Clay Pinch Pot

For this activity, we created pinch pots out of clay.  We were allowed to choose any type animal creation and use our thumbs to create a bowl shape.  First, we had to knead the clay or slap it down on the table to get all of the air bubbles out.  We then used water and clay tools to smooth the clay.  A scoring technique was used to attach clay pieces together by creating criss cross lines with clay tools and water to make sure the pieces sealed.   

For my pinch pot, I chose to make a turtle.  I used the shell to create my thumb pot shape.  I then added a head, four legs, and a tail.  I used the clay tools to create lines on the shell and feet to make it look more realistic.   After scoring the clay to attach the extremities, I put water on my thumb and used it to smooth all of the edges. 

For an extension activity, students could write a short story about their clay creature and then share them with the class.  They story could either be written in the point of view of the animal, the student, or an outside character.  This would be a great chance for students to be creative and bring their clay creature to life. 

Printmaking

This projects involved printmaking.  We were given thin Styrofoam sheets and used a pencil to draw a pattern onto the sheet.  We pressed hard in order to create an imprint with the pencil.  Rubber paint rollers were used to roll paint onto the sheet, then stamp onto the paper.  The top line was a pattern of yellow and white paint.  On the bottom sheet, we created three symbols related to our interests and again stamped them onto the paper. 

For my pattern, I chose to use straight lines and wavy lines with dots in between.  I was thinking about an Easter egg when I was creating it.  I had to be careful to press hard in order to make an indent onto the Styrofoam sheet so that pain would not get into the imprint, therefore creating the pattern.  For my symbols, I chose a flower because I love the outdoors, my initials, and a smiley face because I enjoy laughing.  I chose a black background because I thought the yellow and white paint would be a good contrast with the dark color. 

For an extension activity, the teacher could cut out a long sheet of paper and have students imprint each of their patterns next to each other in a line.  The colors could repeat in order, creating a pattern within patterns.  I think students would be excited to see everyone's pattern stamped together in a long line and it would be neat to see them all together.  Students could also get up in front of the class and share the symbols they chose and how they relate to their life. 

Dr. Seuss Play-Doh Creature

 

 This project involved making a Play-Doh creature based off of Dr. Seuss' stories.  First, we drew what we thought our creature might look like. We then were to create a "creature" using Play-Do and art supplies and draw a foreground, middle ground, and background to place the creature in.  We then wrote a Mad Lib telling our creatures name and things it liked to do.   

 

For my project, I created a yellow three-legged creature with pink polka dots.  He has purple arm and a purple pom pom on his head.  In the foreground, I created a colorful sidewalk with bushes.  In the background I drew colorful abstract trees.  When creating this, I was thinking of the movie "The Lorax" based off of Dr. Seuss.  My creature's name is Wobbles. 

 

For an extension activity, students could write a short creative story about their creature, building on from their Mad Lib or creating a new story altogether.  They could even get into partners and write a short story together about their and their partner's creature.  The students could then get into groups and read their story to their classmates while displaying their art project. 

 



 

 



Kandinsky Rainbow

 

This project involved making a painting with sponges, inspired by the artist Wassily Kandinsky.  The objective was to have students use and mix together the primary colors red, yellow, and blue to create all the colors of the rainbow.  We first mixed our colors, then used sponges to create our rainbow.  We then created a nature scene, cut our rainbow, and glued it onto the scene. 

 

I chose to create a scene with a river and hills.  I mixed together specific primary colors to create orange, green, and purple,  I used a blotting technique on the hills to create texture, and also blotted a small amount of blue paint in the sky to create clouds.  For the river, I smeared the sponge to create lines. 

 

For an extension activity, students could learn to add white and black paint to create lighter and darker shades of their colors.  They could then create a painting using these colors in addition to the ones they already have.  For example, they could add black to create darker colors and make a night time scene.  

 



Eric Carle Illustration

 

 

 

This project was based off of the illustrations of author Eric Carle.  He is widely known for book such as Brown Bear Brown Bear and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  We were given an animal outline and four different textures of painted paper and construction paper within the same color family.  We then cut out the textured paper for the body, legs, tail, and head of the animal.  We had to use at least three different textures included in our animal.   We then glued them together, cut out our animal, and wrote three sentences about it. 

 

I chose to do a yellow cat on a red background.  I used all four different paper textures to create the cat.  I then used black marker to add toes to the feet, eyes, a nose, and mouth.  I added texture paper to create the cat's whiskers.  On the bottom I wrote, "I see  kitty cat looking at me.  She is yellow with two ears and a tail.  She loves to eat and sleeps on plastic bags and cardboard boxes.  She is puurfect!"  

 

 

For an extension activity, students would use the different textures of paper to create an outdoor scene.  Instead of just one color, they could use multiple colors in on picture.  They could create a city scene, mountains, jungle, forest, etc.  This would require them to be a little more creative, as Eric Carle mostly illustrated animals.    

Jasper John Fish

 

This project was based on the work of artist Jasper John.  We used carrots, celery, apples, and plastic spoons to paint out fish rather than paint brushes.  We used both stamping and smearing techniques to create different textures using red, blue, silver, and yellow paint.  We then made a list of other objects we could use to paint with.

 

For my project, I enjoyed using the celery to stamp, which you can see in red.  I also liked making different stamp shapes with the spoon, which you can see in yellow.  The apple, in blue, was the most difficult to control.  Other objects I listed I could have used to paint are rocks, pop bottles, potatoes, and grapes.

 

For an extension activity, students could be asked to bring one or two objects from home to paint with from their list.  The class could then use these objects to create another painting, and test out their smearing and stamping techniques to see the different textures they could create with all of the different objects.  

 

 



 



Claude Monet Crayon Resist

This project used a crayon resist technique using crayons and watercolors.  Students were asked to recreate Monet's Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies painting.  We started with white construction paper and used bright colored crayons to draw our bridge, vines, clouds, water lilies, and flowers.  We then used blue and purple water colors with water to paint over the drawing and create a colorful background.
 

I chose a to draw a pink bridge with multiple greens in my vines with red and bright blue flowers.  The brighter the crayon color, the more it will stand out after you paint.  I then added white crayon lines to create movement in the scene.  I used a lot of water with my paints so they would easily blend together.

 

For an extension activity, students could use crayon to draw a picture of any type of outdoor scene the would like.  They could then again use the watercolors to paint over their scene and be able to try other colors such as orange, red, yellow, and green.  It would be neat to see all the different colors and combinations the students came up with.  We could then discuss colors that worked well together, and maybe some that did not. 

 







 

 

After having the whole class create this project, we made a bulletin board to display everyone's work.

Van Gogh Sunflower

 

This project was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh.  He created a mural of sunflowers for a friend who came to his home to visit.  We drew a vase and three sunflowers with pencil, then colored in the vase with crayon and traced the sunflowers with brown crayon.  After that, we painted the sunflowers yellow and made a checker pattern in the middle.  Last, we glued on real sunflower seeds around the center.

 

For mine, I made a purple vase with a blue stripe and added a handle.  I drew three very large sunflowers because I love bright yellow.  I then added in the stems of the flowers and colored them with two different greens.

 

For an extension activity, the students could make a large mural on sunflowers as a class to hang on the wall to represent Van Gogh's wall mural he made for his friend.  They could make them an size or design they wanted and by the end, on of the classroom walls would have a huge paper mural filled with sunflowers.  

Van Gogh's "A Starry Night" Project

This project was an inspiration from Van Gogh's famous painting "A Starry Night".  Using either dark blue or black construction paper, different shapes of tissue paper were cut out and glued to the paper.  Then, markers and oil pastel designs were added.  After that, a layer of modge podge was painted across the entire paper to seal the tissue.  Lastly, a scene was added to the front.  I chose mountains, but you could do whatever you would like (buildings, trees, hills, etc.).

For my project, I chose bright colors and created an abstract scene with trees and suns.  I cut out mountains for the from and added trees, rivers, and snow with oil pastels because they really stand out on the black paper. 

For an extension activity, students could partner up and discuss their artwork.  Everyone's will be very different colors, shapes, and scenes so there will be a lot to discuss.  They could talk about how their work relates to Van Gogh's styled and why they chose to create they way they did. 

Hidden Safari

 

 

 

For this project, we practiced using warm and cool colors.  First, we created our red glasses to help.  We then drew a safari animal, practicing drawing upside down to pay closer attention to the lines.  This animal was drawn in a cool color, blue crayon.  We then covered the drawing with warm colors such as red, orange, and yellow crayon.  We then added three clues as to which animal was hidden in our safari.  When you look through your red glasses, you can see your safari animal hiding in the jungle. 

 

For my project the three clues I included are, "I like to eat meat", "I have a long tail", and "I have stripes all over".  What am I? A lion!

 

To extend this activity, students could get in small groups and read their clues to their group members to get them thinking about which type of animal may be hiding in their safari.  They could then trade pictures and use their red glasses to try and see their hidden safari creature!



 

 

 

Elements and Principles of Design

Link to Project by Chelsea White, Hallee Cronin, and Chelsey Carmichael

 

 

CONTRAST

It adds visual excitement and interest. Here you see a contrast of both colors and shapes on a plain grey wall at The Arc.
 

EMPHASIS

 The pink leaves of the tree on this blue wall in my house provide emphasis.
 

UNITY

 Here the artist achieves unity by using white lines and black shapes to unify the array of colors at the Arc.
 

PATTERN

Here you see a pattern on a brick wall.
 

LINE

This picture shows painted lines on a road.

 

For this project we took pictures of examples of places where we say elements and principles of design around us.  We then created a slideshow to show them and included descriptions of each.  The link is above.  

 

 

 



Foot Print Introductions

For this project, students drew an outline of their foot on construction paper.  Students then used different mediums such as magazines, markers, and found objects to show their individual interests and life in order to introduce themselves to the class. 

On my footprint, I included some of my favorite things such as dogs, flowers, pizza, and fall.  I chose a number 5 because there are five people in my immediate family. There is a music note because I love to sing, even though I am not very good!  "The r-word hurts" represents my Special Education degree.

As an extension to this activity, students could partner up with someone they do not know and exchange footprints.  They could then write a few paragraphs about the person's interests and life based on the pictures and objects from their footprint.  They could then discuss the prints with their partner and introduce them to the class.