Still Life inspired by Paul Cezanne

This lesson is by far one of my favourites for Grade 2 because there is a beautiful mix of observational drawing, an artist study & oil pastel techniques. Although this was the first time I did this project, it is definitely going to be repeated again with next year's second grade students.

The learning objectives for this lesson was to become familiar with the works of Paul Cezanne, to identify a still life, to recognize highlights and shadows within a still life and to use primary or secondary observation to draw & render a still life in the style of the artist.

Materials required:
- A3 paper
- A5 paper
- paints, brushes, water pots
- oil pastels
- pencils, erasers
- laminated images of still life 
- 3D arrangements of fruit
- images of Cezanne's artwork on PowerPoint
- ebook "Cezanne's Astonishing Apples"

Duration: 3 lessons of 80 minutes each

1. After going through the objectives with the students and showing them an example of the finished piece, I started off the lesson by reading them a story about Paul Cezanne which I found online. I asked students to look for all the things that Cezanne painted while they listened to the  story of "Cezanne's Astonishing Apples". What's even better is that the story is already pre-recorded so as long as you have access to speakers, you're good to go!
2. When the story was finished, as a whole class we discussed the works of Cezanne while I showed them more images of his paintings on a PowerPoint. We talked about the subject matter, colours, tones, similarities and differences within his work. 
3. Next, on the board, I showed them a photograph of some fruit in a bowl and did a quick demonstration on how to observe the size, shape and placement of objects while drawing. 
4. As a mini lesson, I gave them each an A5 piece of paper and a pencil and put a selection of real, 3D fruits arranged on a plate in front of them. By "real" I actually mean plastic fruits. Since this project was going to carry on for a period of three weeks, I couldn't possible keep edible fruit in my class for that length of time. Anyway, I set the timer for 3 minutes and the kids had to quickly sketch what was in front of them keeping in mind size, shape and placement of objects. Then, I turned the plate of fruit around so that the viewpoint for each student changed and gave them another 3 minutes to sketch. This made them understand how their drawing of the same fruit would change if they were to look at it from different angles.
5. Now it was time to get on with the final drawing on A3 paper. Based on the results of the mini lesson and their abilities, I selected my high ability students to draw from primary observation using the 3D fruits and the middle/low ability students to draw from photographs.

A student drawing from primary observation

6. A finished drawing on A3 paper saw the end of the first lesson. Have a look at the results.

1. In the second lesson, the main objective was to learn a variety of oil pastel techniques and to start observing & creating the highlights and shadows with the still life drawn in the first lesson using those techniques.
2. As a starter activity, I found a tutorial on YouTube that would teach six different techniques of oil pastels (blending, layering, short strokes, long strokes, pointillism and drawing). After a guided lesson through the tutorial, this is what each student created:

3. Next, I showed them another short video on how to create a realistic apple. As students watched the video, I questioned them on which of the six techniques they saw the artist using.
4. Students are now set to work on their still life. Be sure to remind them to observe the highlights and shadows. Take a look at some of the work in progress.

1. In the third and last lesson, students continue adding highlights and shadows to their objects and once that is complete, they start to paint the background.
2. I did a quick demonstration on how to mix colours and show texture & students got to select their own colour combinations for their background.

3. Once the paint is dry, the only thing left to do it outline with a black oil pastel and you end up with a masterpiece!

If you have done a lesson on Cezanne, I would love to hear how it went!

Flower Collage

This is a beautiful project I did recently with my Grade 1 students. The real hero of this lesson is the painted paper. Students have an absolute ball making the painted paper and those free hand designed papers are the basis for visually striking artworks.

Materials required:
- painted paper
- A3 white paper cut vertically
- newspapers
- white glue & brushes
- circle templates approx. 2-3inches diameter
- black card approx. 2inches x 3inches
- a handout of different flower petal designs
- scissors
- glue sponges or glue sticks
- thick black markers

Duration: 2 lessons of 80 minutes each

Prep work for first lesson: get loads of newspaper and pour white glue into cups. Cut the A3 papers vertically.

1. The objective of this lesson was to understand the meaning of collage and then to create a collage of a flower. I showed the students a finished example of the project and got them to figure out the meaning of collage through questioning. I then explained to them that it would take them two lessons to complete their collage; making the newspaper background first and then the flower itself.
2. For the newspaper background, I gathered all students around a table and showed them how to rip the newspaper into small pieces and especially asking them not to use any pictures they find on the newspaper. They must use only the words. Once they have a good stack of small, torn pieces of newspaper, apply the white glue with a brush on the A3 white, rectangular paper. Tell students to cover their whole sheet with newspaper and once that was done, to apply white glue one more time over the newspaper to make sure that every piece is stuck down properly. This was the end of the first lesson.

The newspaper background

Prep work for second lesson: sort all painted papers into reds, yellows, blues, purples, pinks & greens. Cut green painted papers into long, vertical rectangles so that makes it easier for the kids to cut out a stem. Cut all other colours into smaller squares or rectangles roughly the size of your palm. Place into plastic bags for students to have easy access to them and to choose their colours easily. 
Prepare the glue sponges by placing a sponge into a small box and pouring white glue on top. I love using sponges instead of glue sticks because it is easier to use and white glue is a lot stronger than a glue stick.
Prepare a handout of different flower petal designs. Cut pieces of black card roughly 2inches x 3inches. 
Cut out circle templates approx. 2-3inches diameter. I laminated mine so that they can last longer. Draw the circles on each student's newspaper collage so that it's easier for them to understand where to place their stem. etc.

Prep work: sorting the painted papers

Prep work: the petal handout and the black card

Prep work: the glue sponges

1. Briefly discuss with the students about the different parts of a flower. As we were naming and labeling them as a whole class, I told the students which parts we would be making first, second and so on by writing a number against it. We would make the stem first, the leaves second, third is the centre of the flower and lastly the petals. Have a look at my board:

Since there were too many components of the flower, I decided to do split my demonstration. This means that I gathered students together and demonstrated how to do the stem and leaves, then they would go off to their own places and follow that. When they completed the stem & leaves, I got them around the table again and showed them how to make the centre and the petals.
2. Get a long piece of green painted paper and draw two wobbly, parallel lines at the back of the paper for the stem. Tell students that all their drawing work will be done at the back of the painted papers so that no pencil lines will be seen on the front. Cut it out and stick onto the newspaper background made in the previous lesson.
3. Draw a few leaves, cut and stick. Have a look at this process:

A student making the stem and leaves

4. Next, decide on a colour for the centre and use the circle template to trace the shape, cut and stick it on.

A student making the centre of the flower

5. Using the handout and the small piece of black card, draw the shape of the petal. Make sure the petal is big enough and should ideally touch all four corners of the black card. Cut it out. This will be used as a template to draw all the petals. Trace onto their choice of painted papers approx 6 - 8 times. Cut it out and stick.

A student making the petal shape

Students selecting which colours they would like to use

Work in progress

6. Finally, outline with black marker.
The finished pieces!

Shape Collage

This was a fun project I did with my Grade 1 students last month. I wanted to get them to practice their fine motor skills and my personal agenda was to use up all the painted paper scraps as I would hate to see all those beautiful markmaking techniques go to waste. 

Materials:
- painted paper
- glue
- scissors
- A3 black cardstock

Duration: 1 lesson of 80 minutes

1. First, we looked at the works of Paul Klee and discussed his use of shape. We brainstormed all the shapes we could think of and I showed students a finished example of the project so that get an idea of what is expected of them. We then identified which shapes they could find in my example.

The example I showed to students

2. I did a quick demonstration to show students how to cut and arrange all their shapes on paper and then glue them down properly. Have a look at some of the work in progress:

The results were fantastic!

Love the 3D effect on this one!

Painted Paper

It's always a good idea to keep a stock of hand painted paper in the art room. It comes in handy for collage projects, especially those with an Eric Carle theme. It is super messy and be prepared to have insufficient drying racks, but oh my, the kids LOVE it! 

I made painted paper with Grade 1 but the idea is flexible and can be changed to suit all age groups.

Materials required:
- A4 paper
- paints
- large paint brushes
- stamping & texture making tools

Duration: 1 lesson of 80 minutes

I followed the complete instructions by Patty Palmer on Deep Space Sparkle. Thank you so much for your guidance! I even did the set-up exactly the way she did including the demonstration so the whole process went smoothly. The only thing I did differently was to let the kids paint two papers simultaneously.

The steps are simple. First the kids paint a base colour. Second they make patterns with a brush. Third, they use texture tools to make patterns.

Step 3: Students using a variety of texture tools

Don't the finished papers look gorgeous?

Aboriginal Art

During their unit on Australia, Kinders learned about a variety of Australian animals and their habitats. For any teacher, this is a great opportunity to link art and social studies together. 

Materials required: 
- small, square shaped sponges 
- Q tips
- laminated animal templates 
- blu tac
- paint in shades of brown & earth tones
- A3 black cardstock
- A3 beige coloured construction paper

Duration: 1 class of 80 minutes

1. I started off the lesson by questioning students about what they already knew about Australia. Then I briefly explained to them that the local people of Australia create a special kind of art called Aboriginal art. I showed them many visual examples of Aboriginal paintings and got them to pick out the similarities between them all. They came up with the intended answers such as they all have dots, patterns, animals & signs.
2. Next,  I gave them all a demonstration. Take piece of A3 and tear off any two sides. Some students might struggle with this but the idea here is just to give the overall painting a more rugged, handmade look. the more uneven the tearing, the better. Now take some blu tac and stick down the laminated animal template on the paper. I had already stuck small balls of blu tac on each template which saved time in the classroom. Of course students are free to choose where they want to stick it and in which direction.
3. Dip a sponge into brown paint and stamp around the template. Keep the stamping lighter as you move out toward the edges.
4. Carefully remove the template off the paper (make sure your hands are clean for this!). With a Q-tip, make dots in various colours inside the animal. I kept out orange, white, red and ochre.
5. Stick onto black cardstock.

Two examples of the finished pieces

Extension: If I had more time, I would have liked the students to include signs and symbols in their work; and the high abilities could also write a story about their animals and use symbols to visually depict it. Perhaps this could be done if it was a higher grade level?

Some symbols that students could work from

How has your Aboriginal art project turned out?

Jackson Pollock Abstract Art

Jackson Pollock inspired art lessons are always fun for the kids, minimum prep for the teacher with great results. It's a win-win situation except for the fact that it's crazy messy so make sure you and your students are wearing fully covered aprons before you begin. I chose to do a mini lesson with oil pastels first to reinforce the concept of abstract and then follow up with splash painting for the main activity.

Materials required for the mini lesson:
- glue
- A4 paper
- oil pastels 
- a small section of a Pollock painting for each student

Duration: 1 lesson of 80 minutes

The mini lesson:
1.  To gain an introduction to the artist and his style of painting, I showed the students a video clip from YouTube. While they were watching, I asked them to look for two things: (a) How is Pollock painting? (b) Where is he painting? 
2. After watching the video, we discussed the two questions and other key facts about the artist and looked at more examples of his work. What also talked about the lines, shapes and colours he used.
3. I then explained to the students that we would each receive a small section of his painting and without seeing the entire painting beforehand, we would have to predict what the rest of the painting looked like. 

The entire Pollock painting, The Moon Woman Cuts the Circle -  I showed them this image at the end of the lesson.

4. To make this process clearer to the students I gave them a demonstration. First, glue down the section anywhere on the A4 paper. Then, with oil pastels, continue the lines, shapes and colours as if you were completing Pollock's painting for him. Stress on the importance of filling up the white spaces and using colours similar to those of the artist.

The small section I gave the students

 5. Enjoy the results!

Before I taught the lesson I had a feeling that I would end up with a bunch of scribbles but I was honestly surprised with such beautiful results!

Materials required for the main activity:
- tempera paint
- A3 paper
- brushes, water
- an assortment of stamping/texture tools such as sponges, rollers, stamps, etc.

Duration: 1 lesson of 80 minutes  

The main activity:
1. Now that we already had basic knowledge about Pollock, we recapped key characteristics of his work to refresh our memories.
2. On a white A3 paper, I had the students flat paint the background first in one colour only with a large brush. This lesson coincided with the UAE's Independence Day celebrations so therefore the kids had a limited palette. They could only use the colours of the UAE flag (red, black, green or white). I suppose you could start by giving them coloured paper so that they won't have to paint a background but I love the texture and strokes that can be seen on a hand painted background. 
3. With a small brush and stamping tools, the students created random shapes and patterns similar to the style of the artist. Here the kids had free range in terms of design and could use any colour of the flag so long as it wasn't the same colour as their background. I had the kids use rollers, stamps and found objects such as forks, sticks and sponges to create variety within their work.
4. Now for the messy part! I covered the hallway floor with plastic and had the kids place their work on the floor adjacent to each other. We stood in a circle around the paintings and I demonstrated how to drip, splash and splatter the paint. The students took it in turns to splash (3 at a time). The squeals of excitement were priceless although I had to tell them to keep it down quite a few times! Left them to dry overnight and it's all done! Would you do this with your students?

Line, Shape, Colour and Pattern

For every grade level, the academic year kicks off with the first unit of study based on the elements of art. After learning about line, shape, tone, pattern and colour individually, this project was a culmination of the five elements into a very large, collaborative piece of work. The project also coincided with the UAE's independence day celebrations in school and therefore the artwork reflects the colours of the UAE flag (red, green, white and black). Each student painted a strip individually and then later, all the strips were glued onto backing paper.

Materials required:
- large strips of paper (approx. 8" x 40")
- red, green, white and black tempera paints
- brushes, water
- pencils

Duration: 2 lessons of 80 minutes each

Tip: Before you begin the lesson you may need to think logistically about how far the students are seated since the papers are very long. I spread out my students on the tables and a few on the floor.
Also, make sure you have cut up extra strips so if anyone finishes early, they can paint another strip. The more painted strips you have, the larger your artwork will be.
Keep a designated area to allow the strips to dry. The drying racks in my classroom were not big enough so I kept them on the floor outside in the hallway instead.

1. Keeping the strip horizontal, each student drew 2 types of lines on their paper from one end to the other for example, straight, wavy, zig zag, etc. I asked them to be careful not to draw them too close together.
2. Then they chose any 3 colours out of the 4 colours of the UAE flag and painted inside the lines they drew. I gave a demonstration for this as I wanted to the students to paint an even, flat tone of colour and not leave any white spaces. This was all they had to do during this lesson so the minute one student finished, I gave them another strip to paint in a different colour combination.
3. In the second lesson, it was time to paint the patterns. In my demonstration, I made sure to mention that the colour they use for the patterns should not be the same as the background. So if their background is red, then they could use green, white and/or black for the patterns. I also showed them how to use a thick and thin brush for more detailed patterns. We discussed what types of lines and shapes we could make patterns with. Similar to the first lesson, there were a lot of students who finished quickly and so I just gave them another painted strip.
4. After the strips dried, I got my classroom assistant to glue all of them down onto backing paper. We had about 400 strips in total so it took a while but the results were incredible! What do you think?

Can you find a black-red-green strip that does not have any patterns on it? Whoops!

Have you done a project like this before? Let's hear your thoughts!