Drawing is Taking a Line for a Walk-Paul Klee

It amazes me how stressed kids get when it comes to an art project. The other day in a grade 5 classroom we were doing one line art drawings. I had one chiId crying because his work did not look like what he wanted. Others did not want to follow the simple rule of lines not drawn on top of another.

Maya, age 9

By the time kids get to the junior years, kids begin to feel that they have natural talent or they don't. Kids equate drawing realistically with being good at art. So many lose interest. This is a shame. We need kids to feel that thinking creatively is valuable. Our world is complex and we will need creative problem solvers to help us in the future.

This is why I like to do more abstract art projects in the junior years. I also emphasize that if they wanted to learn to draw realistically, that they must practice like any other skill they want to learn.

I really like Paul Klee. A Swiss artist who produced many diverse pieces of artwork. I like to show students some examples of artwork with simple lines and how colour is used to enhance a picture. Here is a more detailed biography.

I begin by asking student to draw something simple: flower, trees, house, cars etc.
Then I ask them to practice drawing a one line drawing.
The students trace over it with a sharpie.
Then they use watercolours to finish the paintings.

Seurat Vases

Georges Seurat was best known for pointilism. So it made sense that our art project focussed on creating points.  Since our participants were mostly 6-8 year olds, we gave them a small piece of paper.

They first sketched out their design with pencil. Next time, I think I would use a yellow peice of chalk to avoid pencil marks.

The kids used the bottom of their pencil as the "point". We quickly switched over to cotton swabs.

It retains the paint better and it goes much quicker. We also have them a small piece of paper to work with. Any larger, the kids would have lost.  We gave them 5x7 card.

Another option to try next time is bingo dabbers. The only problem with them is the limited number of colours available (or at least at our local dollar store).

Once everything was dry. I scanned the artwork and printed it on water slide paper. I love water slide paper. I use this for attaching images to anything smooth such as candles, lamps and soaps
Water slide paper is like a tattoo.

First you must print it on a laser printer. Make sure your printer has been printing before you print on water slide paper. The printer needs to be super hot.  Once you have successfully printed your image, cut it out and place in lukewarm water for 30seconds and 60 seconds. Time will depend on how warm the water is.

Then quickly slide it off the paper and adhere to your product.  I usually add glue form a glue stick on the surface in order for the "tattoo" to stick. Make sure you smooth it over to remove any air bubbles.

I bought some cheap dollar store  vases and quickly slipped the image on to the vase. You can also add a candle and use it as a hurricane lamp. Either way, aren't they precious! I think there will be some happy Mothers. Happy Mother's Day!

A Wall of Art

So the art work comes home from school, you admire it, then wonder 'what now'. Turning to the pile of artwork that has come home recently, you find a mountain growing. If you want to encourage your budding artist, but aren't sure how best to do that without drowning in kid art, then take a look at this fun idea that I came across over at ohdeedoh.com.

Source: ohdeedoh.com via Maria on Pinterest

Isn't that amazing! A wall dedicated to kids artwork! Not in a messy, can't-see-a-thing kind of way though. If you have a wall that is begging for a bit of colour, you could do this too. All you need is a few frames and the art work to go in them. You can either pick the frames first, then have your children create the artwork on appropriate sized paper or start with already existing art work that you feel wows you and find frames to make it pop.

Once the frames are arranged on the wall, you might also decide to make it a rotating photo gallery. Once a month you could add new artwork, either cropped  or matted to fit your frames, or have a special art session that is all about your art wall. If you have an art session, then you could even colour coordinate your masterpieces. Another thought might be to have a theme for the month, ie. still life with fruit, silhouettes, art work in the style of your favourite artist (Munch anyone?). The sky is the limit as far as creativity goes.

I also love the chalk board at the bottom - a perfect height for kids! If you want to make the wall even more interactive, you could add the chalkboard, or make the whole wall a chalk board! Keeping it framed at the bottom gives a semblance of neatness that some might find appealing, but having the whole wall a chalk board might be fun too. That way your child can practice their writing, while adding a title to their pieces. You might be adding a whole new aspect to the creative process!

Yes, that mountain of artwork will now seem like a mole hill, I suspect. Your child will be so proud to show off their artwork to their friends, neighbours and Grandma when she comes to visit. You can feel good too, knowing that you are helping to develop your child's creativity and sense of self-worth in a way that is a pleasure for all to enjoy. Here's a project to get your Mom of the Week stars right here!

What Time Is It?

What Time Is It? Craft Time!

Hold your horses and wrap your mind around this fantastic art project that you can do with your kids - a Hand-Designed Photo Frame Clock. In fact, it can be an art project that will carry you over 14 days! One day for each picture that corresponds with a number on the clock, another for painting your frames and the last day for assembly. Got you covered for two weeks of creativity with the kiddos here! The excitement and pride you all will have as the final project gets attached to the wall, will be well worth the effort as well. So go ahead and get crafty!

Now, while I cannot lay claim for the original idea (found this awesome clock on the ohdeehdoh.com website), I think that with a little finagling this would be a fun and functional art project to do with your own kids. So what do you need for this unique craft idea? It depends upon how much work you want to put into it. You could always pick up pre-painted frames and just add artwork, but if you want to take this project one step further (like we do!), you could pick up some plain frames and paint them in hues of your own choosing. You can mix and match frame shapes and sizes or keep them all a uniform size. Its all up to you! So, let's see what we require for today craft;

HAND-DESIGNED PHOTO FRAME CLOCK

ITEMS YOU WILL NEED:

• 12 unfinished photo frames
• Acrylic paint (various colours) 
• clear coat
• paint brushes, sponges and other applicators (various sizes to give different depth/style per frame)
• 12 pieces of paper to create 12 wonderful & unique backdrops for your clock faces
• 1 clock mechanism 
• nails
• hammer
• level
• pencil
 

DIRECTIONS:

Day 1- Day 12:

• Break out the paint, pencils and pastels, its time to get crafty! Set your child up at the easel to create a masterpiece every day. Experiment with different colours, a variety of applicators (sponges, paint brushes, apples, potatoes, leaves, etc.), and whatever else you think might work for the artwork you want to highlight. Introduce other mediums like chalk, crayons or pencil crayons too! You are only limited by your imagination!

Day 13:

• Now that your masterpieces are complete, it is time to decorate the frames. I suggest that you save the frames for last, as this way you can colour coordinate your frames to the pictures that are going to go in them. Open up the acrylic paints and start designing your frames! Make sure the frames are well coated, so that their colour lasts.

• Additionally, you can clear coat the frames to ensure that the frame's vibrancy remains intact for years to come. This is not absolutely essential, but it will give longevity to this special piece. Leave the frames to dry overnight to ensure that no tackiness remains before you hang your frame clock the next day.

Day 14: 

• Ensure that your frames and artwork are all completely dry before proceeding with the last step to install your clock. Remove the back from your frames and insert the artwork into them. Now take a look at your framed pictures and decide what order you want to put them in for your clock face. Hint: A dry run will help to prevent rearranging your pieces after the nails have been hammered in, if you have frames of varying sizes. With the help of a pencil and your level, mark on the wall where your pictures will be hung, marking sure to note the centre for the clock mechanism as well. Carefully hang your pictures and put the clock mechanism in place. 

Voila! You know have your very own hand-designed photo frame clock, as designed by your children. It will be an eye-catching conversation piece for years to come. You can even have your children create new artwork for the clock in the future, if you want to update the look of it.

Valentine's Day Hearts

My daughter has been sick the last couple of days so we have been making Valentine's hearts. These ideas were found on Kids Artists- a blog maintained by Jacqueline. I have attached the links to the blog for the lesson plans. 

 This one is called Connected hearts and can be found on Kids Artists . 

Here are two variations to the Cubist Heart. It was originally a Christmas tree on Kids Artists but I changed the subject to a heart. We did it two different ways. The first one was done with markers and the second one was done with marker and acrylic paint.Which one do you prefer?

Finally, these hearts are inspired by Jim Dine. More information at  Kids Artists.

Happy Valentine's Day!