….here are the results of the lesson I started a couple of weeks ago
It was a bit of a struggle but with a little bit of encouragement to keep going and add more detail the first few tissue landscapes are finished.
….brown craft paper, oil pastels, and black acrylic paint
Last week I discovered that I was running out of some basic materials, like glue sticks and my supply order that I made weeks before the holidays still hadn’t arrived. After rummaging through the supply cupboard I found enough brown paper for two classes. I had plenty of oil pastels and 2 jars of black acrylic paint.
Some of the students were still finishing their Hundertwasser style landscapes using chalk pastel, so it was interesting for them to experience a new medium, oil pastels. Everyone was busy, either finishing projects or starting a new one. I set up one table for painting to limit the mess and thank goodness for my new drying rack.
Scratch Art from Scratch
I’ve never attempted to do scratch art projects because I’ve only ever seen them done using pre-made scratch boards. As I was going through one of my many art book for children I discovered a simple way to make our own black scratch papers. I have to say that making our own papers was very satisfying and gave the children some experience using oil pastels. I loved using the brown paper and the students were encouraged to leave some of the brown edges exposed.
Students are encouraged to lay down a thick layer of pastels. No background paper should show through. Once we were satisfied with the amount of pastel on the paper we painted a thick layer of black acrylic paint. Before you do this make sure that each student has written their name on the back of their paper or you will have quite a time trying to determine who belongs to the blackened sheets when they come back a week later.
As soon as students finished painting over the the pastels they placed their papers on the drying rack. (This is not a one day project). In the remaining time students can start sketching on copy paper a rough copy of what they would like to draw. I have numerous drawing books available for them to look through and be inspired.
In the following class each student was given a paper clip that I bent open and that was their scratching tool. It works fairly well, especially if you hold it like a pencil and gently rub away the black paint. The assignment was to draw some animals but some of them chose to create a landscape or they did a combination of both. I mounted the finished pieces on two pieces of different coloured construction paper so that it looked like it was matted. Again I think that the grade 2/3 class did a great job.
….I introduced four different art projects this week
I had to think quickly this week as to what I was going to teach in art. I ordered some supplies before Christmas and they hadn’t come in yet so I scrambled to find a project(s) that required the materials I had on hand. Of all the projects that I assigned I think the one I introduced to my grade 3 class is my favourite so far.
We talked about landscapes and reviewed the components: foreground, background and horizon line. I demonstrated how to tear the tissue and overlap the colours to give the picture more depth. I then explained that once the tissue layer was complete we were going to cut out shapes from construction paper, magazines and art papers that we had created last year to create a foreground of flowers.
In the first class most of the students only finished gluing down the tissue paper. In the next class they will cut out their shapes from different materials, glue them into place and then using a fine tip black marker they will add detail to their cut outs and add some line drawings behind their collaged flowers.
I had lots of art books and posters to demonstrate the technique and show a variety of flowers that they could draw. I didn’t want everyone to gravitate to the blue tissue for their sky so I read them Peter Reynolds new book Sky Colour. It’s a wonderful book that every teacher who teaches art should have in their library.
All my classes loved the book and took the message to heart. Very few chose a solid blue for their sky colour.
I started a sample with the children as they worked so that they could visualize what I had in mind. I think that the process is more important than the product and I find giving them a sample to look at helps them better understand the process. No two pictures are ever the same.
Today I finished my sample at home. The first picture shows the tissue in the background and the simple cut outs that are glued on top. In the second picture you can see a close-up of the detail that I drew in after with a fine tip black Sharpie and the third picture is the entire finished piece.
I’m looking forward to seeing what my grade 3s come up with.
Cheers!
…a new year and a new beginning…here are the first 4 questions for 2014
What are some of your favorite types of proteins to eat? (meat, eggs, soy, cheese, nuts)
My favourite protein is cheese. I add cheese to my eggs, chilli and some soups. I love all cheeses but I think my favourites are Swiss, brie and gouda with old cheddar and Oka close behind.
Are you a morning or night person?
I am definitely a night person most of the year but in the summer I love early mornings and tend to go to bed earlier than I would in the winter. This time of year I get a second wind around 10:30 in the evening and have been known to stay up till 1:30 or later. Not a good idea when I have to get up at 6:30 to go to work.
What is your preferred hot drink: coffee, tea, water or other?
Before I was thirty I would have said tea but once we started drinking coffee some 30 years ago I have become a coffee addict. I love my Crema first thing in the morning and recently I’ve become a big fan of Americanos. No sugar but cream is essential in my cup of Joe and I’m not pushed whether it’s leaded or unleaded. I’m not a fan of flavoured coffees or fancy coffees with whipped cream and syrups but occasionally I love a good cappuccino or latte.
Out of your five senses (touch, taste, sight, smell, hearing) which is your favorite?
I can’t imagine living without any of my senses but if I have to choose one over the others it would be sight. I love colour and enjoy painting and taking photographs. My second choice would be hearing. Not being able to experience music or the laughter of children is unconceivable to me.
To share in the fun or read other entries for this challenge check out Cee’s Share Your World
Cheers!
….must be out Christmas shopping
It’s bitterly cold today. A great day to read emails and stay indoors. I guess not everyone else feels the same because it’s really quiet on the blogging home front. With over 500 followers my site is unusually quiet.
I know that I, sometimes spend too much time on the computer but I love learning about new things and getting new ideas for my own art or projects for my art classes at school. This morning I learned about a woman in the Netherlands that recycles old t-shirts and makes rugs using only her fingers (after she’s torn and cut the old shirts apart using scissors).
I then watched a 20 minute video tutorial on making an art collage called Industrial Heart. I was mesmerized. If you’re a budding artist or want to try a new technique check this out.
Well I guess I should do something more constructive today. I need to buy a few more things for Christmas but my husband is balking at going to the mall. I may end up fighting the crowds on my own. Wish me luck.
Cheers!
…..just a few images from our annual trek to this fabulous show
One of my favv
….in the Hundertwasser style
This week the grade 3 students have been working on their urban rural landscapes using vibrant chalk pastels.
We started the lesson discussing the components of a landscape; foreground, middle ground, background and horizon line. We talked about how objects in the foreground were larger and smaller in the background. I then showed the class images of Hundertwasser’s whimsical houses and lollipop trees.
The assignment was to draw city buildings in the foreground and a rural setting in the background. After drawing their rough copies, each student was allowed to choose a sheet of coloured construction paper and then redraw their landscape lines using first pencil and then black or silver marker.
Starting at the top of their paper they then started to add colour using chalk pastels. I showed them how to blend colours using their fingers and pieces of tissue paper. Once all the colour was in place, the black lines were redrawn as the last step. 
The final results have been stunning. You be the judge. Enjoy!
….with shades of Ted Harrison
As my grade 3s completed their x-ray painting in the Morrisseau style it became clear that Ted Harrison’s style influenced many of them as well. Both artists were Canadians. Morrisseau was born in Northern Ontario and Harrison was born in England but later moved to Canada.
Morrisseau’s Spirit Bear
Inside Passage
Here are a few more finished x-ray paintings done by some of my grade 3 and grade 4 students.
….. a Haiku challenge
Today in art class I introduced Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s art. The children are creating their own landscapes in the Hundertwasser style and are loving the assignment. I’m looking forward to seeing their final works of art. This was my inspiration for todays Haiku.
Hundertwasser, art
where lollipop trees abound
whimsical and fun
Bold and colourful
Slanted homes and onion roofs
swaying in the wind
Image courtesy of http://www.inspirationgreen.com/hundertwasser.html
To see more examples of haiku or if you want to challenge yourself go to http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/challenge-haiku/
…..cold temperatures and a dusting of snow today (yesterday)…..hit published….looked like it went through…..discovered this morning that it hadn’t…..sigh…..by the way we got another covering of snow last night
An image of what’s to come in the next few months. Brrrr!!!!!!!!!
What a perfect day to do a little Christmas shopping and check out the Winter Arts Fest at Neilson Park Creative Centre. I met a great artist who makes beautiful jewellery with glass imbedded with copper, a retired principal who creates gorgeous wooden boards and boxes made from different types of coloured wood and an author who wrote a novel about Toronto’s history.
I also ran into my former art teacher, LZ, whose classes I took for a couple of years at Neilson Park Creative Centre. She told me she’s been thinking about me lately and hopes I’ll come back to one of her classes in January. She says she’s including collage and more printmaking lessons to the class. She must have been channelling my thoughts of late because I’ve wanted to do more of both, especially collage.
An earlier attempt at collage.
Printing on Gelli plates.
After doing some shopping at the craft show I headed over to the mall which is close by. The kitchen store had some great sales and I picked up some small items for stocking stuffers. I then went to one of my favourite stores and treated myself to a couple of new tops.
What’s up for tomorrow? Well I keep saying I’m going to reorganize my bedroom but there’s an interesting arts and craft show at my old alma mater in Guelph that I might check out. It all depends on whether someone is willing to go with me. I’m all about living in the moment.
Cheers!
Mama Cormier 