Fractured Art

Posted on November 16, 2008 by artlessonsforkids

I am always trying to think of creative ways to reinforce some of the elements of art. Here is a great project that will help you do just that. Kids will learn or review, depending on the age level, lines, primary colors, shape, space and even value.

After discussing these elements, give your students a 12 x 18 piece of white paper, pencil and ruler. They are to make a mix of vertical, diagnal and horizontal lines that can either be straight, zig-zag or wavy. Once they have outlined their lines with a black crayon, they go to the painting station where there are paint cups with the primary colros waiting for them. Go over the routine of how to use a brush (wash your brush between colors) and starting with one primary color they paint diferent sections of their paper. Remind them that two same colors cannot be next to each other! Then they go onto the next primary color and so on.

Dividing the paper into sections

Once their painting is dry, they need to cut up their paper and keep the pieces in the same order they are cutting them because they will glue them down onto a large piece of black paper, kind of like a jig saw puzzle. When they glue them down, there remind them to keep a small space between strips.

Painting in each section

The final result is beautiful and the kids love to see them when they are finished. this project can be adapted to any age level. Instead of painting with the primary colors you could paint different shades or tints of a hue (color), use only warm or cool colors, complementary colors, etc. The possibilties are endless!

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Color Wheels

Posted on November 16, 2008 by artlessonsforkids

Grade one color wheel

Teaching how a color wheel works is fun for kids and it teaches primary and secondary colors. I decided that all of my grades would make different kinds of color wheels. I am big on displays so I thought that it would look lovely for a final display.

Essentially, a color wheel is a tool to visually see the postion of the primary colors and the secondary colors which are mixed from red, yellow and blue. Experiment beforehand with this and have your students mix, mix mix! They love this and it’s important for them to get as much hands on experience because you learn so much more from DOING!

After the kids have mixed, explored and discovered, they are ready to make their own color wheels. Here are some samples of some of the color wheel my students made. Grade one made theirs the following way. I gave out pre- cut cardboard circles and then gave out a 9 x 12 piece of white paper which the students folded into 6 sections. Their instructions were to draw 3 identical shapes and paint them with the primary colors. The shapes needed to be simple with no details and just an outline. Then they made an outline of three other identical shapes. Their challenge was to make the secondary colors by mixing two primary colors together. They needed to make 3 new colors. I gave out plastic plates with some red, yellow and blue paint. Tip: plastic plates can be washed an re- used again and again!

They collected their water container, paint brush and protective paper for the table. It’s good to remind the students that they must keep their three colors ‘clean’ and can mix colors on another part of their plate. They must remember to wash their brush between colors using their water cup and dry their brush on the protective paper before mixing or changing colors. This is a routine that needs to be done over and over till they get it and it’s automatic.

Once they made their new colors (green, orange and purple), they painted their remaining shapes. I then gave out their cardboard circles and they made some lines on them for divisions and painted them in using black and white. When everything was dry, they glued their ‘primary color’ shapes at the 12 , 3 and 9 o’clock marks on their circles and the secondary colors inbetween the primary colors. Then they glued yarn between the primary and secondary colors.

With my grade two class we made color wheel pizzas. These were a lot of fun and the kids loved doing them. They also looked stunning once they were finished and displayed. See my display page for ideas. Anyway, after the kids experimented mixing colors and could tell me how to make the secondary colors, I gave them a giant pre-cut cardboard circle which they divied up into 6 sections. They colored the primary colors and secondary color sections with crayon and then had to fill in each section with ‘toppings’ which were different kinds of paper and magazine cut outs for each color. They brought in from home other toppings such as balloons, wrapping paper etc.. When they were finished , the students sprinkled each section with glitter ‘cheese’. The end result was gorgeous and delicious!

Starting with the primary colors

Adding the toppings

Gorgeous results!

Lines, Geometry and Primary Colors!

Posted on November 16, 2008 by artlessonsforkids

Mondrian inspired paper collage

Here’s another great art project that involves exploring lines, geometry and using primary colors. This art project is inspired by Dutch abstract artist Piet Mondrian. There is plenty of information on the web plus if you go to google images you’ll find many wonderful examples of his work. Before starting this project I made a slide show of many of Piet Mondrian’s art examples (from google images of course) as well as Mondrian inspired art work from other artists.

Explain to the students that they will make an abstract collage using black, red, yellow and blue paper. Give out a large 18 x 12 white piece of paper, (I love to give kids plenty of space and 9 x 12 paper is not good enough!) . Hand out red, yellow and blue paper (primary colors) plus scissors, a ruler and a glue stick. Tell them to put these materials aside for a bit as they will start with black paper. Give out black paper the same size as your white paper and tell your student to cut it into thin strips cutting horizontally. Ten thin strips is plenty. Tip: to save paper two students can share one piece of black paper.

Next, have the kids play around a bit with their ‘lines’ and to place some strips horizontally and the rest vertically and 1 or 2 strips diagnally. The vertical one will need to be trimmed. Encourage them to place shorter lines within a square or rectangle section. See the sample below.

Thinking about line placement

Once they are happy with their design, they can glue their lines one by one carefully so they don’t lose their original design. They should have a white piece of paper with different rectangles, squares and even triangles. The next part of the project involves filling in most of the areas with either red, blue or yellow paper. This involves them measuring the section with a ruler. Some kids like to place the colored paper over the section and figure out the size. This is ok too because it’s showing creative thinking skills!

It’s important to stress that one or two sections should remain white. They can also place smaller shapes of a different color within shape that already has color. Let them explore and experiment. The results are amazing!

I like the bird!

I like the shapes within the shapes

Once your students are happy with their design, show the slideshow of Piet Mondrian’s artwork and have the kids compare, contrast and discuss the artist’s work with their own final piece.

Note: For this project, I preferred to show samples of Piet Mondrian’s art at the end of the project because I wanted my student to explore the lines, shapes and color placement without a sample to ‘copy’ from. Most of them were so surprised to see that they were able to make artwork like someone famous too!

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