Watercolor

Lesson Summary:
I loved this lesson, mostly because it was based off of one of my favorite books of all time, "The Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister. We began by reviewing the book and working with different watercolor techniques. I learned many new techniques including flat wash, resist, graduated wash, wet in wet, and watercolor crayons. We used these new methods on both the backgrounds and the fish itself. The assignment was to use warm colors opposite of cool colors; so I used warm colors for my background and cool colors for my fish. Also we were to apply the new techniques that we learned to our fish and background.

Extension Activity:
After reading the book, I would give each student one, large scale. On the scale, I would have students write one important quality that they would want in a friend. Then on a bulletin board in the classroom, there would be one large fish. Each student from the class would have their scale pinned on the board, forming the classroom's friendly fish!

Textured Printmaking

Lesson Summary:
This lesson began with my favorite opening activity. The entire class took turns walking around a table, were not allowed to talk or look in the bag, and had to guess what each object was in the bags. After all of the students were done, the teachers revealed multiple objects in which artists could use to obtain texture in their paintings. Next we were able to practice using these objects and find out what texture each object made. After our practice round, we got a larger, clean piece of paper that we were to create our project on. The assignment was to create an abstract or patterned piece together using at least two primary colors, two secondary colors, and one intermediate color. I chose to make a pattern, using multiple textures. I also used multiple primary, secondary, and intermediate colors as I created a rainbow color scheme.

Extension Activity:
An extension activity that could be done with this assignment is have students work with partners and guess what each partner used to create their texture. This would motivate students to use multiple textures. It would also be a fun activity for students after their art project.

Hidden Safari

Lesson Summary:
First students were given safari animals that could be used as a guide to draw. However, we had to draw the image upside down to focus on the lines instead of thinking about the "big picture". We drew our animals in cool, blue colored pencil. Then we took warm colors such as red, yellow, and orange crayons to disguise the animal that we had drawn. In order to see the hidden animal, we also created safari glasses, made out of red cellophane and construction paper. It was really fun to play with the glasses to see my rhino!

Extension Activity:
A fun activity would be to use this with the American Revolution. Students would be studying about the important battles, people, and events that took place during the American Revolution. I would have students create "Benjamin Franklin Spectacles" instead of safari glasses. And instead of drawing an animal, students would create a secret message that would be hidden from the British.

Oil Pastel Lesson

Lesson Summary:
Students first learned about the foreground, middle ground and backgrounds of art pieces. Artists such as Terry Redlin, from South Dakota, use this in their art pieces. Then students were taught how to properly use oil pastels- how to blend them, work with them, overlapping colors, etc. The assignment was to create your own personal snow globes using oil pastels that included a foreground, middle ground, and background. Snow globes were at the tables for motivation for the students. In my snow globe, I created a mountain scene with a snowboard as my foreground, log cabin and trees as my middle ground, and mountains as my background. I incorporated my objects because I love to snowboard in the mountains, so it was personal to me.

Extension Activity:
Students could choose a tradition that his/her family does that is individual to them. They would then create that using a foreground, middle ground and background in oil pastel. Then students would each get a chance to share what they have created. This would give students a chance to share their culture and learn about their classmate's culture.

Monochromatic Painting

Lesson Summary:
In this lesson we were to chose a shape and make eight different sizes out whichever shape we chose and have them overlapping each other. Then we chose a color and practiced making tints and shades by adding either white or black to our base color. For this assignment we had to add two tints, two shades, and include at least two of the original colors in our shapes. After we were done filling our paint in our shapes, then we finished by outlining all of the shapes with a black sharpie. In my monochromatic painting, I chose to make circles and used the color purple.

Extension Activity:
An extension activity that could be used with this art project is to pair it with a geometry lesson. Students could learn the different types of triangles- equilateral, isosceles, and scalene, and have the students make a monochromatic painting out of only those triangles. Then they would assign a color to the certain type of triangle. Equilateral would be a tint, isosceles would be a shade, and scalene would be the base color. It would help students differentiate between the three triangles.

Eric Carle Collages

Lesson Summary:
The Eric Carle Collages took a little more time than the other projects, but was probably one of the more interesting projects. The first week we learned the techniques that Eric Carle uses when he makes his books. After watching his video, we were able to create what we were going to use to make our animals out of. To get different textures on our colored papers we used objects such as the backs of paint brushes and fingers. The next week, we were then able to use those colors to create our own story and characters. So i used the pinks, greens, and grays that I made previously in my my "two page" creation. It's an under the sea story about a very friendly crab who wants friends. So in my picture you can see the very friendly crab asking the very colorful fish to be his friend.















Extension Activity:
An extension activity that could be done with this project is chose one of Eric Carle's books and study the animals or environment they live in. So if you chose "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" then your class could study the bear, where they live, what they eat, and learn about hibernation.

Starry Night Finger Painting

Lesson Summary:
This is another project that was based off of "Starry Night" by artist Vincent Van Gogh. The assignment was to create a finger painting using his style of painting-lots of lines, movement, etc. Because I am a huge fan of this painting, I decided to recreate Van Gogh's masterpiece. I produced my painting by using only the primary colors-red, yellow, blue, and mixing them with black and white to make tints and shades. I wanted to mimic the sky scene as closely as I could so I put extra effort into the stars, moon, and movement in the sky. Overall, this was the most enjoyable project that we did all semester because it was so much fun finger painting one of my favorite paintings!

Extension Activity:
Because I really enjoy this image so much, as an extension activity I would include this exact same painting by this artist. However, I would have the students split a large piece of paper in four and have them use four different mediums to re-create "Starry Night". So one could be made of crayon, one colored pencil, one paint (either with a brush or with fingers), one with oil pastels, one watercolor, etc. Students will be able to become familiar with multiple mediums and will also decide which ones they prefer to work with.

Starry Night Tissue Collage

Lesson Summary:
This was an art activity based off of Vincent Van Gogh's style. Each student was to create a background and cityscape. The background is tissue paper glued onto a black piece of paper. Then the tissue paper was then covered with a clear protective gloss. After the protective coat was dry, then students were able to add more jazz to their background using an oil pastel. Then students were to add a cityscape at the bottom of the page again using black construction paper and a white crayon to add details to the buildings. To finish the piece, the cityscape was glued on top of the background.

Extension Activity:
This lesson could be used with a variety of landscapes and backgrounds with Vincent Van Gogh's style. If students are learning about different states, they could chose the state and make a tissue collage that is individual to that state. If the student chooses Arizona, they could keep the same background used in the cityscape, but would change the city to a desert. They could add cactus's and different levels of land since Arizona is not very flat. The student would also be able to add colored details with crayons to both the desert and cactus's.

Creating a Pinch Pot

Lesson Summary:
We began by learning about the history of pinch pots and the correct ways to create an art piece. We talked about how Native American Tribes have used pint pots for thousands of years and that many used them to store grains such as corn and wheat. The class learned how to create a pot step-by-step while learning vocabulary such as slip and wedging. Then we began working with the clay to make our own pinch pots. Teachers moved around to each student and made sure that they were using proper technique when working with the clay. The requirements for the lesson were that each student needed to use the tools provided to make three different types of textures. Personally, I created a watermelon for a pinch pot. I added shapes (the seeds), texture (the inside of the watermelon has an indent), and lines (the outside has lines to separate the different colors of the outside of a watermelon).

Extension Activity:
After the student's pinch pots have been created, it would be fun for the students to paint their pinch pots. Since they have to dry, the first day students could mold the pinch pots. The next class they could then add colors to projects. That way they can incorporate color as another art element and more personality too. For example, on mine I could add more watermelon characteristics through color.

Elements and Principles of Design

Balance can either be symmetrical or asymmetrical. In this photo a symmetrical balance was used. As discussed in class if you were to cut the object in half, both sides would be exactly the same.

Elements and Principles of Design

Unity is an element of design in which all elements are related. In this picture, the elements are related by both color and by theme.

Footprint

The above footprint was our first assignment. It is an introduction piece for teachers to use to get to know his/her students as each item on the footprint represents things about the person. In the footprint I made, each part represents myself. Each toenail is colored different because I believe that represents my personality-colorful. I also went through a nail polish faze when I was younger. On the far left side, there is a volleyball and a tennis ball as I play both sports here at NSU. When I'm not practicing or working out for either sport and have free time, I love to just sit, relax, and watch movies which is represented by the movie film. In the middle is a little drawing of my family-dad, mom, two older brothers, myself, and a paw for my dog. They are everything to me. Another feature of my foot was the sun and water which represents the lake. I spend almost every weekend there with family and friends during the summer. Many of my favorite memories of growing up happened at the lake so it is a huge part of my life.
A nice extension on this assignment would be to have students "walk in another person's shoes". Students could choose a famous person in history to study and then create a footprint for that person. For example if a student studied Albert Einstein they would learn that he was successful in both math and science. His accomplishments could be represented on the footprint by E=MC2 (just one idea). Then the footprints could be hung up around the room and shared between the students.