Interesting artist... TR Mack

While working on a lesson plan for third grade, which encompasses the big idea of change, I settled on the specific idea of changing seasons. I then started to look for contemporary artists that used this theme in their artwork. I finally found an artist on the Etsy site named TR Mack. I have not been able to find a lot of information on the artist himself, but the artwork he creates is amazing, and just what I was looking for. The specific web address for his Etsy shop is http://www.etsy.com/shop/TRMACKSTUDIO







When I showed the images to my students, they were soooooo excited! The plan is to create a "Forest of Seasons", with each student creating 4 trees, each being 4x6. The students will have to create a tree for each season, utilizing both design and color to portray a specific season. The students will create each tree using a different medium, which include collage, mixed media, acrylic and watercolors. When we get this project done, I will post some pics.

Kindergarten Calico Cats

This is one of my favorite lessons to do with my kindergartners. It is a tissue paper collage with a painted outline. I give each student a 9x12 and a 12x18 piece of paper. Using crayons, I show the students how to draw a body using a large oval, and then add legs and a tail onto it. Then I show them to draw a cat's hear by drawing a circle and adding triangle ears, football shaped eyes, triangle nose and whiskers. Next, the students use black tempera paint to over their crayon lines, and then we let them dry. The next time the students come to art, they are given liquid starch and tissue paper squares. They brush the liquid starch onto the cat, and place the tissue paper onto the starch. Then they brush more starch onto the tissue paper to seal it. I talk to the students about overlapping the tissue paper, and give them time to work. After the cats dry, we cut them out and glue the heads onto the bodies. For a little bit of sparkle, try adding Crayola Glitter It! mixing medium into the starch. The students love this because then their cats are glittery.

Getting buggy in the art room

My second graders finished their required curriculum early, so we decided that we wanted to paint. I decided to have them create a oil pastel resist. We started out by drawing with pencil a large bug of their choice (it could be imaginary) sitting on a flower. Then we outlined with black oil pastels. Next they added some other details with white oil pastel. Finally they painted with watercolors. Some of the classes used Prang watercolors, others used liquid watercolors (I like how bright the colors can be with the liquid watercolors, since they are concentrated)

Any Questions, Needs?

I plan on putting lots of lesson ideas on this blog, but if you need an idea or lesson plan quick, please feel free to leave me a comment, asking for what you need, and I will answer right away. I am starting my 11th year of teaching, so even if I am not teaching that lesson right now, I am sure that I have taught it in the past and will teach it again soon. I always keep all of my teacher examples, so I can post those pictures as needed.

Fourth Grade Color Wheels

My fourth graders are in the process of learning about the color wheel. I taught them that the color wheel is like a map, and on that map are located primary, secondary and intermediate colors. (I know that there is more to learn, such as complementary, analogous, etc. but we will get to this later.) After taking some time for the student to get this concept, I tell the children that they will be making their own color wheel, but that it is not going to be boring. I give them a 12x12 piece of drawing paper, a pencil and a ruler. The first step is to split the paper into 12 equal parts.



I have them fold the paper corner to corner (to form a triangle) twice, so that it makes an X on their square. Then I have them use the ruler to trace their fold lines. Next, I have them measure out 4 and 8 inches on all four sides. Finally, they draw line from each 4 and 8 inch mark into the center of their paper. This gives them a grid like the above picture. Next, they choose a design, and draw that design in each section, making sure to draw large. After the designs are drawn, the students label each section with the colors on the color wheel. At this point, they must show me their papers, so I can quickly check to make sure that the color are in the right order. I have them label each section with a color, so that while they are painting, they are less likely to make a mistake.

After they have drawn and labeled everything, the students start painting with tempera paint. They start by painting the primary colors, followed by the secondary colors, and then the intermediate colors. I give them the primary and secondary colors, but they must mix the intermediates. After the designs are painted in, the students paint the background of their color wheels black, so that the colors really pop.

This is my example, but as the students finish theirs, I will share a few. This is the third year that I have done this lesson, but the students love it, and they use their color wheels for other lessons.

First Grade Cityscapes

I have just finished a great lesson with my first graders. They learned about cityscapes, by creating a crayon resist painting, using crayons and watercolors.




We started by folding the paper in half horizontally, and drew an outline of a cityscape on the top half of the paper. The students pressed hard with their crayons, so that they can transfer the drawing onto the bottom half of the paper by refolding the paper, and rubbing it with something hard (we used the handles of our scissors). The transferred image is light, so the student trace over it with their crayons, and then color in their buildings, again pressing hard. Once the buildings are colored in , the student paint one side of their paper with blue watercolors, and the other side black. This way, they have a night and day picture.