Chuck Close Portraits





By Amber, 2011



Year 3 student, 2011


Lesson Background:

I got the idea for this lesson from the art blog:  "Art Projects for Kids" http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/2007/12/chuck-close-self-portrait.html
I have changed a few things though:  I did not use photos as a base for the artworks- we just drew in faces.  Also, I asked my students to use progressos rather than normal pencils, textas or crayons, to make these portraits really stand out.

Lesson Steps:

1.  Talk about the artist, Chuck Close.  I used a PowerPoint presentation with a brief biography and photos of some of his artworks.  Discuss his style and techniques. 
2.  Provide students with a sheet of A4 grid paper.

3.  Demonstrate how to draw a face, neck and shoulders onto the grid paper (use helpful measurement information such as, 3 squares from the left and 2 squares down, start drawing the side of the head, following the line, etc).

4.  Show students how to draw in eyes, nose and mouth. 
5.  Ask the students to outline their drawing with black progresso when they are happy with it.
6.  Ask the students to colour in the lips red/pink and the eyes in whatever colour their own eyes are.
7.  Revise the concept of warm and cool colours.  Tell the children they will choose 2 warm colours for the face/ears/neck, 1 warm and 1 cool colour for the shirt (stick to light colours that stand out), and 2 cool darker colours for the background. 
8.  Remind the students of how Chuck Close filled each grid square with patterns and shapes.  Brainstorm ideas for patterns and shapes they could use in each of their squares.
9.  Send the children back to begin their artworks.
10.  When all the colouring is done (make sure they press firmly and leave no white gapes), the students can go over the black outlines.
11.  Back the artworks on black cardboard.

Year 3 Student Artworks:




By Andrea G, 2011

 

By Charlotte, 2011





Year 3 student, 2011

 

Year 3 student, 2011


 

By Denzelle, 2011




Year 3 student, 2011





By Nomvula. 2011

   

By Parth, 2011



  

some of the 3B artworks,2011





Year 3 student artwork, 2011



Desert Cactus Oil Pastel Drawings

3B Desert drawings, 2010

Lesson Background:

I designed this art lesson as a part of an Integrated Studies unit of work on animal and plant adaptations.  We had been learning about desert environments and the adaptations of desert plants, including the cactus.  I went searching for cactus artworks on Google Images and found a few beautiful ones that I showed the students.  From these images, I designed the layout of this artwork.

Lesson Steps:

1.  Students were given an A4 sheet of white art paper.
2.  With the students at their desks and me at the board demonstrating step-by-step, I drew in 2 mountain shapes in the foreground.  I then drew in 1 large mountain in the background.  The students followed, creating whatever shapes for the mountains that they liked best (I did tell them that the cactus would be on the left side of the paper, so they would need to put the interesting shapes and curves of their mountains on the right hand side of the paper).
3.  I then drew the basic cactus shape on the left side of the paper (I explained that it was like a column with a rounded top- like a long upside-down 'U' shape.  I also suggested they start their cactus shape approximately 2 finger spaces from the left, to have it stop about 2 finger spaces from the top of the page and about halfway across the paper).
4.  I asked the students to colour nearly the whole sky in yellow oil pastel (leaving just a strip of 2-3 finger spaces blank at the top).  I then asked them to colour the blank strip in red oil pastel.  after this, I showed them how to use orange oil pastel to mix through the bottom of the red and down into the yellow, to create a 3-toned sunset in the sky.
5.  I then demonstrated how to colour the mountains in the foreground.  We started by colouring the whole mountain with dark blue oil pastel.  I then showed the students how to use dark purple and navy to show the shadows and how to use light blue to show the ligher areas.
6.  For the background mountains, we covered them in red oil pastel and then used purple for the shadows and a little orange oil pastel for the lighter areas.
7.  After this we were ready to start on the cactus.  I showed them how to draw in long, pointy, slightly wavy strips all over the cactus.  I explained how most of the right side of the cactus would be light green (where the sunset was shining) and most of the left side of the cactus would be dark green (in the shadows).  In between, would be mostly filled with other light colours (pale blue and yellow strips) on the right side, and mostly darker colours (dark blue, navy blue, dark purple) on the left side.  I demonstrated how to do this and explained the importance of leaving no gaps.
8.  When the picture was complete, I showed the students how to use the sharp edge of a white oil pastel to draw small spines going around the outside of their cactus.  I then showed them how to create lines of spines inside the cactus as well. (I had originally tried to do the spines by just scraping away lines in the oil pastel, but I found it didn't show up very well- you couldn't see them unless you were right in front of the artworks!)

Year 3 Artworks:

Year 3 artworks, 2010

Keith Haring Moving Figures

some my Year 3 students' artworks, 2010

Lesson Background:

I designed this activity based on an idea I got from the Deep Space Sparkle website: http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/2008/06/keith-haring-inspired-ceramic-mural/
My class was studying a unit of work on healthy lifestyles, including exercise, self-esteem, friendships and relationships.  The unit seemed to be summed up nicely through Keith Haring's art.

Lesson Steps:

1.  We read an edited, child-friendly biography of Keith Haring's life.
2.  I showed the students a range of his artworks on the class interactive whiteboard and we discussed his art style, his use of line, colour, shape, movement and what he was trying to communicate in his artworks (love, tolerance, unity etc).
3.  We talked about how he showed movement through the use of movement lines.
4.  I gave the students some pictures of Keith Haring's artworks to look at and to help them draw their own moving figure/s.  For those that were struggling to draw their own figure, I allowed them to trace up to half of the body from one of the Keith Haring's figures I had given them.  They then had to draw in the rest themselves.
5.  The students then traced or copied their figure/s onto coloured brenex paper. 
6.  I then asked the students to consider what shapes or blocks of colour they would like in the background.  We re-looked at Keith Haring backgrounds and talked about how he used images like hearts, simple shapes and strips of colour.  The children then designed their own background, cut it out of coloured Brenex paper and stuck down their background and figure/s on a sheet of A4 card.
7.  We then came back together on the floor and experimented with drawing movement lines on figures I had drawn on the whiteboard.  Gradually we worked out together, where these lines should go and how to draw them best.  We decided they looked like "rainbows" and "curved around" the part of the body that was moving.
6.  The children went back to their desks and then drew movement lines onto their artworks (I suggested between 2 and 4 sets per figure).  They did this in lead pencil first and then when they were satisfied with them, they traced over the lines in black texta.
7.  I then asked the students to trace around the outside of their figures in black texta to make them stang out.

Year 3 Artworks, 2010:




3B artworks (we tried multiple figures in 2009)



Sample artwork I made to help guide the class

Watercolour Pencil Still Lifes



Year 3 student artwork by Jasmine, 2010

 Lesson Background:

I found the gorgeous still life watercolour painting that these artworks are based on through Google Images.  I was looking for some fruit bowl pictures my class could turn into their own artworks during their Health unit on Nutrition and the Healthy Food Plate.  I ended up choosing the artwork below from the Fine Art America website, due to its vibrant colours, use of shading and beautiful shapes.

Original artwork from Fine Art America:

Lesson Steps:

1.  I showed the students the original artwork.
2.  We discussed it's use of shape, line, light and shade and colour.
3.  I demonstrated how to draw each element of the picture step-by-step.  The students followed me, drawing with lead pencil on A4 art paper.  I made sure to use spacing information (e.g. 4 finger spaces up and 2 from the left) and shape information (e.g. this line is a J shape or this line is in the shape of a back-to-front C). 
4.  After the students and I completed the drawing, I brought the children to the floor and demonstrated how to use watercolour pencils.
5.  I then demonstrated how to show light (lighter colours/tones or white) and shade (darker colours/tones) and where the light and shade should go and why.
6.  I then sent the students back to colour in and then "paint" their artworks with watercolour pencils.

Year 3 Student Artworks:



By Maryam, 2010




By Hannah, 2010




Yeat 3 student, 2010



By Ella, 2010



By Alex, 2010




By Year 3 student, 2010




By Oliver, 2010




3B artworks, 2010



Matisse-Style Name Panels

Year 3 artwork by Oliver, 2010



Lesson Background:

I got the idea for this art lesson from my favourite Internet art blog: Deep Space Sparkle
http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/2008/09/matisse-inspired-name-panels/

Lesson Steps:

1.  Teach the students about Henri Matisse- who he was, what type of art he produced, the features of his artworks etc.  (You can purchase the PowerPoint presentation I made for this part of the lesson at my Teachers Pay Teachers store: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mrs-Baker- just search for the name of the artist)
2.  Ask the students to design their name in an interesting way (do this on scrap paper first).  Their name should use interesting mixtures of lines (e.g. zigzag, wavy and straight lines)
3.  Ask the students to design a background of coloured panels or shapes on their scrap paper.
4.  When their design is complete, students can trace or copy each piece of their design onto coloured Brenex paper (glossy type looks best).
5.  Students cut out their designs and stick them onto an A4 sheet of card.
6.  When everything is stuck on, I asked the students to "paint" over their design with PVA glue to make it shiny.

Year 3 Student Artwork Samples:

By Robert, 2010



By Cadel, 2010

 

By Neve, 2010





3B class artworks, 2010