Rock Pool Collages

Talia D

Living on the coast, all the kids are familiar with rock pools, and the fun of peering into the nooks and crannies to look for the creatures that might live there. Of course you have to be a bit careful about touching unfamiliar creatures as there are a few that can be dangerous (even deadly!), like the blue ringed octopus and the cone fish. Although you don't see these often around our area, the kids are still all very aware of the possible dangers! A safe and fun alternative is the rock pool display at Underwater World, where the assistants will help you to pick up and touch many of the animals safely :)

Our rock pools are created with brown paper rocks (with sponged paint for texture) and a variety of rock-pool creatures drawn with black marker on polka dot stickers, cut out and collaged in layers onto coloured paper.

Scratch - Art Action Animals

Toby E

Hannah Y

Scratch-Art Action Animals - We loved this!! Although some of the kids had doubts when it came to covering their entire picture with black oil pastel, it was a real 'wow!' moment as we scratched it away to reveal the picture beneath!

'Action Animals' are drawn with thick black marker on 120gsm paper, using large flat shapes and little or no detail. Then the entire page is coloured heavily with crayon or oil pastel, taking care to leave no white areas, and using light bright colours that contrast well with the black. I also encourage students to use multiple colours in each flat area. Then a coat of solid black goes over everything.
The black is scratched away, revealing the colours and line drawing beneath.

Adapted from this lesson at Art Projects for Kids :)

Amazing Idea Machines Inspired by Souther Salazar

Abbey's Idea Machine

Talia's Idea Machine

For me, the best thing about blogging is the ideas so generously shared. I found this Souther Salazar inspired idea at shine brite zamorano...

We watched this time-lapse Youtube video of the artist creating his installation 'Alejandro's Idea Machine'. It finishes with a pan around some of the marvellous detail in the piece.

We also looked at some of his drawings, again noting the detail and free-flowing line work, before completing our own Idea Machine drawings using black marker and white chinagraph pencil on coloured paper.

Souther Salazar: Alejandro and the Idea Machine

Mysterious Mansions in Silhouette

We drew our mansions with black permanent marker on paper spritzed with watercolour. We used basic shapes (squares and rectangles) for the body of the house, which many chose to bend and distort into interesting positions. Then we added different shaped roofs and other architectural features such as widow's walks, differently shaped windows, doors, verandahs and chimneys.

Although this is NOT a 'Halloween' picture, some of the children chose to include ghosts, bats and other 'spooky' images into their drawings.

The walls of our buildings were then coloured with solid black marker to create a silhouette, and we finished with yellow colour-stick in the windows for extra atmosphere and glow.

I love the contrast between the bright watercolour, detailed line drawing and the solid black of the silhouetted buildings. This project was heavily influenced by a great lesson I saw over at Mrs Picasso's Art Room - we had lots of fun with it :)

Articulated Scarecrows ...

Our Scarecrows this week are in anticipation of the Mary Valley Scarecrow Festival which starts this weekend - it makes a lovely family afternoon drive into the Hinterland to see the clever and often humorous creations!

Created with cardboard and wax crayons, these are really lots of fun.

We started with a basic body template, to which the kids added their scarecrow's head, hands, feet, tatty clothing etc.

I drew the template in pencil before scanning it so that the resulting line is a light grey colour - subtle enough for the kids to change easily as they add their scarecrow's features.
We added strong colour with wax crayon, cut them out and pinned them together at the joints.

The final step is to glue them to the background, applying glue only to the head and torso so that the arms and legs can still move freely.

Fun At the Ekka!

Last weekend was the final weekend of the Exhibition (aka the Ekka), the annual agricultural show that has become so much more .... wild rides, show bags, animal exhibitions, strawberry ice-creams, sideshow alley, fairy floss and dag-wood dogs, eating too much junk food and getting sick after a stomach clenching rollercoaster ride, spectacular fireworks etc etc

For some it is an amazing yearly fun fair, for others something to be avoided at all costs - whatever your opinion it has all the elements that kids love, especially the wild rides!

We started with a self portrait in black and white using thick and thin black markers. I encouraged the kids to think about facial expression to convey feeling, and to use a variety of line to create texture. Another topic of discussion was the use of diagonal line to convey liveliness and movement. I also encouraged them to draw directly with black markers, and I am really enjoying the spontaneous line work of their drawings, and the expressions on the faces!

We then used metallic markers to create a colourful background on black paper (the photos here do not do justice to the colours of the metallic markers!) We were especially trying to convey a sense of excitement and fun.

This has been one of our most effective pictures this term - I love the contrast of the black & white portraits against the explosively colourful backgrounds!

Grumpy Cats, and Thank You Pinterest (Again!!)

Talia (Yr 1)

Today marks the first week of our third term - and for various personal reasons I had nothing prepared!! Pinterest to the rescue!

My heartfelt thanks to Mary at MaryMaking and Kathy at Art Projects for Kids for their Grumpy Cat lessons :) I showed the kids a Youtube video of Tardar Sauce the Grumpy Cat, and we were away!

We drew our Grumpy Cats with black marker (semi-guided drawing lesson, but with lots of encouragement for them to give their cats their own personalities - we even had some happy grumpy cats!) and smudged brown and black soft pastel. Then we created a background with felt pen, taking a line for a walk over the page. Cut and glue on our cats, and the finished products are really great!

In A Parallel World.....

Students started with an action photo of themselves standing in front of a blank wall.

Their challenge was to create a shadow of themselves in a parallel world - a bit like Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland or the Narnia books. This world exists side by side with ours, and only needs a window or door to step from one into the other.

Like Peter Pan, their shadow can have a life of it's own. Instead of merely copying their real-life body, it should express something important about who they are - perhaps something they love to do like art, music or sport. It might even be symbolic - a lion, a playful rabbit, a dragon!

Finally, we created the background on the wall with watercolour pencil, imagining it as a window into a parallel world.

This project was inspired by this wonderful lesson which I found at Mini Matisse well over a year ago, and have had in mind ever since. It's a perfect project to finish the term, with loads of opportunity for students to stretch their imaginations!

This is our last lesson this term - our 2 week winter break starts now. Happy holidays!!

Cool Street-Art Style Lettering

Emma W (Yr 4)

After discussing the difference between Street Art and vandalism (!) we played with iconic letter-writing styles that are instantly associated with street art, even when done on paper.

I've used this activity as a half lesson (the other half being used to paint our Coil Snake Pots). Although I would have liked more time, and some kids didn't quite get finished (after the first group I switched to monograms), they have still done great work. This is a technique that they can re-work and use in lots of applications in their independent art work.

Thank you Natalie at smART Class for great easy-to-follow directions!

Going Cubist

Lily L (Yr 3)

Last week we traced photos onto acetate to create a semi-abstract self-portrait. This week we've used the same photos, but this time working directly onto the surface of the photo to abstract it using a cubist perspective.

We looked at some examples by Picasso, noticing how he sometimes shows the front and profile view of the subject within the one picture. We also talked about using color to express feelings rather than in a realistic way, and we discussed how various colors can be interpreted differently. Blue, for example, can be used to express sadness ("feeling blue"), but it is also the color of the ocean and the sky, and can be a very peaceful, calming color.

Working with black permanent markers, we drew a curved line through the center of our faces to create a profile view within the front view. We then went on to outline the main shapes of our portraits, and to add pattern to the background. Many of the kids chose to incorporate symbols that express their interests or personality in some way.

Finally we added color in a non-realistic way, again choosing colors that express something about ourselves. Some children decided to choose different colors for each side of their face to show different sides to their personalities. I love the way Lily, whose work I have displayed here, has used color and line to show that usually she is happy, but sometimes she feels sad.

We used wax crayons for this step as the colors are vibrant and luminous, while also being translucent enough to allow the black marker lines, and the shades within the photos, to show through.

I am so impressed with the finished result! The concept of abstract art can be quite a challenge for kids, but I think they have outdone themselves this week!

Amazing Self-Portraits on Acetate

Thomas T (Yr 3)

I found this fantastic idea using a painted paper background and black marker drawings on acetate at Field Elementary Art Blog through Pinterest, and have seen it a number of times since. I just love the way it allows young kids to create a self portrait (that really does look a little bit like them!) while also exploring the concept of semi-abstract art.

Before beginning we looked at examples and discussed the difference between realism (life-like) and semi-abstract (altered, but the original subject is still recognizable). We visualized a realism-abstract continuum - on one end is art as realistic as we can make it, on the far end is the abstract - so changed or totally divorced from the original inspiration that it is no longer recognizable. And in between are infinite levels of the semi-abstract.

This week we are using photos of ourselves as the starting point for a semi-abstract self portrait.

The kids had an absolutely free hand in how they designed and painted their backgrounds, using a metallic glitter paint. This paint is quite translucent, with a subtle glittery finish which is bright and colorful, but still allows the drawing overlay to stand out. 

After completing the backgrounds we laid a sheet of acetate over photographs (taken a week or two ago, which I photo-shopped to remove the background) and traced over them with black permanent markers. The process of eliminating shading and reducing the photograph to a purely linear drawing creates enough changes to subtly alter the picture to the semi-abstract, while still maintaining the essence and personality of the original.

We put our photos at the realistic end of the realism-abstract continuum. The photo-shopped images came next, close to the realistic end of the continuum, and our line tracings a little further along the line leading towards abstract. 

I love these pictures, they are so full of life and interesting line work!

Next week we are going to use the same photos to create a completely different self portrait .... these pictures will go much further along the continuum towards abstract, although they will still be recognizably based on the human face.

Don't you just love digital technology? The creative possibilities are endless!

The Year of The Snake

In celebration of the Chinese New Year on February 10, 2013 - The Year of the Snake!

After some discussion and brainstorming ideas we designed our pictures to incorporate a snake and the year 2013. We talked about drawing the twisting snake to form the numbers, or sliding the snake through the numbers (I'd seen various versions of both these ideas on Pinterest). We also talked about repetition of pattern and color to tie the composition together.

Once we had our designs we traced over all the lines with black marker and added pattern and color to our snakes and to the numbers.

Finally we cut out our snakes and assembled our pictures on a mount of colored paper.

Dali Elephants

Ziva G (Yr 1)

At the end of last year I took a few weeks off and had a wonderful holiday traveling around Spain. I promised the kids that I'd come home with lots of great ideas for our art class ......


After looking at 'The Elephants' by Spanish Surrealist artist Salvidor Dali we drew our own elephants (and other creatures!) in the style of Dali, with bodies positioned high in the page and balanced on impossibly spindly legs.

'The Elephants' Salvidor Dali 1948

We also found inspiration in this little sculpture that I found in Barcelona - I just love it!

After outlining our drawings with black sharpie markers, and a discussion about how to choose colors that will blend well together (colors close to each other on the color wheel) we colored the entire page with thickly applied watercolor pencil. Then we took them outside to spritz them with water.
Holding them up by the top corners, we let the pencil/paint blend and run together in rivulets. When we were happy with the effect we then laid them flat to dry.

I love the way the colors become so brilliant with the water application, and the way the colors run and blend is so spontaneous and unpredictable.

Faux Stained Glass

Emily H (Year 3)

Jason H (Year 5)

Caitlin A (Year 1)

Bonnie J (Year 4)

Claire B (Year 6)

Kaiden S (Year 3)

Kate P (Year 4)

Kira R (Year 5)

Maddison P (Year 2)

Madeleine M (Year 1)

Permanent marker on acetate, backed with foil (based on idea from Jane Berzner on Artsonia) I simply glued foil onto a piece of copy paper, wrapping the edges over to the back for a neat finish. The kids drew their pictures onto a sheet of A4 paper, and traced with black marker onto acetate. We flipped that over (so that the colored marker didn’t erase the black as they colored) and used colored permanent markers to color, leaving the background clear. When finished we attached to the foil with double sided tape. A very effective project that really had the ‘wow’ factor.