Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Fifth Grade Texture Canvases

Materials Needed

• canvas panels (Sax #412499)
• Liquitex Gloss Gel Medium (Sax #437486)

• gouache set of 24


• brushes

We started this project by covering a canvas with gel medium. As the students were doing this, I passed out baskets to each table. In the baskets, I had put a variety of texture tools. Each student was to create 6 different sections of texture on their canvas, using the tools that were in their basket. 
 



We reviewed all of the color schemes that we had learned in previous years and this year (warm/cool, primary/secondary, complementary, analogous, monochromatic). Each student had to choose 1 color scheme for their canvas.
 
When everything was dry, the students used gouache paints to paint their canvas. I gave each table a palette with paint and they were allowed to mix the paints as they needed them to fit their color scheme.
 
This was a fun project for my 5th graders. They had never touched a canvas before, let alone been able to create their own artwork on one. It was fun to see them taking so much pride in their artwork when they were given their artistic tools. Pin It

Fifth Grade Mandalas

Materials Needed

• sketchbook
• ruler
• compass- 1/table
• 12 x 12 paper
• fine-tipped black markers
• Crayola color sticks

• black poster board

Fifth grade learned about various cultures that make mandalas. They focused on how radial symmetry is created in the mandalas. They also learned how to use a compass and a ruler to create different lines and then practiced making lines in their sketchbooks.

They were given a 12” x 12” piece of paper. We started by folding the paper corner to corner, so that we had a large triangle. We folded again, corner to corner to create a smaller triangle and then 1 more time to form an even smaller triangle. In total, we folded 3 times. When we opened our paper, we had 8 triangular sections radiating around the center of our paper.

We used the compass to draw at least 4 circles radiating from the middle of our paper. If the student chose to draw more they could, but I showed them what would happen to their designs if they drew too many (the designs would have to be very small).

I then did a lesson on organic and geometric designs. We looked at shapes around us and classified them. We brainstormed a list of geometric shapes and a list of organic shapes. The students had to choose whether they wanted their mandala to have organic or geometric.

They began by drawing a design in 1 section of the outer ring. They then had to repeat that exact design 7 more times around the outside ring. I had them move to the next ring and create another design and repeat the process. They continued until all rings were finished.

I had them trace the entire design with a black marker and then we talked about color schemes. We reviewed warm and cool colors, and complementary colors. There were 2 new ones that I added on to their list of color schemes. We learned about analogous colors (neighbors) and monochromatic colors (for this, we looked at Picasso's Blue Period paintings).



Once we had all of the color schemes, I had them choose 1 color scheme and they wrote it on the back of their paper (as a reminder) along with the colors that went into this scheme. They used Crayola Color Stix and Sharpie markers to color their radial designs.

I walked around and reminded them that they had to repeat the color in each section, just as they had done when they were drawing. Pin It

Fourth Grade Texas Wildflowers

Materials Needed

• 9 x 12 poster board
• pencils
• black glue
• watercolors/brushes
• newspaper
Other resources
The Legend of the Bluebonnet- Tomie de Paola
The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush- Tomie de Paola

Getting to Know series- Cezanne
Cezanne prints
Texas wildflower prints

My fourth graders read the books The Legend of the Bluebonnet and The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush, both by Tomie dePaola. When we finished, we looked at pictures of different Texas wildflowers. Using these pictures, they created their own still-life of Texas wildflowers. They started their still-life with a pencil drawing on a piece of white paper.

When they finished, they turned the paper over to the back and they colored on the back of the drawing with their pencil. It was really important to make sure the entire paper was covered in graphite.



They placed this on top of a piece of poster board, with the graphite touching the poster board. They used their pencil to trace over their original drawing, creating a graphite transfer onto the poster board.

Using black glue (I make this with school glue and black acrylic), they traced their lines. When the glue was dry, they used watercolors to paint their flowers. They used many different techniques to paint. They used wet-on-wet and dry brush. They used different values of the same color and made some of their own colors.

These turned out so stunning, that I used many of them for various shows throughout the year. Pin It