5th Grade Pop Art Self Portraits

Fifth grade students studied the Pop Artist Roy Lichtenstein to create their own pop art self portraits.  I first took a photograph of each student from the chest up.  While the students were waiting for their photo to be taken, I had them think about several different poses so they would be ready when it was their turn.  I then took the photos and loaded them into dumpr.net and transformed their pictures into a sketch.  This makes it easier for the students to see the defining edges of their facial features a little easier. 

 

The students traced their faces (basic lines only) onto white drawing paper.  They then added a single word in a comic book style that either defined themselves, or went along with their picture.  They then added a simple patterned background.  As a review of color theory, I had the students color their pictures with primary colored markers.  The next time I do this project, I may go more in depth with color theory and have the students choose their own color scheme.

 

 

Thanks to messy little hands for the inspiration for this project!

Earth Day Art Project

I know that Earth Day has come and gone, but we've had some really sporadic bad weather here over the last few weeks and we were just NOW able to get outside to create our environmental art pieces.  The students looked at the art of Andy Goldsworthy as their inspiration for their artwork.  They were to use only natural items from the schoolyard for their creations.  Once photographed, everything was put back where it was found.

This is a project that I've done every year and the kids never get tired of it...probably because they get to go outside. :) 

5th Grade Doodle Profiles

Fifth grade studied visual texture to create these profile drawings.  While the students were finishing their previous project, I traced each individual student's profile.  Using an unlimited amount of colors, they added the doodle designs with marker.  They then cut out their profiles and attached them to colored paper.

This project turned out to be a great stress relief from all of the testing they had been doing!

5th Grade Impressionism Paintings

Fifth grade students studied Claude Monet and Impressionism for this project.  They quickly identified a few characteristics of Impressionism from examples I provided (bright color, visible brushstrokes, a "fuzzy" appearance).  I can't say our school has a very inspiring landscape, so I gave the students some pictures from old calendars to use as inspiration for their paintings.  (I wanted to attach the photos for you to compare, but wasn't sure about posting someone's photograph, so I just left them off to be safe.)

Here's where a little poor planning on my part comes in.  I didn't order enough supplies for the entire year!!!  I was running dangerously low on paints and painting paper, but had quite a few sets of tempera cakes and construction paper.  So that's what we used, and I'll have to say that they didn't turn out half bad. :)

First, I had the students sketch out the very BASIC parts of their chosen inspiration.  With this kind of paint, I thought it was best to have the students paint in layers so they didn't have to do too much mixing.  On the last layer, the students added some shadows and highlights.  Not too bad for tempera cake paint!  

5th Grade Dale Chihuly Inspired Chandeliers

Oh, what a process this was!  Once all of the bugs were eventually worked out, this was a fun, quick, and easy recycled art project with pretty impressive results.  I had originally found this project in a magazine (however, what magazine that was escapes me) and I decided this would be a great way to show the students how art can be created from materials we would normally just throw away. 

Dale Chihuly was the inspiration for this project, and luckily many of my students have had the opportunity to see a Chihuly piece in real life, thanks to an exhibit at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.  After receiving quite a collection of water bottles, the students began adding color with permanent markers (I found this was the easiest way to apply translucent color with the materials I had on hand).  Once colored, I cut the top of the bottle off and the students either cut strips down the side of the bottle, or they cut a spiral around the bottle.  Next, they made a hole somewhere on the plastic and threaded a piece of fishing line through the hole.  They continued this process until all bottles had been attached.

So here's what DIDN'T work: I wanted the plastic to start taking on a form that would not be recognized as a water bottle.  I originally had the students take a hair dryer to soften the plastic to the point where they could manipulate and change the form.  Unfortunately, we kept shorting out the electrical in the art room, so we had to put this project on the back burner.  We started another project with the hopes of coming back to this one, and in the meantime, I discovered Pinterest.  :)  I found this example of cutting the bottles into a spiral and the rest is history!   

5th Grade "Falling for Foreshortening"

Fifth grade students learned about the concept of foreshortening through this fun drawing activity.  Foreshortening is the optical illusion that occurs when a part of something moves from one part of space to another.  For this project, students first created a brightly colored background using contrasting colors of construction paper.  They then traced their feet and hands on white drawing paper. Lastly, they drew their arms, legs, body and head to create the illusion that the body was further away then the feet and hands. 

Thanks to The Incredible Art Department (web link no longer available) for inspiring this great art project idea! 

5th Grade Bald Eagle Oil Pastel Drawings

Fifth grade students these bald eagle flag drawings to celebrate Veteran's Day.  They were given a piece of black construction paper and then drew a partial bald eagle on one side or the other and added the flag stripes with pencil.  They were allowed to look at several examples of bald eagle photographs for this.  Next, they traced over the pencil lines with white school glue and let the artwork dry overnight.  Using oil pastel, they colored between the glue lines (and let me tell you that we went through a TON of white and red oil pastels.  Lastly we added a subtle shadows and shading around the head of the eagle.