherry blossom artworks. We drew in a moon with oil pastel, mixing in a little yellow (or blue) to make it look a little more realistic. The students then learned how to use analogous colors to create a wet-on-wet background for their trees. Once the background was dry they painted their tree on top with watercolor. The next step was to mix different shades of pink for the cherry blossoms. We then added a dot of yellow to the middle. We finished this project by learning how to do some Chinese characters. Some kids chose a symbol that represented a word, others did their names. The kids said they are sure glad the letters they have to write every day are so much easier!
The students were shown how to draw a simple landscape which we then outlined with black glue. The students were then given a lesson on how to use the color wheel to guide their color choices. We talked about mixing either analogous colors or two values of the same color in each area. They did a great job controlling the chalk pastels, which can be very messy!
These birds were inspired by Eric Carle’s collages and the time of year (currently December). I showed the students how to paint the trees using a thin line of watercolor and then using small pieces of matte board to “smear” the paint. We then painted a cool color paper and a warm color paper. After everything was dry we went to work cutting our pieces out and gluing them to a blue background. Finally, we added white paint and while it was still wet the kids brought them to me and I added glitter…they LOVE glitter!
Second grade created these awesome sailboats. When I was younger my parents took us sailing during the summer, so I grew up learning all about boats. During my instruction for this project we learned about the parts of a sailboat. We also discussed spinnakers, which are beautifully colored sails used in races. The students used oil pastel and watercolor, learning about value, color, line, shape, and pattern.
I just love these owls! The students work through a guided drawing lesson with me. They are given some choices to personalize their owl as they wish. We colored the owls with marker and then painted the background with watercolor. We discussed contrast a lot, emphasizing the importance of choosing colors that would show the details on the owl as well as make the owl stand out from the background color. The students were also shown how to use the wet-in-wet technique if they wanted to paint a sunset, or pastel resist for the stars in a night sky.
Peacocks are such a beautiful bird, so this year I decided my second graders were going to do fabulous peacocks. The kids were able to veer away from traditional peacock colors as long as they did at least three values and/or colors. We also talked quite a bit about contrast as we created these beautiful birds.