Winter Fox Paintings Grade 1/2

 

Lesson Background:

There are many winter fox art projects online such as this one http://littledogartblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/5th-grade-winter-fox-paintings.html

I combined lots of ideas to create these foxes.

This was a directed drawing lesson. Directed drawing (i.e. modelling step-by-step) elicits great discussions, exposing students to vocabulary they encounter in art and maths. Students are hearing and putting into action phrases such as “half way down the page”, “curved line”, “straight line”, “triangle shape”, “a quarter of the way down this shape”, etc. Once students had drawn the basic fox shape, they were encouraged to be artists and make it their own. Some chose to have white paws, pink ears, pink cheeks, blue trees, birch trees, falling snow, “cute” eyes, “closed eyes”, whiskers, grass, and many other variations. I love how unique they all are.

Lesson Materials (per student):

1 thin and 1 medium paintbrush

1 sheet A3 light blue paper (trimmed ready for backing)

acrylic paint (I provided orange, red, white, blue, black, brown)

water pots

thick black sharpies or whiteboard markers

My Sample artwork:

Lesson Steps

1. We looked at photos of foxes, including the one that lived in my backyard when I was teaching in England back in 2006. We also read stories and non fiction books about foxes in winter.

2. I showed the students how to draw the fox and background, step-by-step, offering lots of chances to individualise their foxes (different eyes, whiskers, type of trees, etc.). Students followed along with their lead pencils.

3. I modelled how to paint one section at a time, offering ideas such as using dabs of paint for a more "messy" impressionistic style, or smooth blended strokes for a more realistic look. I also showed them how to add texture to the fur with little lines or dabs, how to blend a little black into the snow to show shadows, etc.

4. Once dry, the students used markers to outline. We actually found our thick black whiteboard markers worked best (particularly on paintings that had "gone out of the lines" a lot).

Student Artworks:

Grade 1 & 2 Rock Painting in the style of Bronwyn Bancroft

 

Lesson Background:

My class has been learning about weather during Science and last week we explored indigenous seasons. We read Alison Lester’s fabulous picture book, “Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo” and Katrina Germein & Bronwyn Bancroft’s stunning book “Big Rain Coming” to see what changes occur to plants and animals in each season. We then painted some rocks in the style of Bronwyn Bancroft, trying to represent one of the seasons we had learnt about.

Lesson Materials (per student):

1 smooth flat rock/pebble

Acrylic paint pens (I highly recommend these over regular acrylic paints with brushes, as they allow children to create much more intricate patterns with greater ease)

Clear spray varnish

Lesson Steps:

1. We explored the art of Bronwyn Bancroft and looked at how she uses background colours with patterns over the top. We also looked at the different types of dots she uses (different sizes, dots within dots, dots with borders, etc) and other patterns such as straight and curved lines. We talked about what colours we could use to best represent different seasons, such as warm colours for hot, dry seasons, and cool colours for wet, cold seasons.

2. The children used the pens to paint their designs.

3. I coated the rocks with varnish.

Haven't they done a brilliant job?!

Student Artworks:

My sample rock

Minnie's beautiful rock (Grade 1)

More stunning rocks from Lachie & Isabel (Grade 2)

Some spectacular offerings from Onyx, Nick, Theo and Nicholas (Grade 1)

And some more magic from Ahmed (Grade 2), Sia (x2!) (Grade 1). Mikaela and Isabel (Grade 2)