Third Grade Sandpaper Prints

Georgia O'Keeffe was the basis for the third graders printmaking project. I started out by reading the book Through Georgia's Eyes by Rachel Rodriguez. We spent some time looking at O'Keeffe's floral paintings and talking about how they were magnified.

For the project, I have a wide variety of old calendar pages that have been laminated. I have jeweler loupes that the students can use to magnify different parts of the print- helping them focus in on aspects of the picture.


 The students practice drawing 2 different flowers in their sketchbooks first. The focus for them is:

1)  fill the entire page with the flower
2) make the flower go off of the page
3) use a variety of tints and shades to color (by using the loupe, they can really see the colors that are in the flower)

Once they have their flowers drawn in their sketchbooks, they choose the one that they like the best.

 I give them a piece of sandpaper (fine-med grain) and they replicate the flower onto the sandpaper using old crayons- I have a really big tub of old, broken crayons that I collect every year (I never throw crayons away) and these are what they use.

I demonstrate how they need to color hard enough to cover the sandpaper. When they are finished, they should not be able to see the brown sandpaper at all.

They can also use their crayons to build colors on top of each other, creating the tints and shades that

 naturally found in the flowers.

When they have colored the entire piece of sandpaper, they bring it to me.

I have an iron plugged in (I used to have an ancient dry-mount press, but when we got our new school, it did not make it into the new building- a sad day for me!), set on Polyester/Wool. I adjust it as I go along.

I iron the crayon onto a piece of white drawing paper (12 x 18) and then staple the sandpaper next to the print.

I used to iron them onto colored construction paper, but the effect was not as dramatic- now I am sticking with plain white paper!

I especially love the sunflowers! Pin It

Third Grade Picasso Portraits

I have seen many versions of this project- here is my spin on it:

My third graders learn how to draw a self-portrait. I teach them how to divide the face, which proportions to use and they get to work drawing their portrait from the front. After they have finished, they trace over it with a black marker- pretty basic.

Then I show them how to draw their portrait as a profile. This one takes them a little longer. Again, we talk about measurements, proportion, etc. When they are finished, they trace this one with black marker also.

At this point, they have 2 different portraits, on 2 different pieces of plain 8 1/2 x 11 xerox paper.

Then I give them a 3rd piece of paper. I have them trace their first portrait and then set it aside. Then they take their profile and place that one underneath. They can move it around to wherever

 they think it looks best and they trace that one. They have now combined both portraits into 1 single, Picasso-ish portrait. After they have traced both portraits, I have them take the 2 originals home, so that they don't get them confused.

For the next step, I give each student a transparency. (With the advent of SmartBoards and document cameras, the teachers at my school have given me TONS of transparencies. I used to have to buy them every year, but now I have a supply that should last me for years to come!)

They tape their Picasso portrait to their transparency so that it doesn't move around. I have them trace the entire portrait with a permanent black marker.

Then it's time to color. We use oil pastels to color the different sections that were created by combining the 2 portraits.

 I stress to the students that no white paper (the paper that is still taped to the back) should be showing through, so this helps them know if they have colored enough with their oil pastels.

When they have completed their oil pastels, they remove the white paper from the back and they pick a piece of construction paper that is complementary to their background and I staple it to their project. Make sure that when you staple them, the oil pastel is touching the paper (the shiny side/uncolored side of the transparency should be face up).

The last step is to use gel pens/markers to add patterns. Again, the students use complementary colors to fill in the spaces with a variety of patterns.

I used to use Phooey Gel Markers, but now I can't find them anywhere. They had the best overall effect and lasted the longest when a grade level of 120 students were using them.

For the last few years, I have been experimenting with a variety of gel pens and markers and have not found anything that works quite as well. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment. I would love the ideas! Pin It